Road Trip April 2005: Houston & Forbidden Gardens
Route from Plano:
Straight down I-45 to Houston and back.
Doug and I went to Houston to see Mom and Dad for the weekend. We decided to go visit the Forbidden Gardens in Katy to check it out. The attraction is billed as a 40-acre garden with a scale replica of China's Forbidden City, built by Hong Kong millionaire Ira Poon to educate Americans about the wonders of Chinese history and culture. Sounded pretty cool. (See the website)
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The entry to the Forbidden Gardens is very nice, with a bridge across a pond. That turned out to be the best part. Past the entry gate, you enter a courtyard where you meet the guide who will take you around. They don't allow self-guided tours, and in fact, keep the doors to the different areas locked except when the tour guide lets you through.
After watching an informational video, our guide took us out a gate to the east side of the garden where they have a scale replica of the terra-cotta army that was discovered several years ago. The real figures are full-size human figures, but these guys are a couple of feet tall at most. There are a few life-sized figures, but they are made of fiberglass and rock back and forth when the wind blows. Some of the figures are missing or have been damaged, and the fiberlass ones need a coat of paint or something, but it was still pretty interesting, There were paths that went around the different areas, but we weren't allowed to walk around.
Our guide next took us into the Hall of Weapons, a small room that displayed the different weaponry used by the Chinese soldiers represented by ther terra-cotta army. There were several examples hung on the wall underneath a sign warning us not to touch the sharp blades, which under closer inspection were all made of wood.
We were taken into an adjoining room to see architectural models that explained the building methods used in the Forbidden City. These models were very intricate and well done.
Next, we were taken outside to see the scale model of the Forbidden City, which is protected from rain by a big metal and fiberglass panel structure that is like an airplane hangar without walls.
The building models here had obviously been beautiful at one time, but were in disrepair and falling apart. The paint was peeling, they were dirty, and there was trash and even a dead bird on the floor. The little people that populated the model had fallen over. Weeds had grown up between the buildings. It was overall very disappointing.
Back in the courtyard, we spotted a sign for the Gift Shop, right above a sign for Trash. The placement was accurate.
Dad, Doug, and I agreed that the poorly-named Forbidden Gardens should not top the list of things to see in the Houston area. There isn't even a garden there to disguise the shabbiness of the place.
On the way back to Dallas, I snapped a quick picture of Big Sam, the statue of Sam Houston that faces I-45 at Hunsville.
