A CAMERA'S REPORT: Beijing - The Forbidden City

Beijing… Beijing is one strange and busy city. When I say that it is because one of the first things that caught my eye was some kid taking a dumb on a piece of carbon near a trashcan. It is not something we do in Europe and therefore I was chocked to say the least but after you see something like that – kids peeing in the street or a mother changing her baby’s diaper before entering the subway – then you get kind of immune to it and do no longer think much about it. Nor should you be surprised to experience someone spitting right at your feet or hear someone behind you try to remove snot from his or her lungs and then spit it out. It is disgusting for sure but you will get used to it eventually.

As a white person or just a person who is not Asian-look-a-like then you will have to get use to Chinese/Asian people taking pictures of you like you were a celebrity or some kind of walking tourist attraction. This I have a hard time getting used to and you cannot ask them to stop doing it because they do not understand you – Trust me I have tried and all I got was Chinese words as an answer + some strange looks from the person.

If you are planning to go to Beijing do not get too surprised about all the security checks you have to go through to get to something. Security checks are everywhere you have to entre something; the subway, museums, historical sights and the list goes on. Even though I have diabetes and carry needles and that stuff they have not yet stopped me so you will get through easily.

Forget everything about communication with the Chinese. Very few talk English and if they do most of them do not dare to talk to you… Except if they want to sell you some of their bags or watches. They do approach you to ask where you come from and then they will ask if you want to go have a cup of tea or coffee with them, please do not fall for that trick. I met a girl in the King’s Joy Hostel who fell for the trick and she ended up paying 100¥ for the show. After hearing that story I said, “no thank you, I do not like Chinese tea” which is no lie and a great way to get rid of these intruders.

About the tea… Usually I really like tea but this green tea stuff they all drink so much of is not that great. I have tried it a few times now and it does not get better with time. They do have a lot of tea and the tea is everywhere. Of course there are different tea types and not ONLY green tea.

Beijing is a city of history that is for sure. The Forbidden City alone is 1 km² and it has a lot of different squares, corners and chambers. With this tourist attraction you can be sure of A LOT of people and I am talking about London in busy hours-busy! The Forbidden City is right behind the Tian’anmen Square with a huge picture of the former emperor; Mao right above the entrance to the square before the entrance of The Forbidden City.

I assure you this is one of the attractions that is one of the MUST SEE-ones. You will get lost for sure - I did even with a map - because the map does not show all of the smaller "streets" in the city. The whole city was build in the 1400 and it hit me several times how it was even possible for the workers to build this massive buildings. It must be like visiting the pyramids in Egypt.. No one knows how but it was build anyway.

-- enjoy the pictures below -