3 Places In One Day, Oh My!
Posted by Scott Calderon on Wednesday, August 18, 2010
What a long, busy, tiring day I had today. I went to see 3 places today. I saw the inner parts of the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, and the Beijing Zoo. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the weather is sooooooo much better here than in Shanghai. Actually I am liking Beijing much more than Shanghai in all areas. There is just so much more to see and do here in Beijing than Shanghai. Anyways, I got up early today knowing I had a lot on the schedule today. On my way to the subway I stopped at a little cart and picked up some breakfast.
It was some kind of hybrid tortilla/egg wrap with a hot dog inside. It was delicious. As you can see it looks a lot like a tortilla, but it is clearly made with egg as the inside looks like a fried egg. Inside of it was the cheapest generic hot dog I have ever had, some lettuce, chili paste, and some dark brown sauce that was rubbed on it. I am hoping the cart is there again tomorrow so I can get another one for breakfast, but without the hot dog. After eating the wonderful Costco hot dogs I have become a hot dog snob only eating the best brand hot dogs. So after getting my breakfast I hopped on the subway back to the Forbidden City to explore the inner workings of the city. The inner city hosts a few more grand squares leading to the main building with a grand staircase in front of it. On the sides of the central courtyards are many passage ways like the one below.
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These passage ways lead to various areas of the inner city like kitchens, bedrooms, dining areas, shrines, etc. The Forbidden City was a city for the elite in ancient times so it had everything they needed to survive within the city walls. The next picture shows a typical bedroom of an elite that lived here.
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Finally, this is a picture from outside the rear gates of the Forbidden City. You can see the wall that enclosed the city, a bell tower in the corner that was undoubtly used for security, and the moat that surrounds the city.
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Next I crossed the street to Jingshan Park. In the background you can see a pagoda up on the hill. I wanted to hike up to the pagoda because I was told you can get a great view of the Forbidden City and Beijing from there.
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Inside the pagoda (which is a temple in case you didn't know) was a big sitting Buddha. The Buddha faces the Forbidden City, in fact it has a direct view of the Forbidden City. I bet this was done on purpose so the Buddha could look over and protect the Forbidden City and it's inhabitants. You are not supposed to take pictures of the Buddha, but I had already taken this one when I found that out. So you only get a side view of the Buddha.
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Unfortunately there is a lot of smog in Beijing so none of the pictures looking out from up here came in that clear so I can't show you the amazing view from up here. You do get quite a good view of the Forbidden City and just how big it is along with the layout of the city. Finally, I went to the Beijing Zoo. This is the main entrance to the zoo.
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Living in San Diego we have a wonderful zoo and with every zoo I visit I see just how wonderful it really is. The only other zoo I put in the same class as our zoo (from the ones I have been too) is the Singapore zoo where they have a wonderful night safari. Anyways, my impression of the Beijing zoo is dirty, crowded (althought what isn't in China), and filled with rude visitors. On the bright side it is super cheap at less than $3 to get in. I found trash all over the zoo grounds even in the open animal cages. So how did it get there? By the rude visitors. I personally witnessed people throwing trash into the animal enclosures, I saw people yelling at animals to get them to move, etc. I thought they would at least be nice to the giant pandas, but no. They were just as rude to them also. I helped do research with the giant pandas when I was in college so I know all about their behavior and lifestyle. Giant pandas eat, sleep, and poop. That is it. They are not terribly exciting to watch, but they are cute. Like this giant panda I got a picture of.
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I was a bit surprised that the zoo did not supervise the giant panda exhibits and monitor the noise level. At the SD Zoo the giant panda exhibit is very closely monitored. You have to keep the noise level down and they always have at least one person working the exhibit at all times. I don't know if this is because the SD Zoo is trying to mimic the quiet environment of the giant pandas as they live solitary lives in the forests or if the Chinese government has given them very strict guidelines to follow. Either way I was just shocked by the difference between how the 2 zoos handled the giant pandas. I thought the locals would have had more pride and respect for a national icon. Maybe that is just me being an animal lover. Anyways my feet were getting tired, I was unhappy with the treatment of the animals, and I have seen pretty much all the animals before in other zoos so I decided to call it a day. Well I got to see a lot of interesting things today and I am looking forward to tomorrow as I get to go see the Great Wall of China at Badaling (I already got my train tickets so I am good to go).
