August 28th, 2007: Forbidden City, Class, Kung Fu Show

They postponed our trip to the Forbidden City to today. So I lucked out. I missed the Summer Palace, thought Im bummed out about that-Im super stoked that I was able to see that City still. I was running on no sleep that morning. Ya see, I got into Beijing at 4:15 in the morning. We got up to have class at 9. After class was the Forbidden City. This was the location that is popular from the Disney Film Mulan. That was cool and huge culture dive. There were 9,999 rooms within its walls. Everything was painted in red. Red signified the color of the palace in Heaven. The emperor was the closest living person to Heaven, hence everything red for his city. The color yellow represent(s) royalty. The Emperor had 3,000 wives. Let me say that again. 3,000 wives. Yikes. They seemed to have a them of "longevity" throughout the entire city.
The day seemed to drag a little while we were in the city. After the Forbidden City, we went to dinner and a Kung Fu Show. The art was impressive, but I was just too tired to appreciate it. My lack of sleep was kicking from the plane.

A)The forbidden city was home for the emperor throughout the year, except for the summer. In the summer he lived at the summer palace. The city was used for two dynasties. So it was the capital back in the day

B)This experience helped place things in order. Like the classifications of different people, social classes, etc...

C)Compared to the US to China. In the US everyone is equal. It is just the opposite in China-everyone is classified into a certain field. My personal values do not place any one person closer to heaven than any other, except for Jesus Christ.

D)I thought the city was interesting and unique. It's like I learned a "cliff notes" version of Ancient Chinese History. Plus, I admired the overall beauty of the Forbidden City itself.