Scenes from The Forbidden City.

One day over the summer, two friends of mine went out to the Forbidden City in Beijing. One was a friend from work, a sweet Chinese girl named Dear (her English name), and the other a tall English guy, named Oliver (such a classically British name, right?).

They're pretty rad.

That was taken just inside the Forbidden City. What follows were taken in the Forbidden City, and some are some of my favorite photos I took in China (other than the Great Wall pictures... which I just realized you guys haven't seen yet. Oops! Consider those coming soon as well). 

I loved the detailing on every rooftop in China. It always just amazed me. 

While we were there, I asked Dear why the Forbidden City was only open until four every afternoon. She told me, "It's haunted." 

I looked at her blankly.

Apparently, a woman (an empress? a concubine? my memory is fuzzy now) committed suicide on the grounds many years ago during an invasion (or maybe because her lover cheated?). 

Now, guards have frequently reported seeing a woman wearing traditional Chinese dress walking between buildings. 

When they would go to chase her out, they would find that there was no one there, even though there was only one way in and out.

Eventually, they assumed this woman was upset because the guests were disturbing her final resting place, so out of respect for her and the other who have died at the Forbidden City they only open from 10-4 every day. 

Naturally, this just made Ollie and I want to spend the night so we could see this woman for ourselves.
We decided time in a Chinese prison wasn't worth it. 

Maybe some day.

 

And that's me in front of the famous portrait of Chairman Mao. Ironically, you actually don't see as many photos of him around as people would have you believe. This is one of the few I saw (outside of touristy places) throughout my time in China.

More photos coming soon, promise!