The Forbidden City was the next stop. It is the former emperor's palace and grounds. Everything is ornate and you travel through many series of huge gates before getting to the various areas inside the compound (multiple palaces, political offices, residential wings for the royal family). The funniest moment inside the palaces was when one young Chinese man decided to grab my hands and practice his English with me (last photo above he is walking towards me). The conversation went something like this :
Him: hello hello
Me: hi, ni hao
Him: good you are in beijing, welcome to be enjoying in country
Me: yes, you have very good english
Him: hello hello hello (still holding my hands, still not letting go)
The best part is his nose was caked in snot so I may have contracted the bird flu but he was such a sweetheart and it was valentine's day so I humored him as long as I could and then said goodbye. So now I think I kind of know how celebrities feel. On the way to the bus after the tour we passed a family and the father waved me over to take a picture with his kids, random but they act like it totally makes their day so on we go. Grace told us we have big noses so we look different and that is why we get so much attention.
I recall "ling" means zero in Mandarin.
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