We went to the Forbidden City today. It's called The Forbidden City because in ancient times it was illegal for a commoner to enter the city. It is over 400 years old. It took 1,000,000 people 15 years to make 180 acres into the Forbidden City. There is a rectangular wall around the whole city, with only four gates, one on each side. Within the walls there are many different open squares and temples. We walked all the way through from the north gate to the south gate. It seemed like it went on forever!

Susan told us about why two lions stand in front of many gates. There are only lions in front of entrances, not tigers, because two tigers would fight each other until there was only one. There is a female lion on the right with her paw on a baby. The male is on the left with his paw on a ball representing the world. We saw the lions many places, not just in the Forbidden City.

We learned about things called eyebrows. They are posts that stick out above the door. The number of eyebrows represent the familys social status. There are only even numbered eyebrows above the door way. A peasant family's door would have no eyebrows.  Higher ranking families may have two eyebrows above their door.  Only the Emperor's family and a few high-ranking officials may have four eyebrows above their door.

 We were in Tianamen Square, the largest open square in the world,  when I saw the official countdown clock until the Olympics. The Olympics will start exactly eight seconds after the eighth minute of the eighth hour of the eighth day of the eighth month of the year 2008! Eight is a lucky number in China.