Hi Everyone. Today was a really fun day. We went to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple or Heaven. Tiananmen Square is something to see. There is a big picture of Mao and his burial place is there. The Forbidden City was occupied by an Emperor from the Ming Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty. The Forbidden City was completed in 1426. The last emperor was done ruling China in 1913, but remained in the Forbidden City until 1924 when he was kicked out. There are 15 layers of bricks laid as the floor leading into the Emperor's Palace. The Emperor was afraid that someone would try to tunnel his way in and kill him, so that is why the bricks were 15 layers deep. The Chinese people believed that the first Emperor's father, who the people considered a God, had 10,000 rooms in heaven. So...out of respect for the first Emperor's father, only 9,999 rooms were built in the Forbidden City. The Temple of Heaven is where Emperors went to pray each fall for a plentiful harvest in the Spring. Right now, we are on our way to have dinner at Quanjude, a famous Peking Duck restaurant. Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog to find out how the Duck was. :)