Beijing day one part 2 Forbiddin city

 We went to the Forbidden City. And it was Pretty big! I learned the Forbidden City is a place that the emperor lived in in the olden times and it really was forbidden. Haha no one was ever to walk in the middle street leading into the city other than the emperor unless for a wedding ceremony and that was one time only. If you did not comply and became a problem they simply took your head away. Im thinking that would be a great way to get rid of people I have problems with as well. Man this trip has been so enlightening ;) I don't know if everyone knows this, but Carl told me that the number of the emperor is 9 because 10 is the number of god. So, in the Forbidden City, there are 9,999 rooms!

That seems about right. Considering that the Emperor had to house his 3,000 concubines who never left the city. That was unless you were one of his favorites and then he would allow one maybe two visits to their family in their whole life. Carl was telling us that really the Forbidden City was a Jail to these concubines and I can see why, but I mean I’m sure they had plenty of closet space so that would be nice. Carl told us about the process of picking a concubine and from what he said, it’s pretty intense, the girls pretty much have to stand on stage and they say “too small” “too fat” “too short” “too tall” etc. and that’s got to make them feel pretty down about themselves. But if you pass that part then they make you talk and your voice has to be sweet and then after that they go into the other stuff and that’s just awkward to think about so long story short, I’m glad I never had to be a concubine or “try out”.

 Carl also told us that if we looked at the ground and saw the bricks that the ground was 7 layers of brick/cement thick. So if you were planning to dig your way to china, you better hope you don't end up under the city because that'll stop ya for sure! Haha