Take shelter from the wind pond cuttlefish Zi!

9/13

Onward to the Forbidden City! The day started a little rough. Four of us got into a taxi and neither Ying nor Edwin was with us. The driver took advantage of us, charged us much more than we should have, and dropped us three or four blocks away from where we really needed to be. We were lost for about an hour and a half and walked all they way around the outside of the imperial city to the south entrance (and apparently we were supposed to enter at the north entrance).
It was worth it to finally make it in though. The four of us got over our frustration for being lost and enjoyed the sites. The buildings were beautiful and huge. It was a bummer though cause a few of the bigger ones were under construction (tidying up for the Olympics next year) and they were covered with stories and stories of bamboo for the workers to use.
We luckily ran into the rest of the group after about an hour but then everyone split up to do their own thing (some of us made plans to meet up at Tiananmen Square in a few hours). I went to the man made mountain just to the north of the Forbidden city so that I could check out the view and the incredibly organized layout. Also while I was up there I took the opportunity to dress up in an emperor’s clothing and get my picture on a thrown. It was pretty funny.
A few of us walked around Tienament square and around the surrounding area which is very under construction for the Olympics in 08.
We went out to eat and the menu had the funniest translation to English that we had seen yet. Menu items included, “Fragrant and hot pig hand. The fire explodes kidney. Take shelter from the wind pond cuttlefish Zi.” Just to name a few.