We ventured out on the subway today, to find our way to Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, etc. We walked for about 20 minutes to get to the subway line 5, paid our 2 RMB per person and went in (pretty good deal for about $1.60 CAD for the whole family!). We switched trains to the line 1 at the 9th stop, and then got off at the 2nd stop, which was at Tiananmen Sq. The entire subway ride took about 35 minutes, and the trains were quite crowded. The trains were mostly standing-room only, with very few seats installed, and some cars had no seats. It was so crowded on the return trip that we had to rely on other passengers to keep us standing, since there was no hand rail either. It was exciting to be able to find our way through the streets, underground pedestrian walkways, Chinese street names, etc. and manage to get back to the apartment without incident!
The grounds of the Forbidden City are huge! There are several gates, outer buildings and annexes, and it took us a good 3 hours to go through it. And we skipped many of the side buildings because the kids were getting tired of walking. You could easily spend the whole day there. It was also very crowded. You could really get an appreciation of the population of Beijing by being there.
We were stopped at least 3 times by people asking if they could take their pictures with the girls! I said "Okay, but we want a picture with your family too!" And we did take a photo with them. Everyone had a good laugh. At one point we were sitting on benches near the Imperial Garden and the kids were eating ice cream, and a lady sat down beside Roya, put her hand around Roya's shoulders and asked if she could have a picture! We get quite a few looks when we go for walks, especially Christina and Yasmin with their light-coloured hair. The people are super friendly and ready to help. If they don't speak English, they will find someone who does!
Now we are back in the apartment and everyone is tired out. Stirfry and rice for dinner, then off to bed. More updates to follow - stay tuned.
NM (is that better, GS?)
The grounds of the Forbidden City are huge! There are several gates, outer buildings and annexes, and it took us a good 3 hours to go through it. And we skipped many of the side buildings because the kids were getting tired of walking. You could easily spend the whole day there. It was also very crowded. You could really get an appreciation of the population of Beijing by being there.
We were stopped at least 3 times by people asking if they could take their pictures with the girls! I said "Okay, but we want a picture with your family too!" And we did take a photo with them. Everyone had a good laugh. At one point we were sitting on benches near the Imperial Garden and the kids were eating ice cream, and a lady sat down beside Roya, put her hand around Roya's shoulders and asked if she could have a picture! We get quite a few looks when we go for walks, especially Christina and Yasmin with their light-coloured hair. The people are super friendly and ready to help. If they don't speak English, they will find someone who does!
Now we are back in the apartment and everyone is tired out. Stirfry and rice for dinner, then off to bed. More updates to follow - stay tuned.
NM (is that better, GS?)
1 comment:
Much better.
(Though I'm well aware that Christina wrote and typed the whole thing, and Nadim yelled from the bathroom - "hey, don't forget to put my initials on that!")
I'm not sure if this blog is a good thing. While I love getting the updates, the jealousy factor is increasing by whole multiples now.
You are well and truly missed.
GS
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