Wednesday 1 May 2013

Traditional Beijing Part 1 : Jingshan Park, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square

One of the "compulsory spot in Beijing is Tienanmen Square.
Most of us will remember the 1989 protests and dramatic event.
I will spare you pictures of the square, museum of china and other landmarks we all know.
But here is a a small remain of the Beijing's City Wall near Qianmen Shopping district (South of the square) :

Tienanmen is the third largest square in the world. It includes Tienanmen Gate, one of the gate to the Forbidden City.
I will be writing more about the Forbidden City in an upcoming post.
Mao enlarged the square in the 50's by destroying the Gate of China (The Southern gate to the Imperial Palace). This will allow a square to hold 550 000 people !











Before you visit the Forbidden City, try to get to Jingshan Park early-ish in the morning.

This will give a an eagle eyed view of the City.
This is an artificial 45+ metre high hill.
The material comes from the soil taken to form the moat around the Imperial Palace. Quite impressive when you think that it was all transported by animal and man power !










A nice little sight when we came down the hill : Elder people practicing calligraphy with brushes and water

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