It was some kind of hybrid tortilla/egg wrap with a hot dog inside. It was delicious. As you can see it looks a lot like a tortilla, but it is clearly made with egg as the inside looks like a fried egg. Inside of it was the cheapest generic hot dog I have ever had, some lettuce, chili paste, and some dark brown sauce that was rubbed on it. I am hoping the cart is there again tomorrow so I can get another one for breakfast, but without the hot dog. After eating the wonderful Costco hot dogs I have become a hot dog snob only eating the best brand hot dogs. So after getting my breakfast I hopped on the subway back to the Forbidden City to explore the inner workings of the city. The inner city hosts a few more grand squares leading to the main building with a grand staircase in front of it. On the sides of the central courtyards are many passage ways like the one below.
These passage ways lead to various areas of the inner city like kitchens, bedrooms, dining areas, shrines, etc. The Forbidden City was a city for the elite in ancient times so it had everything they needed to survive within the city walls. The next picture shows a typical bedroom of an elite that lived here.
Finally, this is a picture from outside the rear gates of the Forbidden City. You can see the wall that enclosed the city, a bell tower in the corner that was undoubtly used for security, and the moat that surrounds the city.
Next I crossed the street to Jingshan Park. In the background you can see a pagoda up on the hill. I wanted to hike up to the pagoda because I was told you can get a great view of the Forbidden City and Beijing from there.
Inside the pagoda (which is a temple in case you didn't know) was a big sitting Buddha. The Buddha faces the Forbidden City, in fact it has a direct view of the Forbidden City. I bet this was done on purpose so the Buddha could look over and protect the Forbidden City and it's inhabitants. You are not supposed to take pictures of the Buddha, but I had already taken this one when I found that out. So you only get a side view of the Buddha.
Unfortunately there is a lot of smog in Beijing so none of the pictures looking out from up here came in that clear so I can't show you the amazing view from up here. You do get quite a good view of the Forbidden City and just how big it is along with the layout of the city. Finally, I went to the Beijing Zoo. This is the main entrance to the zoo.
Living in San Diego we have a wonderful zoo and with every zoo I visit I see just how wonderful it really is. The only other zoo I put in the same class as our zoo (from the ones I have been too) is the Singapore zoo where they have a wonderful night safari. Anyways, my impression of the Beijing zoo is dirty, crowded (althought what isn't in China), and filled with rude visitors. On the bright side it is super cheap at less than $3 to get in. I found trash all over the zoo grounds even in the open animal cages. So how did it get there? By the rude visitors. I personally witnessed people throwing trash into the animal enclosures, I saw people yelling at animals to get them to move, etc. I thought they would at least be nice to the giant pandas, but no. They were just as rude to them also. I helped do research with the giant pandas when I was in college so I know all about their behavior and lifestyle. Giant pandas eat, sleep, and poop. That is it. They are not terribly exciting to watch, but they are cute. Like this giant panda I got a picture of.
I was a bit surprised that the zoo did not supervise the giant panda exhibits and monitor the noise level. At the SD Zoo the giant panda exhibit is very closely monitored. You have to keep the noise level down and they always have at least one person working the exhibit at all times. I don't know if this is because the SD Zoo is trying to mimic the quiet environment of the giant pandas as they live solitary lives in the forests or if the Chinese government has given them very strict guidelines to follow. Either way I was just shocked by the difference between how the 2 zoos handled the giant pandas. I thought the locals would have had more pride and respect for a national icon. Maybe that is just me being an animal lover. Anyways my feet were getting tired, I was unhappy with the treatment of the animals, and I have seen pretty much all the animals before in other zoos so I decided to call it a day. Well I got to see a lot of interesting things today and I am looking forward to tomorrow as I get to go see the Great Wall of China at Badaling (I already got my train tickets so I am good to go).