The Palace Museum, Beijing

Grand palace steeped in history, wished we had more time to enjoy it. The architecture, thought and details were amazing. The palace grounds were vast, the stories aplenty. The red palace walls juxtaposed against the white snow was beautiful. Rent an audio guide at least or you will miss plenty of information about the antiquities and history of the Dynasties. Probably need a full day and a half just to visit every building within. Not much food to find within the palace grounds, do make sure you have a meal before you enter if you plan to visit. The Palace Museum is a must visit, will return again someday!

It is a cool place. And it’s a huge place! I would strongly advice to get a guide or a tour group unless you have A LOT of time on your hands. We spent four hours here but still managed to get only a glimpse, or at least that was how it felt. It is signposted in English which makes it worth it even without a guide. One nice thing is to feel the walls that face south in wintertime. They get very hot despite the freezing temperatures. Temples, houses and all the things in them makes it easy enough to imagine how life looked like in the past. To the east somewhere in the middle, there is a garden which is very nice, I can imagine it feels a bit like paradise during summer. Well worth a visit!