Forbidden City

My first me-day. Since Kaho left yesterday and the girls (Beth, Luca and Marlene) are in Hongkong, it was time for a me-day. I was actually looking forward to this day. It has been so lovely in Beijing, and I met so many lovely people. But it was just time for me to spent some time with.. well, me.
I made a half ass plan to go to the Forbidden City today and enjoy it with the Dutch audio-guide. Yes, they actually have a Dutch audio-guide in Beijing, China :P I was surprised when I learned about this last time, so I really wanted to use it.

I woke up really early for a Sunday. The teacher I live with went to work. Yes, on a Sunday. This is because of the upcoming festival. Instead of really getting 3 days off, people have to work the weekend and get 3 days of after that. So she went to work, while I am still free till next Monday. I was awake and didn't feel like sleeping anymore. So I got up, turned on my computer, did some things with it (surf the internet, watch the Vampire Diaries), ate breakfast and decided to get dressed at some point. While thinking about what else I wanted to do that day it hit me. I wanted to go to Mao's Mausoleum. This thing is only open in the mornings for some strange reason. So I thought that I would go there, since I was already up.
So I went on my way and got to Tian'anmen square. I walked across the immense square towards the big building, which is the mausoleum. Getting in wasn't as easy as you would think.. I first had to go away from the square, across the street, to put my bag in a locker (and my camera). Then I needed to go to a ID-check, passed the guards, go to some gates to check what was in my pockets etc, more guards and after all that I could walk in to the big building. Before entering I saw a sign which asked for you to be quiet and take off your hat. Walked into a big room, with a big statue of Mao in it and lots of flowers. In that room there are more people who check if you are doing nothing illegal and they also tell you to quickly walk by. Then you come in to a hallway were you need to line up for the next room. In the next room: two guards standing in a glass room, in it a glass coffin with Mao in it. I thought it was all quite spectacular.

I went to sit in the sun at Tian'anmen square to think about what I wanted to do next. I decided just to go to the Forbidden City, although there was also a walk that I really wanted to do. While walking from the square to the Forbidden City a few Chinese people asked me to make a picture with them. This happened more than once today.. so I have more pictures for my album already.

The Forbidden City was once again beautiful. The audio-guide.. well, the Dutch was really good. The guide itself.. with GPS tracking, didn't really work. So at the end of the day, I got my money back.
I loved to walk around alone in the city. I could go where ever I wanted and linger around as much as I wanted. It was quite nice.
At the end of the City is a big park, which looks really beautiful. I really wanted to go there but I was already quite tired. Still, I went into the park. Had a small rest and climbed up the hill to see a wonderful view of Beijing. Here I asked someone to make a picture of me. You can see me on top of the hill, with the Forbidden City in the background. Too bad that at this point the weather wasn't really good anymore. I walked back, passing a tree on which an emperor hang himself, and went home.
Bought some noodles and strawberries on the street and spent the evening preparing my trip to Datong for tomorrow and talking to people in Holland.