Day 49: Beijing (北京)

Forbidden City(紫禁城)- Attempt 2
This time our trip to Forbidden city started out great and we thought we would have a good day.  We woke up early and rested, a cab was waiting at the door of our friends apartment building and when we arrived at the rear entrance to the Forbidden City there weren't too many people.  There was, however something you don't see in most countries, a ~10 year old boy with his pants around his ankles peeing in the center of the front sidewalk area in front of the Forbidden City while his parents stood next to him and tour groups passed by.  I can't even imagine what would happen if this scene was taking place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial!

Less tourists than we expected!
Anyway we got in and started the tour and the audio guide was very informative and actually spoke English well enough for me to understand the recording.  We started from the back of the city so there were less tour groups and less people around all together, rarely were there people close to you and this would become important later.

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Charlotte outside the back gate

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Finally within the walls of the Forbidden City

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One of the Emperors rooms

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This is what the scene looked like at the buildings towards the back of the city

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Still not too many tourists around

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The number of animals on the roof show the importance of the building, the most important building has 11 animals

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One of the Emperors chairs

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Emperor's Chair + Mosh Pit = Wallet stolen
As we got closer to the front, we saw the more famous areas of the Forbidden City, but there were still few enough people around so I could stand in the back and take pictures over people without getting too close.  Now this changed in front of the Taihe Hall which contains the chair that the last emperor sat in.  I asked Charlotte if I should go up to take pictures because it looked like there were about 200-300 Chinese people trying to take pictures.  I started to go to my place towards the back, but this became impossible as it turned into a free for all mosh pit with everyone pushing and shoving trying to get closer.  Even if you didn't want to get close, people would push you from behind so that they were closer.  Children and elderly where used as shields by people trying to get people to move out of the way.  I was pushed to about the 4th or 5th row.  I was mainly trying to make sure my camera was safe, but also had a hand near my pocket.  Then I got pushed hard from behind and when I regained my footing I immediately realized my wallet was gone.  I looked around immediately and started grabbing peoples hands and patting them down, especially one person who I was pretty sure did it, especially because he didnt seem to care that I was going through his pockets, but I knew there was no chance to find it as he had probably passed it off to someone else by that time.

Normally I keep my wallet in bag, but after about a month of traveling I got annoyed always having to take it out of my bag and wasting time, so occasionally I got lazy and kept it in my pocket when there weren't many people around, I should have stopped and put it in my bag before getting close to the crowd, but unfortunately I didn't this time.  Luckily all of our important papers, anything over ~$30 and passports are in a money belt I wear or since we were in Beijing at our friends apartment.  They only ended up getting about $30-40, about $10-20 US dollars worth of Chinese money and the rest in Hong Kong dollars, a couple credit cards that were immediately canceled and my drivers license.  The parts thats most annoying is I really liked that wallet and I have to go to the DMV when I get back to the US.  I should have offered them more money just for my drivers license back.

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The last emperors chair

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Probably when my wallet was stolen

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Charlotte's picture from the back when my wallet was stolen...it was actual more hectic than it looks

The helpful Chinese Police (Part 1)
We immediately looked around for security only to find that there is no security guards at the Forbidden City.  We had to walk about 15 minutes before we reached the police station within the city and we passed no security on the way.  Once we got there and told them they looked at us and said, "And?", I am not sure what I thought they should do, but expected more than that (especially since they had big TV displays showing the exact location it happened).  Then they asked if we wanted a written report and we responded that would be good.  They said, well we cant give you one; you have to go to this other station outside the Forbidden City.  They then asked, "Well I guess since you are going there we don't have to write anything down."  Charlotte then asked to at least take our contact information in case in the very small of chance someone turned it in.  Reluctantly they got an obvious rookie officer to take our name and phone number down.  We knew she must be a rookie because she actually wore a uniform.  It seems the order of police is Rookie = Full uniform, A couple years on the force = untucked and unwashed police shirt and dark pants, veteran = street clothes.

Rest of the Forbidden City
Since the police weren't doing anything, we decided there wasn't much else to do except to see the rest of the Forbidden City, so we spent some time walking around as we headed towards the front where the the other police station was.

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A famous hallway of the Forbidden City shown in movie The Last Emperor

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The room where the Emperor stays the first few nights after he is married

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People sleeping on cardboard and sitting around the Forbidden City

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While this isn't normal to see in Beijing, it is normal fashion in most of China

The Helpful Chinese Police- Part 2
We exited the Forbidden City and headed for the police station which was further than we thought.  Once we got there and waited, we finally got to talk to a veteran police officer, although we were not allowed in the station and had to talk to him on the street.  He asked if we just wanted a receipt as proof we came to the police station or if we actually wanted him to start paper work so that an investigation could be started.  Charlotte asked if we could do both and he said they normally frown on that because its more paperwork.  So we said just give us a receipt since that was what he was pushing.  Then he asked where we were staying and we told him at a friends place.  He then asked if we checked in with the local police yet, which we said we hadn't.  He then told us that since we had been there over 24 hours he should fine us 500 US Dollars for not checking in within 24 hours of arriving in the city.  He claimed this is a law throughout China that anytime you arrive in a new city you must report to the police station and he would be nice and not fine us this time, however since we did not have our passports on us he couldn't do a report and he couldn't guarantee we wouldnt be fined if we came back with our passports.  He claimed that the hotels and hostels all report their customers to the police immediately (we know this is a lie, but didnt want to push it).  Again we didn't really figure the police would do much, but it was frustrating that they were not concerned at all.


Back to the apartment and the rest of the day
We went back to check and make sure everything was canceled that needed to be from my wallet and then figure out what else to do that day.  We then tried to go to another tourist attraction, but it was closed so we got some dinner.  After dinner we went to the "fake" mall(秀水街) , where you can get just about anything you want from bags to clothes to electronics and they assure it is "authentic".  Charlotte got some things, but I am not allowed to say what they are so she isn't embarrassed, while I got some lightweight athletic shirts for about $3-4 each.  We found out that I am a definitely bargainer because I don't care if I actually get it or not, so I give them the price I want and if they dont come down that far its fine.  I got called a lot of names when they would say a shirt cost about 200 RMB (~$30) and I would offer 30-50 RMB depending on the shirt ($4.5-$7.5).  Some called me stupid or crazy and others just kept bargaining down expecting me to raise my price while they lowered theirs, but I would just keep repeating the same price.  Finally when I would walk away and be half way down the aisle they would yell something like "FINE! I'll take your money."  It was also easier once I got 1 shirt, I knew their low price and every shop had the same low price, so if you offered it right away and showed you already bought a similar one they would agree faster