An adventurous day to Forbidden City, in Beijing, China

After a well-rested night of sleep in Beijing, I decided to go on with my adventure to the Forbidden City, a place visited by 50,000 people daily who desire to see what a Chinese Imperial Palace from the Ming dynasty was once until the end of Qing dynasty (1420 to 1912). It is called the Forbidden City because nobody was allowed to enter or leave the walled city without the emperor’s permission.

A foggy day combined with humidity made the palace look even more mysterious. As you walk towards the large gates, thousands of people walk in the same direction as you. It is
just a matter of time when one person takes a picture with you and the rest of the crowd follows! Maybe we looked different amongst the crowd, so a lot of people thought we are some sort of VIPs. For a moment we felt famous, but we almost didn’t get in because half of an hour was spent at the gate pleasing people and taking photos with them! Tickets sell out pretty fast as you can imagine the number of people trying to get hold of them.

As soon as we got in, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the enormity of the palace and the work of art of every single detail. Since I was a little girl, I dreamed to visit China while reading Chinese stories in children’s storybooks or watching Chinese cartoons and movies. Standing in the middle of Imperial Palace’s courtyard made me feel as small as a fly. The place was filled with tourists, almost 50,000 by the time we had entered, and I think it could still accommodate 50,000 more.

The mist added a lot more mystery to the imposing Imperial Palace and the more I walked through the immense gates, the more astonished I got by the designs, art and the people. At one point it began to rain and my wish came true. The rain made people hide and the courtyard of the palace got nearly empty. You can see your reflection on the old pavement while the feeling of freedom kicks in and makes you feel like the strongest person on the planet. Since the journey had begun, I couldn’t stop smiling to myself thinking how lucky I was to have all my dreams come true. As all good things come to an end, the palace had to close at 5 pm. as it is said that after 5 p.m., certain parts of the palace are unsafe and it is best to leave early.

It was a hassle to find a taxi outside the palace, so we decided to take a tuk tuk ride to a shopping place because what good is a trip to China if you don’t experience the shopping and bargaining. It was a good experience except for the fact that almost nobody spoke English and our ride was so “safe” that we thought we would die any second if we lost focus and didn’t watch the door which was “safely” secured with an elastic strap. The natural air conditioning was providing enough ventilation from every side of the ride. What is a day without some adventure on the local streets after all?

Of course the driver had to take us to the wrong place because he didn’t understand us, but we decided to give it a go, do some shopping and return to the hotel. One thing you must watch out for is that taxi drivers try to rip you off by taking advantage of your lack of knowledge. They know that you are a tourist, so you will not be aware of a lot of things like the usual taxi rates. They will make you pay 200 yen for a ride that may actually cost 30 yen. It is better to have someone well-informed with you or go with the meter.

Anyway, after exploring and taking hundreds of pictures at the Imperial Palace and a good shopping experience, I decided to go for a blind Chinese therapeutic massage combined with cupping. From my past experiences, I learned that you must come prepared if you want them to know what you want them to do, so I had a note written in Mandarin that explained what I wanted from A to Z. Some embarrassing situations followed but that is normal for me as you might already know that my day is incomplete without such situations.

I entered a shop in a beautiful, new white floral dress that complimented my new golden sandals. The sole of my right sandal decided to have a mind of its own and detached itself from the shoe altogether. I almost broke my face at the entrance. Every person in the store began to laugh including me. The sales woman was kind enough to give me some super glue to fix my shoe. 

It was not over yet. I bent down laughing to fix the sole and soon realized I had also glued my sandal to the floor. Thanking God for this unbelievable moment of shame, I grabbed my sandal’s heel with both hands and I forcefully pulled myself off the floor. The sandals were clearly made for show and not for a long day of walk and rain. For the entire duration of my stay in the shop, everyone was pointing at me, smiling and giggling and clapping as if I had done something marvelous.

The moral of the story is that don’t let a few mishaps ruin your experience. Enjoy the day as it comes to you and don’t focus on the small things that may appear wrong. Take a bow, smile, and laugh.