Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Forbidden City

Asian Adventure: Roof of the World Tour Overview
Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG
Asian Adventure: Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Asian Adventure: Regent Beijing Hotel
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Dongcheng District
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Great Wall
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Run-ze Jade Garden
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Legend of Kung Fu
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Tiananmen Square
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Forbidden City
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Asian Adventure: Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Asian Adventure: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Potala Palace
Asian Adventure: Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Asian Adventure: Viking Emerald
Asian Adventure: Shibaozhai Temple
Asian Adventure: Cruising the Three Gorges
Asian Adventure: Three Gorges Dam
Asian Adventure: Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Asian Adventure: Wuhan - Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Shanghai Museum
Asian Adventure: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
Asian Adventure: The New Otani Tokyo Hotel
Asian Adventure: Tokyo - City Tour
Asian Adventure: Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen
Asian Adventure: ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita
Asian Adventure: All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston

To reach the entrance to the Forbidden City - officially known now as the Palace Museum - we crossed under the busy street via a pedestrian tunnel that runs between the palace and Tiananmen Square.  That tunnel brought us back to street level at the corner of the Tiananmen Gate, which is one of the most famous sights of China with its long red wall and portrait of Chairman Mao.

Tiananmen Gate

For nearly 500 years, beginning with the Ming Dynasty in 1420 and continuing through the Qing (pronounced "ching") Dynasty in 1912, this palace was the seat of the throne of Imperial China.  It was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government as well as being the home of the emperor and his household.  The late-80s film The Last Emperor starring John Lone was the first feature film authorized by the PRC to be filmed here.

An ornamental column outside the gate. The dragon faces outward, waiting for the emperor to return.

This complex's Chinese name literally means "Purple Forbidden City" with "purple" as a reference to the North Star and that, in Chinese astrology, is the heavenly residence of the Celestial Emperor.  Thus the emperor's residence is its earthly counterpart.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for having the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world: over 980 buildings covering 180 acres.  In short, it's HUGE.

There's a moat surrounding the complex though today you don't really notice it when you come in via the Tiananmen Gate.  But the moat gets partially diverted to create a stream running through the grounds.  Inside the walls this stream is called the Golden Water.

A River, er Moat, Runs Through It

As I looked at the map of the Forbidden City I was struck by how the general design - gate, courtyard, gate, courtyard, etc. until reaching the family's living quarters - reminded me of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.  That palace was built a few decades later so perhaps it copied this style or perhaps this was just a common style at the time.

The Meridian Gate, which is now where the ticket office is located

The largest surviving wood structure in China is the Hall of Supreme Harmony.  The emperor held court here though in later years, as court was held more often, a less grand location was used.  By that time the hall had a more ceremonial use for imperial weddings and such.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony

The Hall of Preserving Harmony was a sort of rehearsal hall where ceremonies were practiced before taking place elsewhere.  And at one time imperial examinations were given here, to see who was qualified to become members of the bureaucracy.

Throne in the Hall of Preserving Harmony

In some of the courtyards there were sculptures we recognized, like the cranes and the Bixi turtles we'd seen at the Sacred Way on the prior day...

Crane

Bixi Turtle

One half of a guard dog pair

...and then we'd see items that we weren't quite sure of their purpose.

Maybe for keeping water hot?

Maybe they lit a fire inside?

Many of the buildings had statuettes on the corners of the roof.  There would be a man on a phoenix at the outermost edge and an imperial dragon with some number of other statuettes in between.  The more important the building, the more statuettes it had.  The Hall of Supreme Harmony had 10 statuettes, the only building allowed to have so many during the days of Imperial China.

Count the statuettes

Initially the Palace of Heavenly Purity was the residence of the emperor and this was his throne.  During the Qing Dynasty this palace became the emperor's audience hall.

Throne in the Palace of Heavenly Purity

As we moved toward the back of the complex we reached the residence of the empress, denoted by his (dragon) & her (deer) statues out front.

Dragon and Deer

Inside the empress's palace

Next came the rockery that featured rocks worn by water over time, positioned like artwork.

We exited the last gate and at the back of the complex the moat is much more visible.  It's 171 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

I don't want to have to cross that moat except via bridge!

Looking back at the walls, they're 26 feet high and over 28 feet wide at the base though they taper up to just under 22 feet at the top.  Their core is rammed earth and that core is surrounded by layers of baked bricks on each side.

That's a formidable barrier, as it's meant to be

The rain let up about halfway through this part of the tour and we were so glad for that.  This is one of those places where it's easy to get brain overload even without stepping into some of the side exhibits of jade, porcelain or artwork.  Perhaps if I ever come back I'll do that but for this trip it was enough to just enjoy these outer buildings.  This is a fascinating place to visit.