statue outside of Mao's Mausoleum honoring soldiers
these hats were being sold by every vendor there was on Tian'anmen Square
outside the front gate into the Forbidden City
This is a male lion. The Chinese believe it is necessary to have balance between yin (feminine)and yang (masculine), so there is a male and female lion to have balance. This is the male because you can see under its right paw it holds a globe, indicating his power to rule the world.
This is the female lion, which you can tell because she holds a cub under her left paw.
This in the rear of the Forbidden City in the Imperial Garden. These trees are special because they have intertwined with one another, representing marriage. Because we visited this on Valentine's Day, lots of couples lined up to take a picture with these trees.
1) Did you ever see that America's Next Top Model episode that took place there? The one where the model girl made the guy on stilts fall down because he tripped on her dress. Haha. That's what I think of when I see these pictures.
ReplyDelete2) That is a great hat. I hope you bought it.
3) The lions are really cool. I don't think I ever would have noticed that they were holding two different objects if you hadn't said that. I love learning about other cultures through all of you Study Abroad Kids' blogs. ^_^
1) haha YES. I felt kind of bad...but I still wanted that girl to win anyway. I didn't like the one who won as much...
ReplyDelete2)i didn't buy it...i WANTED to, but i figured i should save my moneys. now i kind of wish i had...
3)i'm glad you're enjoying the blog! yeah, i wouldn't have noticed about the lions unless someone had pointed it out to me...