Getting to Forbidden City from The Peninsula Beijing is not hard to do. Just ask the concierge to hail a cab, tell him where to drop us off and that's that. But what happened to us wasn't as easy as I hoped it would be.
The driver drops as off at the EXIT (North Gate). We were told that the entrance is on the South Gate which meant, we would have to walk (or take a rickshaw, which we didn't in fear of being ripped off) all the way around the FC just to get to the main entrance.
This is how far we had to walk. Now, to some this is nothing, easy as pie...but when you have to avoid all the spit wads on the sidewalk, it was HARD to do!!! I felt like I was walking thru a landmine infested area! Don't judge me. I am not being OA. You should see how thick and often they spit!
Anyway, when we finally got to the entrance, (RMB 60 each) we only had an hour left till the Forbidden City closed. Steffie and I did a marathon tour. We went from one area to another briefly but it seemed like the halls were all closed. Did we miss it or are they really not open to the public? We were only able to go in Hall of Ceramics. Were we too late? Anyway, although we were impressed at the size of the FC, not being able to go into any Halls, we were quite disappointed. I mean, I didn't even see Mulan for crying out loud.
Good thing about our April trip to Beijing, THE WEATHER. It was great! It was chilly and didn't rain at all. The sun wasn't beating down hard either. Perfect!
In the Hall of Ceramics.
The ceiling is an art in itself.
In perfect condition, Steffie and I questioned it's authenticity. We will never know.....
So many people gathered around this Hall.....being stupid as we are, we didn't get a tour guide so I don't even know what's so important about this temple. Anyway, thought I would take a photo of it too and read on it now that I am back in Manila. #touristfail
Going home was an adventure in itself. NO CAB would take us back to the hotel so we had no choice but to ride their version of tricycle. The driver drove like a drunken Schumacher. We almost died...again and again. I swear to you, I might have stopped the blood flow of Steffie's arm because I was holding on to dear life.
This is how small the tuktuk was.
And after the ordeal, he had the nerve to charge us RMB 40! When I asked our local friend, she said it should have been only 10. Sigh.....
And with that, I close the doors on our Forbidden City adventure.
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