Wednesday, April 11, 2007





Shenyang's Forbidden City
Today I took my mom to Shenyang's Forbidden City.
No, it is not as big or as famous as the Forbidden City in Beijing, but Shenyang does indeed have one.

The Shenyang Forbidden City is the only palace complex in China outside of Beijing. It is not as big, but not as crowded either. :) Who needs much more than its 300+ rooms?

Started in 1625 and finished in 1636 by emperors of the Qing dynasty, the complex is more than 60,000 square meters.

My mom took some pictures of some of the things she found most interesting and I included some of those here. You may ask what it is that has this small group of people so interested. There isn't much visible in the shot. What could they possibly be looking at? The answer is my baby! Justin was one of the big attractions. If I sat down, people would crowd around and ask all kinds of questions about him. Of course I would have to endure them talking about how my baby was not properly dressed. Sure he was wearing a diaper, onesie, long sleeve shirt, shoes, socks, and sweatshirt with hood, but surely he must be cold since it was only 65 degrees. Good grief! Most of the time he was in the baby bjorn carrier right up against me. He and I were both sweaty when we got home! Justin gets stared at wherever we go. He is our own little movie star. I realize I put short video clips of him on my blog, but they are intended for family and friends who might have some interest in Justin. Why people want to take pictures and video footage of my baby who is just some random white baby to them is beyond me. Yes, I think he is cute, but I am biased!