(no subject)
The Forbidden City is rather impressive, mostly in the "who on earth decided that the colour of 1970s shag carpeting should be used to paint an entire city" sort of way. Upon entering you're thrust into a giant square. It's huge and big and there's a billion people, all who are ambling over to a building at the far end, maybe 500 meters away. When you finally get there, you read a little note about about how the emperor met some people here when he felt inclined. Everyone funnels off into the two entrances round the sides, only to end up back where they were 10 minutes ago - in another identical looking square, with a building 500 meters away. Again, Jason and I reached the building, read another note about how the emperor met dignataries here when he hit the snooze alarm one too many times and couldn't reach the first building. Funnel off the the side and christ here we are again, back at the beginning. We hike to the next building and read another note that the emperor came here when he had a particularly buxom concubine the night before so he was tired on top of hitting the snooze alarm too many times. We funnel off to the side and....back at the beginning again. I was stuck in the Forbidden's City's Moebius loop, which went on three or so more times until I pulled Jason down a side path into the concubine area.
I liked this part much better - someone had had the sense to plant some trees and put up some art benches and what must have been fountains at some point, and there was less people milling around. A few of the homes had been opened as small museums, showcasing the wonders of the Forbidden City. And I suppose they would have been wondrous, if I hadn't been to the National Palace Museum in Taiwan the month before. See, when everyone heading to Taiwan left China, they grabbed all the treasures they could, and it's all sitting in a truly spectacular museum in Taipei now. These were leftovers - things that were either too huge or heavy to move. Most stuff wasn't that nice, but there was one jade rock, maybe a metre high, that had been carved beautifully. Overhanging tree and people cut right into the face. But overall, it wasn't that exciting. But it was a nice thought that somebody out there had screwed over the Chinese government, so that made me feel a little better.
Funnily enough, my favourite part of Beijing was a bell tower that overlooked the Forbidden City. It was mostly deserted, so that was nice, and you could see the whole city. It used to be a clock tower ages ago, and had interesting machines that used water to measure time. I stood there, watching the throngs of tourists in the Forbidden City and fancied myself a professional bell ringer from two milleniums ago. That would be nice. I could watch the sunrise, hit a giant bell, and watch the Emperor scurry through the Moebius loops, wondering how far he would get today.
I liked this part much better - someone had had the sense to plant some trees and put up some art benches and what must have been fountains at some point, and there was less people milling around. A few of the homes had been opened as small museums, showcasing the wonders of the Forbidden City. And I suppose they would have been wondrous, if I hadn't been to the National Palace Museum in Taiwan the month before. See, when everyone heading to Taiwan left China, they grabbed all the treasures they could, and it's all sitting in a truly spectacular museum in Taipei now. These were leftovers - things that were either too huge or heavy to move. Most stuff wasn't that nice, but there was one jade rock, maybe a metre high, that had been carved beautifully. Overhanging tree and people cut right into the face. But overall, it wasn't that exciting. But it was a nice thought that somebody out there had screwed over the Chinese government, so that made me feel a little better.
Funnily enough, my favourite part of Beijing was a bell tower that overlooked the Forbidden City. It was mostly deserted, so that was nice, and you could see the whole city. It used to be a clock tower ages ago, and had interesting machines that used water to measure time. I stood there, watching the throngs of tourists in the Forbidden City and fancied myself a professional bell ringer from two milleniums ago. That would be nice. I could watch the sunrise, hit a giant bell, and watch the Emperor scurry through the Moebius loops, wondering how far he would get today.