The Forbidden City

Okay, so the duck was pretty good. It tasted like the dark meat on a Turkey at Thanksgiving. I love dark meat, so even with my nausea, the ducky wasn’t yucky.

Day 2- The Forbidden City

I didn't know anything about Chinese History before my trip. Here are a few things I learned:

Emperors for centuries have lived in the Forbidden City with honor, until Mao, the Chinese military and political leader who led the Communist Party of China to victory in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People’s Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976 refused to even visit the honored site. He was afraid it would throw off his Feng shui.
Here’s a little more about Mao. (I just have to include it because I didn't know who Mao was until I visited China)
Mao is regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history, and named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Mao is still a controversial figure today, over thirty years after his death. He is generally held in high regard in China where he is often portrayed as a great revolutionary and strategist who eventually defeated Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese Civil War, and transformed the country into a major power through his policies. However, many of Mao's socio-political programs such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution are blamed by critics from both within and outside China for causing severe damage to the culture, society, economy and foreign relations of China, as well as the deaths of 44.5 to 72 million people.

(Reference: Wikipedia)

After visiting the Forbidden City we shopped. I don’t like to shop and I hate to bargain. I bought one thing: a Chinese Chess set for 50 dollars. My friend walked in after me and bought the same thing for $15. Slap. You see what I mean? I don’t like to shop. I left with a huge headache, but the day wasn’t over.
That night, we went to a fantastic Chinese Acrobat Show. Amazing and lot’s of fun. Even though the theatre was filled to capacity and had no A/C it beat shopping, which is what one of the ladies in our group opted to do instead.