Adventures in Guangzhou!

The Forbidden City, named for the fact that it was off-limits to citizens for over five hundred years, is the compound centered in the exact middle of Beijing. It was here that the Ming and Qing Dynastic regimes ruled over their empires and made decisions affecting millions of commoners. I had heard mixed reviews for this particular destination so I really didn't know what to expect. After taking the subway to Tian'anmen Square, I followed the throngs of people heading under the (in)famous portrait of Mao and through the massive gate.

The first thing that struck me, after I managed to finagle my way into a student-priced ticket, was the sheer size of the place. When you look at it on a map it looks relatively big, but this place is ginormous. Upon walking through the Meridian Gate into the main section of the compound, you are met with a wide open space that supposedly held an imperial audience of 100,000 back when the Emperor addressed his royal subjects. Unfortunately, much like a ton of the city, some of the premier buildings were under renovation prepping for the olympics so I didn't get to see a few of the more famous buildings. For instance, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the largest structure in the Forbidden City was completely covered by scaffolding.

That aside, the architecture was what I consider stereotypically "Chinese" and very homogeneous. The sheer magnitude of everything was stunning, though I wasn't all that impressed with the basic aesthetics of it. I guess I've already seen quite a few buildings built in this style. What was interesting is that most of the Forbidden City follows the strict regulations of "feng shui," thus, buildings are framed by gates, steps are all counted and synchronized with the surrounding buildings and balconies, and in general their is a point-counterpoint layout sense to everything. Unfortunately you aren't allowed into virtually any of the buildings so you're stuck admiring from afar.

One thing about walking around the grounds is that you sweat like there's no tomorrow. Since you are out in these wide open spaces, you are at the mercy of the humidity and sun (shining through incredible pollution, of course). I think I drank about two and a half liters of water in the three hours I was there. Overall though, I'd say the experience was mediocre. The coolest parts for me were the little things that weren't important enough to warrant a plaque, e.g. the ceilings of the smaller gates, the smaller gardens, and the small marble bridges spanning streams and ponds. Unfortunately with so many people there, it was hard to stand there and admire it all without getting stampeded by the herd. If you like architecture and Chinese history though, you may be more entranced than I was.

After walking around for so long I went back out through the south gate and crossed "Chang'an Jie" (the "Long Peace Street") into Tian'an Square itself to have lunch. This, too, is simply massive and I enjoyed the sheer size of it all. I strolled around for a bit and then sat down near the "Monument to the People's Heroes" to eat my noodle lunch. Not surprisingly, the police presence in Tian'anmen is enormous. There is a huge force of clothed police and an uncertain number of plain-clothes cops patrolling the entire area, not to mention the surveillance cameras mounted on the light fixtures. As I slowly slurped up my lunch, I tried to imagine the protest in '89. Supposedly there were upwards of close to a million students that filled the square and while it is almost 440,000 square meters, that is still a ridiculous number of people. What's also amazing to me is that they marched all the way down from the universities-- which is not close. I tried to imagine their reactions when they saw tanks and soldiers rolling in and eventually opening fire. It must have been horrific. Before I left the square I tried to see Mao's frozen, formaldehyde-ed body but sadly it is not open for viewing during summer afternoons. Oh well. I'm pretty convinced it's a fake, anyway.

My final anecdote from the experience relates to my cab ride home. At this point I've gotten used to the thick Beijing accent amongst drivers (everything ends with a "rrrr" sound) and have grown accustomed to basic chit-chat, but this cabbie threw me for a bit of loop. I told the guy my destination and was daydreaming out the window when all of a sudden I felt a hand on my leg. Stopped at a red light, my eyes shot back to the driver who had a goofy smile on his face. Without a word he started running his hand up and down my lower leg! I asked him what he was doing and, to my relief, he said that he had never seen body hair like that before. I started awkwardly chuckling which he took as a green light to go on with his tactile exploration and before I knew it he was feeling my arm as well. I told him I was special (hey, my mom always said so). What's funny is that if I understood him correctly, he told me he really wished he had my type of body hair. Now if only I was sporting my Jew-fro as well... Other than that, I am unsure how my brain is going to survive another week of class but I see the light at the end of the tunnel so I will do my best to push through.

Oh, and go Yanks.