Forbidden Palace, City, and Starbucks

Wow, two weeks with restricted internet access make Greg go... something.. something. Not to say that China and Vietnam weren't fun to travel in, but censorship gets to me. Especially on that large a scale. Anyway, I'm back in a country that promotes a more liberal freedom of speech, and also has a ridiculously fast internet connection. So here come the stories and pictures!

First up was the Forbidden City. It is actually called a bunch of things, Forbidden City, Imperial City, Forbidden Palace, and Imperial Palace. There's even a Starbucks (Forbidden or Imperial, whichever you prefer) inside somewhere. I couldn't find it though. The place was PACKED when I was there. It was impressive. The actual Palace was gorgeous. You go through like 6 gates before you get to it though, in fact a lot of people walk right past it thinking it's another gate. (Like one very clueless Jersey kid.) There were museums, but they are the kind I hate. The buildings that were designed for something else, but they still pack as many people as they can in there to see the exhibits. I hate that. Instead I just enjoyed walking amongst the streets and gates. It's a breathtaking structure.

Next came the Temple of Heaven. This is what I wish every tourist attraction was like. It is a giant park, with plenty of space for everything. It just happens to have a series of gorgeous temples in the middle of it. You pay to get close to them, but not much, and even then there is plenty of room to walk, view, and take pictures without wanting to kill every person walking around with a parasol in their hands. (Doesn't matter who is holding it, man, woman, child, the parasol thing is annoying. Just wear a hat!) What was really cool were all the people in the park. All of the retired Chinese pretty much just hang out here all day. They play mahjong, practice singing, dancing, yoga, martial arts, and every other park activity you can imagine. There was one old guy whose face showed his age, but he was ripped. He looked like someone had taken an older man's head and placed it on a marine's body. At this point, I was absolutely beat. I went back to the hotel and crashed hard.