A Lady in London

After my sunny afternoon layover in Helsinki, I boarded a long-haul flight in anticipation of a second layover, this one in Beijing, China.

Seven hours later I arrived in the sparkling PEK airport. After clearing customs and immigration, I boarded the Airport Express to the city. The train and the entire metro system were brand new and delightfully easy to navigate. Well done, Beijing.

When I arrived in town I checked in at my hotel on the eastern side of Beijing. Not long after, I was met by a friend of mine from London who was the reason I was visiting the city in the first place. She had introduced me to a Mongolian friend of hers from college, and he had invited us and 15 others to visit him in Ulaanbaatar for a week.

But before Mongolia came Beijing, and we planned to take full advantage of our day-long layover. We started by hiring a taxi for the afternoon and heading to the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City has long fascinated me. Its beautiful historic architecture and enchanting name alone were enough to inspire a visit. Moving through thick humidity, my friend and I passed by the guardian lion statues and stood in awe of row after row of historic halls and gates, their yellow roof tiles shining over vermilion facades.

Neither of us had anticipated how enormous the Forbidden City was. There were countless halls and large squares that spanned innumerable city blocks. By the time we got to the beautiful Imperial Flower Garden and the Pavilion of a Thousand Autumns, we felt like we had walked for miles.

We exited the Forbidden City at the Gate of Divine Prowess, right in front of Jing Shan Park and its stunning mountain-top Wanchun Pavilion. After finding our driver, we set off on a two-hour journey to the Great Wall of China. I have wanted to see the Great Wall for years, and I was excited to have enough time in Beijing to do so.

As we drove away from the Forbidden City in Beijing, I couldn’t help but take a last look at the tiled roofs and their guardian sculptures. I was glad that something once so off-limits was now so profoundly accessible. To be continued…