Forbidden City - No Longer Forbidden Grounds

Dear fellow travel bugs,

One of the feature songs during the countdown to the 2008 Summer Beijing Olympics was 'Beijing welcomes you'(北京欢迎你).

Besides featuring more than a hundred entertainers and artistes from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, one is also treated a a visual feast of stunning footages from China's cultural, political and educational capital - Beijing.

There were many shots made in one of Beijing's must-see attractions - the Forbidden City.



With a long 590 years of history, the Forbidden City used to be home to the Chinese emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. These palatial grounds were off limits to all, except the royal household, officials and guards.

I am sure that those Chinese emperors of the past would have never imagined that their home would be so open to all paying visitors, regardless of status, position, wealth or nationality. The Forbidden City is visited by millions of visitors each year. In fact, in order to protect this World Heritage Site, it has decided to introduce an e-ticketing system next year to cap the number of visitors entering the palace.

According to Wikipedia, the Forbidden City consists of 980 buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms[1] and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft). Visitors are allowed to visit only parts of this complex, including the Palace Museum, which has an extensive collection of Chinese ceramics, architecture and artwork dating back up to 5,000 years.

During the peak season (April 16 to October 15), an admission ticket will cost RMB60 per person. During the off-peak season (October 16 to April 15), the ticket price is RMB40.

Admission times is 8:30am all-year round. The closing time is 5:00pm during the peak season, and 4:30pm during the off-peak season.

Mysterious Xinjiang

Dear fellow travel bugs,

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (新疆维吾尔自治区) remains one of the more underexplored travel destinations in the People's Republic of China.

This is partly due to its harsh terrain. Much of Xinjiang remains uninhabitable with vast mountain ranges and long stretches of barren deserts. If you are travelling in summer, be prepared for the unbearable heat. Drink lots of fluids to prevent yourself from getting a heat stroke.

Long bus rides (up to 22 hours and beyond for some routes) are the norm, when commuting between destinations. Train tickets to Kashgar from Urumqi (Xinjiang's capital) and back are mostly in hot demand. It is best that you buy the train ticket at Urumqi, if you want to be assured of a seat in the train carriage. Otherwise, if you are buying a ticket from a train stop along the Urumqi-Kashgar route, you may have to endure a tiring overnight journey, squeezing with strangers in the train compartments. For the latest travel information, do check out the Lonely Planet China (Country Guide).

Xinjiang offers plenty for the adventurous. Being home to a number of different ethnic groups, it has lots to offer in terms of languages, religions, cultures, and dressing. If you hunger for adventure, Xinjiang is the place to go.

I leave you with a picture of an aerial view of the stark mountain ranges. This was taken during a summer trip, when you could even feel the piercing heat from inside the aircraft.