Where is Trond & Maren ?

Its one of those places where its really hard to capture the scene in a picture You feel engulfed in the place – with all the massive buildings on all sides. History going back hundred of years.

with guide

The forbidden city build from 1406 – 1420.

After going through a lot of checkpoints we came to a massive queue. And our guide told us its like this every day. Of course everybody wants to go to the forbidden city.

The tour operator had booked the tickets, but since they are linked to our name – we have to show our passports to get them and pay. We got money from the guide – and me and Maren voulenteered to stand i Line to get tickets (the guide was not allowed, we where not on a tour.. if anyone asked) So – 1,5 hour in line, 13 passports. 🙂

From the outside it looks very splendid. And amazingly buildt in only 12 years, predomanatly in wood.

The moat that surronds the forbidden city is beautiful and about 50 meters vide.

Our guide getting our gear ready, we all had earpices, so we could hear her even if we were lagging or trailing behind in the group.

And lagging behind was not hard to do – she moved at great speed, walking speed only beaten by the talking speed. I think she drew her breath at 08:00, and just kept going on a single breath until 12:00. 😀

The forbidden city is huge, there is no way one can se it all in one day. It is mindblowing that this huge luxurious area in the middel of Bejing was forbidden for anyone but the emperors and their family for 600 years. Trespassing was punishable by death. And it takes a looong time to walk around.

It has been open for the public since 1924 and it is supercheap to get in. It has somewhere between 15 – 20 million visitors annually.

It got a bit crowded at times, but still well worth it. Its one of those places you just have to se.

We have two booked tours, great wall and forbidden city – our wall trip got moved to another date, it was supposed to be today. So looking for something to do – the internet recommended a walk in the park, since the weather is sunny and warm.

Its a bit tricky figuring out what sights needs tickets and not. And if they need ticket – can you just show up or do you have to book 1 month in advance. For the parks it was a mix, but luckily no need for prebook of tickets.

Houhai is the northern part of the lake in Beijing centre. Its free for all and shows of some beautiful spots as you walk along the water.

There are botas for rent, people swimming in the water and lots of different shops and street vendors along the way. Not to crowded either, or – it got a bit crowded midday, but not completely crazy.

We hade som great icecream at the end of the first lake, it hade like 5 Michelin guide stickers – so we tried a green one and a yellow one. Great stuff ! 😀 .. The square that was towards the end of the first lake got a bit crowded and crazy, quite touristy. But still – very scenic area, and with the weather at its best behaviour it was still a supernice walk.

We saw a cat with a gold chain, looking very confident and determined.. It will haunt me for a long time. I think it was plotting…..something..

walinkg out of the first park, we come to the Baihai park, this has an entry of 10cyn – thats approx 14 nok.

One of the several sights in this park is the wall of dragons – a huge sculpture supposedly the largest in the world. Both sides had dragons – altso the roof had lots of ornaments.

There where also a small Chinese garden within the park.

The walk is nice, with lots of several hundred year old trees, different flowers and other plants. And of course the great scenic view of the lake. Towards the south west exit there are a few restaurants and Slowboat Brewing has a 3storey taphouse here, so you can enjoy the view with some excellent beers.

There are two routes to take, we did the west side, the other side will give you access to the big temple across the water – along with other buildings and temples. Next time we will have to do that side to – we spent several hours here, it was about 4 km walk with a few stops and sight along the way, so time just flies away.

While the South Korean people have a very spesifc exprience linked to the Hanbok rental. The Chinese are more limitless. You can rent you Hanfu for 24 hours and do whatever you like. Which makes it a collective experince and fun for all of us.

We went to visit the art zone, and it was a super cozy, highly creative and fun. We spent hours here. And we could have stayed a couple of days in these creative spaces without sering everything. Among cool museums, there were small atliers and shops. We found a DIY atelier, were you could buy the supplies and rent a small workbench and tools. There were selfdriving snacktruks and old industrial buildings turned into artspaces.

We found small cafés with amming food and even a prize winning brewery.

It was a bit of a metro ride to get here but we are super peoud of our metro skills.

Hear me out. I know Lego is a Danish brand. And I been to Legoland several times, but this store was FUN. Cool exibit pieces, a massive colletion and a huge selecton of Lego by the wheight. You could make your own figures. And all at a price cheaper than in Denmark and original. So if you love Lego like I do, its well worh a visit. Even though it feels a bit like cheating. Travel half way around the world to see Lego….you know what I mean. But next stop is a hip Chinese art district, so I figured I had 30 minutes to spare. I made myself a Lego man, and bought 2 premade just bcause they were super fun and I have never seen so much accessorizes for the Legowomen/man.

Sesam soup.. thick. Now we at least can say we tried it ‘D

Last night as we were walking to our hotel we noticed a huge line and was very curious. It was a small hole in the wall with cold drinks and ice cream. Everybody walked away the same green ice cream. Today as we were walking by, there was just a few people in line. So Maren decided to give it a try. You could chose green tea or jasmine. I chose Jasmine, it it was super light, melting on your tounge, like a cross between slush and soft ice. It was super good and only cost 15 kr. I will defenetly go back and taste green tea.