Bit of a lie in this morning and got off to the Forbidden City finally at 12pm. Again it was huge, and we hadn't really allowed enough time to have a good look round. Much of our time was taken up with posing for photographs for all the Chinese tourists who were queueing up to touch the golden children. We got a auto guide which really just read out the info on the boards that were around the palace. One or two interesting facts - the palace has more or less been completely burnt down over the years. Only one building is still original. Mainly because the buildings were made from wood. There were huge pots outside each building filled with water ready to put out the fires. Even in winter the pots were heated to keep the water from freezing over (guess because they also had fires in the buildings in winter to keep warm).
Lot of info on Cixi - who was the Emperoress Dowager - the person mainly responsible for the downfall of the dynasty. She used to have a throne behind the emperor and whisper the decisions to him who was sitting in front.
The palace closed at 5pm and we wandered over to Tienamen Square to watch the lowering of the flag along with the crowds. Cold and windy now.
Back to the hostel - which was in a traditional residential area of the wealthy class. All the houses were built with courtyards and with walls all around them. Put some videos on for the kids and had traditional tea with the chaps at the hostel and talked culture, politics - like you do.