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June 14, 2005
Day Four - Tian An Men Square, Forbidden City and Nanchang
Back to the misty gray this morning, and back to the Four Seasons for breakfast with the other families in our group. There's Micael O'Rourke, the government administrator/lawyer with salt-and-pepper hair and more tattoos than I can count. There's the other Brian in the group, who also shaves his head. There's Angela and Keith Hague, who have family in and near Dennis and Mattapoisett, MA just like us, and whose baby was in the same foster home as ours. There's Pam Marshall and Burt Reedy, mother and father to Elizabeth, who was so appreciated by the waiters at the Old Beijing Noodle House.
There are a couple of single mothers, and a smattering of parents who, for one reason or another, came alone. Then there are people like Norm Soohoo, who brought not only their wives and kids, but also a pair of grandparents along. I think Norm's cheating, though, because he and his Dad both speak fluent Chinese. I think I'm going to make a point of sticking close to them in the Guangzho markets. There are also, by my count, at least four girls previously adopted from China, now returning to bring home baby sisters. Too cool.
At 8:30, we bus out for Tian An Men Square. On the way, I really begin to notice how Beijing is not just urban, but really pretty cosmopolitan. Most everything is labeled in Chinese and English. Street signs are clear and readable. There's a profusion of Western franchise brands -- everything from food to clothing -- so you could travel here and spend time without really feeling too out of place (as has been the case for us). And though we've often been the only white faces in the crowd, Beijing never makes us feel out of place. Big cities, as Lara astutely noted earlier, are all more or less alike in many ways, and that helps when moving between them.
We arrive at the square a little before 9:30, and begin what turns into a marathon day of walking. The square itself is one of the largest public squares in the world, big enough to hold roughly half a million people. Though it's clearly not that crowded today, there are plenty of people out, including the ever-present hawkers. This time, the wares include Mao's Little Red Book, Mao watches, stamps (the first item I actually think momentarily about buying, until I come to my senses and realize that sharks can smell blood in the water) and kites.
Kite-flying is, according to Rose, a popular activity on the square when weather permits. We think briefly about trying it ourselves, then decide that (a) there isn't enough wind to make it easy, (b) there isn't really enough time, and (c) we're not about to become marks for another 100 hawkers. Instead, we look around at the museum facades, at the statues outside Mao's tomb, at the long lines of people waiting to view the former Chairman's remains, and at the streetsweepers and soldiers each doing their respective duties.
We stroll the length of the square, meeting Rose at the other end near the entrance to the Forbidden City. The Square is essentially the City's "front yard," and at one time, it too was closed to the public. That such an immense area could be devoid of people in the midst of Beijing's teeming masses is mind-boggling. On the other hand, when you consider that people used to be executed for even looking at the emperor's things -- let alone the Emperor himself -- you get the idea that people might not have been so keen on the idea of peeking at the City anyway.
Rather than crossing the extremely busy road between us at the City, we take a wide underground passageway, emerging directly in front of the Tian An Men gate, where the giant portrait of Mao hangs. Pausing only briefly, we dive inside the Forbidden City. Passing through Tian An Men and a second gate, we stop so Rose can purchase tickets. This, she says, is the final gate before the city itself. There are five doors through it. The largest, in the center, was reserved for the Emperor alone. To the left is the door used by his wives, none of whom came through it more than once in their lives (the women taken as wives by the Emperor, as many as 3,000, spent their lives inside Forbidden City -- many saw the Emperor only once, on their wedding night).
To the right is the door for high officials and the Emperor's family. Then, on the side walls of the courtyard are smaller doors for petty officials to come and go. The "go" part could be pretty rough. Petty officials who sufficiently displeased the Emperor were removed through these doors and beaten with sticks in the courtyard. Of the 133 officials known to have suffered this fate, 130 died on the spot.
We enter the Forbidden City. The passage through the gate, something that must once have inspired awe, has lost some of its grandeur thanks to the row of souvenir stands lining one wall. The Chinese have learnt some lessons too well from America, I think. A stop for water, and we're in the City.
The first part of our tour passes a series of increasingly ornate halls and temples, roofed in dark yellow tile. Yellow we learn, was thought to be the color of earth, the basis of all life, and was reserved to the Emperor. Most of the eaves also feature "man with chicken." I can't help but snicker.
Unfortunately, we don't get more than a glimpse inside any of the halls that are open (half of the place is being renovated, like everything else we've seen). The crowds of Chinese tourists are thick and rough. These folks don't queue for much of anything, and they all have sharp elbows. We fight one crowd long enough to get a peek at the Emperor's throne room. It's impressive...large, ornate and spacious, but it's really too dark inside to see much, and neither of us likes the shoving around, so we forgo any further crowd-fighting.
Looking inside isn't really required, though. The sheer scale of the place is enough to impress. Nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine rooms, all told (the palace in heaven was thought to have 10,000). We take in everything from small business offices to the Emperor's bedroom, all rich with dark, carved wood and silk upholstery, some even with glass windows imported in the 1700s, and all uniformly dusty from without. Visitors aren't allowed to actually enter any of the rooms, and great care has apparently been taken to avoid lighting any of them in any modern fashion. That's cool in that it gives and sense of how things really were, but annoying in that you can't see those things.
Exterior roofs are variable, from the dark yellow to black on the libraries (black, representing water, to keep the scrolls safe from fire). Interior ceilings and beams are carved and painted in gold and bright colors. Exterior walls are often tiled as well, many with sculpted and glazed tiles showing scenes of cranes, water and birds.
To be honest, we are both by this point starting to suffer a bit. We've seen a ton of this kind of architecture over the last few days. What's really impressive about Forbidden City isn't the ornate designs or carved furnishings -- you can find those elsewhere. As I said before, the really impressive part is just the sheer size of the place. Rose says that at one time, there were thirty thousand servantsjust for the Emperor and his family, living here, plus concubines, court officials and so on. The place is simply enormous.
By 12, we reach the north end of the City. Good thing -- we're both dragging. It's hot and humid, and because our bags have already left the hotel for the airport, I'm schlepping not only the cameras and such, but all the cables, tapes and accessories, plus a laptop.
In addition, both of us are trying not to think too much about becoming parents in a few hours. It's disconcerting.
We reboard our bus, stow the gear, and collapse into the air conditioning. Two hours later, we're on board a 737 headed south toward Nanchang trying, like every other adult in the group, to catch a little sleep on the plane. Everyone is exhausted, both by the jet lag and by the day's activities...and probably by the prospect of what's to come.
Posted by brlittle at June 14, 2005 02:17 PM