Forbidden City

On the first day in China, jetlag working in my favor (getting up at 4:30 am means I was ready to go soon after all-you-can-eat breakfast at the hotel), I ventured on the Beijing Metro to Tiananmen Square. I will admit that I walked the wrong way at first, and then turned away from the entrance when I saw Mao-- I was thinking that he was on the walls to the square itself.  It was only after I wandered around the entire Tiananmen Square (and looked at my guide book) that I realized that Mao marked the entry into the Forbidden City.  It was not the last time that I got turned around...

The Forbidden City was the home of the Emperors of China and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government, for 500 years. 



Built between 1406-1420, the complex is absolutely huge-- and crawling with tourists.  It has 980 buildings/structures and covers about 720,000 square meters.  UNESCO made it a World Heritage Site in 1987 and apparently is the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures.  I was one of the few Westerns going to the City; it was mainly Chinese tour groups pouring into the place.  

Once you go through the first gates, The Meridian Gate, you are into the a large courtyard which faces the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Once you walk up the stairs, you come to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.  It is currently being renovated, but the structure is beautiful. It has colored-glazed tiles and terra cotta roof tiles.  On the crests of the roof, there are amazing mini sculptures of guardians watching over the Emperor.

The floor plan of the Forbidden City-- what you can tour. 

Guardians watching over the Emperor

Reconstruction on the Hall of Supreme Harmony

looking back to the Gate of Supreme Harmony

glazed tiles

Going up the stairs are incredible marble sculptures of scenic stories that have to do with dragons and phoenixes, fate and love, luck and fortune.  They are stunning and something that most of the other royal palaces and temples also featured.

 

The Emperor's throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony 

Hall of Heavenly Purity

The Nine-Dragon Screen

One of the nine dragons 

Several of the buildings now showcase treasures from China's Imperial Past.  One of the more fascinating exhibits was of the clocks. The emperors were obsessed, it seems, with time and timepieces.  There are amazing moving and motorized clocks, mostly from England and the 18th century, on display.  None seemed to have been wound recently, so none of the parts were moving, but the clocks were of various sizes and shapes.  Some small enough for the mantel and lots that were bigger than a curio cabinet.  Another palace displayed craved jade that had been given to the royal family or commissioned by them.

Palace of Tranquil Purity--which houses the clocks 

Lotus clock, where everything moves when the hour strikes

detail of the roof tiles

Dragon Lion guarding the entrance

One of the walls decorated with glazed flowers

bells that used to rung to mark time

Each building has a beautiful craved ceiling 

head gear lused int he operas performed for the Emperor and his court

three story opera house/theater

gateway to a corridor 

Imperial Gardens 

Chrysanthemum trees blooming

The Forbidden City truly was a city within Beijing-- the thick and high walls kept the Emperor separated from his people.  And within the walls, there was a structure for everything: the theater, various temples, houses for the emperor and empress-- plus the eunuchs and concubines.  The Imperial Gardens had rock sculptures as well as plants and trees for the royal family to enjoy. 

One of the temples in the Imperial Garden 

Coy and Mao

Hill of Accumulated Excellence

fountain at the bottom of the Hill

Of course, I being such a history geek, got the electronic guide for the Forbidden City and did as much as I could stand-- which was about 4 hours of wandering around the place.  Even with that time, I know I missed several things, especially in the middle as that was where the majority of the other tourists were.  I tried to stay away from the crowds and it was a much more enjoyable visit.  The electronic guide would be prompted to fill me in on wherever I was when I crossed a threshold.  It would automatically start explaining where I was, the significance of the space, etc.  It was great and it didn't matter what order I went in.

My electronic guide 

Gate of the Divine Might-- the north gate and exit 

One of the jade sculptures on display

detail of the sculpture

 After my four hours in the palaces, I thought it was time to move on to some of the other sights near the Forbidden City.  I left, returning my guide.  On the way out, I was approached by a Chinese woman who started talking to me about my trip to Beijing.   She was asking me if I was a teacher-- apparently she thought I looked like one, having a very kind face.  She was filling me in on what else to do in the city and to make sure I went to such and such.  What I didn't know at the time was that this would be the first of only two conversations I would have with a local that was a true conversation. Most of the time, no one was around that spoke English-- and I don't count someone saying "Hello" or "How much" as really speaking English.  It surprised me, especially after the Olympics were here.  I expected more people to know more English; I was really quite wrong.

corridor with the external walls and another inner wall