MBA Student of Life: Fresh Prince of Beijing

05/31

The first full day of exploring the city ended up being an incredible day and took me throughout many of the historical parts of the city as well as being guided to some local cuisine that ended up being one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my entire life….

We started out jumping on the Beijing subway at about 9AM. As Americans we think 9AM is well into the workday and there should be little traffic. We found out the instant we walked into the subway station that’s not the case. After purchasing our tickets and finding the correct train, we walked to the platform with the rest of the population of Beijing and I stood in the back of the line figuring we’d have to wait a couple trains before being able to get on. Not only was I wrong, but I was about to witness one, if not all of the laws of physics get shattered as every single person on the platform squeezed onto the train.

After a comfortable ride we arrived at our first stop, Tiananmen Square. Many if not all of you have heard about the protests of 1989 when a single man defied the whole Chinese government by standing in front of army tanks as they made their way through the square. The picture of the one-man protest I think is one of the most powerful images I’ve ever seen.

At the northern most area of Tiananmen Square is the Forbidden Palace, which was home to numerous Chinese emperors throughout the centuries. It also sports 30,000 bedrooms in case they had in-laws in for the weekend.

Walking over the moat that surrounds the palace and in through the main gate I was overwhelmed by the sheer size and quality of the construction. Before reaching the actual palace rooms where the emperor would live, there were three main gates we had to go through that were each about a quarter-mile wide and 100 yards thick made of rock and cement.

Continuing through the three gates you finally walk into the actual entrance of the palace area which is a gigantic courtyard surrounded by ancient buildings. Through the middle of the courtyard lies a path made from jade called the Emperors Path. Only the emperor in power was ever allowed to walk along the path while everyone else was required to stand along side while the emperor made his way from building to building.

Building after building goes by as we walked throughout the palace where we saw the throne room, his changing room, sleeping room, and my personal favorite “doing nothing” room.

After walking over a mile through the palace we finally approach the North Entrance and the gardens just inside the gate. Many of the trees are well over 300 years old and create a really awesome area for the emperor to come hang out in. Also in the garden is a gigantic rock (shown in the pictures) that was hauled, as one giant stone, from southern China all the way to the palace so the emperor could look and play on it.

Finally after a full day in the palace we decided to walk over and try a "hot pot" meal. I have no idea what this is going to entail but I trust in our guide as we walk through the back alleys. A "hot pot" consists of a bowl of peanut sauce for dipping and a giant pot of boiling water sitting in the middle of the table. The waiter brings out plate after plate of various kinds of thinly sliced raw meat. We put the meat in the pot watch it cook, pick it out, dip it in the peanut sauce and go to town. After about 30 pieces of some of the freshest, best tasting meat I've ever had I come to the realization that I've just had one of the best meals of my entire life.

South Entrance to the Forbidden Palace