Maxims

These 2 signs were taken at 国子监 which is the Imperial College of the Yuan/Ming/Qing dynasties.. This is where candidates come to take their exams and the top student is what was known as 状元。

Important maxims to live by.

Entrance fee is about 6 yuan for adults and 3 yuan if you can prove that you're a student. You either have to smoke your way through as a Beijing student but that would mean having to fake a student pass, or show your local student pass and try to pass off as a Hong Kong or Macau student. But for 3 yuan? Unless you're really on a budget.

As I ventured deeper, this was what I saw:



Beijing is probably only good to come in 2008 or after. Because right now, all these tourist attractions are undergoing restoration, so the interesting sights are almost always out of bounds.