A Beijing Thanksgiving Part 1

We have had some interesting Thanksgivings in our lifetime, but I must admit that this was one of the most unique. We flew to Beijing on Thursday--Thanksgiving--and spent the week-end there. We visited the main sights and shopped for good bargains. It was great fun and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Except for Friday morning, the weather cooperated and, although it was cold, the sun was shining and there wasn't any smog.

Here we are at Tiananmen Square. It is very large--you can only see a small piece of it.

From Tiananmen Square we crossed the street to the Forbidden City. Chinese Emperors lived here from the time it was built in 1406 until the beginning of modern China in 1912. It is an immense area of elaborate buildings, gates, and courtyards. The intricate paint decor has been spruced up for the olympics so we benefitted from all the work. This was a good year for a visit.

The buildings are said to have 9,999 1/2 rooms. The reason for that number is that heaven is supposed to have 10,000 rooms and the emperor is just below a god so he could only have 9,999 1/2. Our guide said in actuality there are somewhat over 8,000 rooms and that the other number is not a true number. Of course, I can't tell which is right. I know we just walked straight down the middle of all the gates and courtyards and it took us almost 2 hours. We only looked into a few buildings. Most were empty and cold, but a couple were set up as if someone lived there and they were opulent to say the least.

Some of the intricate painting on the buildings in the Forbidden City.

Along the edge of the roof line you can see some animals. They are imaginary and do not look like real animals. There are 9 of them. Once again heaven has 10 so the emperor was only allowed to have 9 to keep the evil spirits out of his palace. As you might know, nine is a very lucky number here in China. Four is not lucky because the word for four and death are the same, except for the tone. Our hotel in Beijing did not have a 4th floor. No one would want to stay on it.