June 6th : The Forbidden City and Chinese Acrobats

We woke early to head to one of the most famous sights in Beijing: The Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is the site of the original Palace in Beijing, where the emperor and other royalty lived and ruled. It’s called the forbidden city because people were forbidden to enter. Indeed, the royal grounds are surrounded by many levels of gates and walls.



On the way to the City, we walked through Tian’anmen Square, the largest and one of the most famous public squares in the world. Then we walked through Tian’anmen Gate, and into the City.




It was a rainy morning, and we all quickly bought umbrellas. However, we still managed to get quite wet!



Although we had planned an afternoon full of hiking hills and exploring parks, the rainy weather made us opt for an afternoon inside, napping and shopping.
In the evening, we went out to watch a show of Chinese acrobats. The equivalent of the Western circus, only much more like circ de soleil than anything else, the acrobats had us spell bound as they performed amazing balancing acts and impressive feats of flexibility.