Beijing, on a Holiday

October 4, 2010  •  Beijing, China, Travel

You don’t know China until you’ve wrestled through a crowd of 1 million plus people for a day. It can be educational, it can be interesting, but without a doubt it is exhausting.We began the day in Tian ‘en Men Square, align with every Chinese person celebrating the founding of the PRC.
Entire families were here and I am talking about hundreds of thousands of people if not more. Everyone from little kids to Grandma.
We toured the complete Forbidden City, what seems like 10 square miles. Since it is all made from wood, no wonder they needed all of these urns for water in case of fire.The palace structures seem to go on forever.We enjoyed lunch at a hotel……before heading to the Summer Palace with at least 1 million other people on this gorgeous day. I have never been pushed so many times in a single day. Makes you want to hit someone!I kept my cool and we ended the day with a rickshaw ride through the hutongs -the old style Chinese neighborhoods. Truth be told I held my breath most of the way and thanked my lucky stars for the wonderful home I have. Sometimes it just takes a little perspective. China is packed with people – do you think they will all be at the Great Wall tomorrow with us???