Tiananmen Square (Day 3580 - 9/13/19)

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Today, they are going to Tiananmen Square. Originally, they were supposed to go to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden Palace, and the Summer Palace tomorrow. However, there is going to be military parade next month and they are doing rehearsals for it tomorrow. So, a lot of places are getting shut down for the rehearsals. Therefore, the plans for tomorrow and today were switched. Currently, they are at Tiananmen Gate where a portrait of Mao Tse Tung (Chairman Mao) is placed. Chairman Mao stood on the Tiananmen Gate 70 years ago on October 1st and declared that he would establish a new China. This spot is an important part in relation to the history of the Chinese government, so it will be closed down for the military parade rehearsals.

Stephen says that the size of Tiananmen Square is comparable to the National Mall in Washington, DC. Then, he talks about how the National Museum of China behind him is an important museum like the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. This museum has historical artifacts and relics. Then, he points out the Monument to the People's Heroes which is a monument made for all the people who gave their lives for the war from 1840 to 1949 that established the new China. Behind that monument, there is the Parliament building where the members of the Parliament of China gather to decide on laws. Another building in Tiananmen Square is the building where Chairman Mao was embalmed. The tour guide was telling the group to go inside and look. But, you can't bring a camera or backpack in and you have to be searched before going in. So, Stephen doesn't end up going in.

Next, they are entering through the Forbidden City. They also go into what's now considered the modern Forbidden City. Stephen thinks that they it takes a long time to get to the center of the Forbidden City because the emperor wanted people to walk through and feel a sense of awe before meeting the him. The tour guide tells them that there are a total of 8,800 rooms in the Forbidden City. There is a legend that says that the emperor had wanted to build 10,000 rooms in the Forbidden City. The emperor of China was considered to be the son of the Jade Emperor (God of Heaven). In Chinese culture, a son must pay respects to his father. The emperor's advisor advised him that according to Chinese mythology the Jade Emperor has a palace with 10,000 rooms. So, in order to show respect to his father the emperor must not have a palace that is the same size as his father. The emperor decided to build a total of 9,999.5 rooms to show respect, but there are actually only 8,800 rooms.

Then, Stephen talks about how you can tell how important a building is by the number of statuettes there are on the corners of the roofs. There is only one building in all of China that has 10 statuettes on the roof and it is located here in the Forbidden City. There are special events hosted in this building 2-3 times a year. In the past, the emperor of China would have coronation ceremonies or occasional banquets in this building. Afterwards, they had a quick lunch and got on a bus to the Summer Palace. Stephen didn't record much there because it was so crowded. Stephen explains that the Summer Palace was a place located near a lake that the emperor would go to during the summer months to escape from the heat.

There was a long bus ride back to the Novotel Hotel. They are both exhausted and almost fell asleep on the bus ride back to the hotel. Stephen explains that they are getting enough sleep, but the amount of physical activity they've been doing every day on the trip has left them exhausted. Then, he talks about how they are having a fancy dinner tonight which includes Peking duck, a specialty of Beijing.

At dinner, everyone in the tour group tries Baijiu. Next, they all try Peking duck which is delicious. They were shown that they should take some Peking duck, bean sauce, onion, and cucumbers and wrap it in a Mandarin pancake. The servers kept brining out more Peking duck when they had finished. Stephen ended eating 12 wraps and Mark ended up eating about 10 wraps. They were all so full, but then their tour guide mentioned that the servers would be bringing out other courses. They all pushed themselves to eat the rest of the food even though they were really full. Stephen talks about how this was supposed to be the dinner they had on the final day of the trip, but the plans for tomorrow and today were switched due to the military parade.

Stephen says that today was one of his favorite days of the trip because they got to be in Tiananmen Square. He talks about how he thinks of Tiananmen Square when thinking of China. Mallory says that it was really interesting to see Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden Palace, and the Summer Palace. Tomorrow is their final day in China and they are going to see the Great Wall of China and the Beijing Zoo. They aren't going to be able to go through the entire zoo since it's so large, so they are just going to see the pandas. Stephen mentions that he is glad that they were able to finish up dinner early since they will be able to have more time to sleep.