Our adventures begin in China

Starting our journey with Cathay Pacific airlines to Hong Kong we made friends with the guy sitting next to us. A Bear like gay Ozzie man who reminded me of our friend Conrad. Turns out they're good mates. So the magic had already began before we touched down in China.

Touching down in Beijing at 5:30 pm Beijing time. We were met by the sweet smell of star anise, urine and Chinese dragon meat ;)

After paying a classic extortionate (to Chinese people) taxi price-and we haggled him half of want he asked for. We were dropped of at our lovely hostel safe and sound. With Belgium beer and a lovely atmosphere what more could we ask for, we booked our first excursion to the Great Wall.

After a cold Belgium beer we went to bed Looking forward to our first full day to the forbidden city, having no idea just what a treat awaited us.

Our first day......THE FORBIDDEN CITY

Built in the Ming dynasty to the Ming dynasty between 1420 to 1920. It served as the home of emperors and their households as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government for almost 500 years.

HONOUR

In April 1644 due to an uprise of the peasant people. The Ming emporer Chongzhen was close to being over thrown so he killed all the woman in his family and hung himself from a tree in Jingzhen park.

CONCUBINES

The distinction between empress and concubine is sometimes confusing. An emperor would take a series of wives, the most important receiving the title of empress. The empress would be in charge of all the other women below her. Concubines were organized underneath the empress on seven different levels. Emperor Kangxi was said to have the most at 79 concubines....must of been a tired and busy man ;)

There was a stories of a concubine jealousy and killings. Concubine Zhen was the concubine of Emperor Guangxu. Guangxu was a reformer who wanted to liberalize laws and education during the late Qing Dynasty. Zhen had similar thoughts and was favoured over the Empress as she was more politically interested and similar to the Emporers ideas. The empress was so jealous she had the concubine

drowned in a well whilst they were away from the forbidden city. After years the empress grew superstitious and believed the concubine would haunt her and create bad luck for her so she had the body given a proper burial.

LION GUARDS

Chinese guardian lions or Imperial guardian lion, traditionally known in Chinese simply as Shi. Originally created in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and were believed to have powerful mythic protective benefits. A lot of older or important buildings had some form of shi guarding there entrance. Obviously the forbidden city's were grander.

ROYAL DRINKING GAMES

One thing I definitely learnt was no matter what culture or how long ago. Everyone enjoys a good piss up. Qianlong had a small stream constructed in the shape of a serpent. Cups of wine were floated on the stream during a drinking game. If you got the wine you either had to compose a poem or down the wine.