Forbidden Snow

It was already starting to snow the night of 2nd Jan. By morning, a thick layer of snow had already formed on top of cars by the street, just like icing on a cake. Snow was still falling and there was no sign of it slowing down. Traffic was slow and the roads were slippery. But there was no stopping me from having some fun that day.

So off I went to the rear end of the Forbidden City. I figured I wouldn't survive walking through the entire complex from the south entrace to the northern exit, so I decided to get a few shots from the north gate and trudge up the tiny hill in the park overlooking the palace. Dozens of enthusiastic photographers and tourists were already snapping excitedly in the park and outside the palace gates.

Back in the old days, when I first came to Beijing, I would be starting a snowfight with my friends at the first sight of snow. But after some serious observation, I decided to best leave the snow where they are. If you look at the roads, it will look as if there's milk on the sidewalk and coffee on the tarmac. And where milk and coffee meets, umm...it doesn't really sound that inviting. One of my friends once screamed at me, "DON'T TOUCH THE SNOW!!! THERE'S SPIT IN IT!!" The urge to make a snowman quickly dissipated and white snow never looked the same again.