From Zhongguancun, a ride on Line 4 with a transfer to Line 1 takes Ge, Michael, and I to The Palace Museum, better known by Westerners as The Forbidden City. First step? Subway security.
Every subway station has an X-ray machine, through which you’re asked to put any bags you’re carrying. If you leave a water bottle in your bag, the security personnel ask you to remove it and hand it over for them to test in another sensor machine of some sort. Alternatively, you can just carry the water bottle and visibly take a sip, I guess to show that it’s not some dangerous chemical. Some stations also have walk-through metal detectors, followed by personnel to pat you down with handheld detectors. Security.
The turnstiles open with a wave of a transit card. Beijing’s subway fare system varies by distance traveled, with a minimum charge of 3 yuan and a maximum of 8. Even after a 50 minute ride across the city, I had only spent 6 yuan, about 1 US dollar.
The wide platforms accomodate rush hour crowds, and many of the newer stations have glass walls lining the tracks — quite appreciated when a train flies alongside a packed platform. Many platforms even have bathrooms!
And then the trains! With wide trains and lots of places to
hold, the trains are comfortable during the quiet midday and
not bad at rush hour depending on whether or not you believe
in a personal bubble.
TV screens show public
announcements and subway stations, and ads can be watched through
the train windows, projected onto the tunnel walls. Maps of
the line above each door have LED indicators for the current,
next, and upcoming stations. Announcements are thankfully
in both Mandarin and English.
With the high chance of traffic jams and general lack of car, the subway becomes my main form of transportation around Beijing. Good thing it is so well-maintained!
We come out of the subway and see little besides a line of people and a security checkpoint — but once through, there it is: Tiananmen gate with a massive portrait of none other than Mao Zedong. We weave through the many tourists (who mostly appear to be from other parts of China), stopping occasionally to take pictures.
Time for a brief history lesson: since the fifteenth century, the Emperor of China and his family and servants lived within the massive complex of the Forbidden City, and no one was allowed in or out without explicit imperial permission — that is, until 1925, when Feng Yuxiang led a coup and established the Republic of China, transforming the palace into a museum. The portrait of Mao commemorates him standing on Tiananmen and proclaiming the People’s Republic of China, the establishment of Communism in mainland China.
The museum is packed, certainly earning its status as the most visited museum in the world — but fortunately, 180 acres is plenty of space. After exploring about two-thirds of the museum, and getting lost in the maze of red walls and yellow roofs, we call it a day and go to get lunch. The photo gallery and captions below highlight some of the curiosities in the palaces.