China's History Revisited - Part 2 - The Forbidden City

I took advantage of a quiet Conference final day to leave at lunch time, to visit China's Forbidden City, the Imperial palace and home to 24 emperors during the mid-Ming and the Qing Dynasties. Construction started in 1406.  It's massive!  Just walking through from the start at Tiananmen Gate to the other end through only about the central gateways in all, took me 3.5 hours!  (with a few stops at side buildings, and to rest my feet).   I did not venture much left or right to the other palace rooms but just walked straight through 11 beautiful gateways and as you cross through each gateway, another stunning palace building awaits you in the distance.  The Palace Museum as it's known now, covers 720,000 square metres - that's 7,800,000 square feet.  It has 800 buildings and more than 8,000 rooms!  It is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.  I could imagine the Empresses being carried around on palanquins while those not so fortunate women hobbled around with their bound feet.

The day unfortunately was hazy; so the photos are not good at all.  I met a young Chinese tourist called Amy, so we took each other's photos.  How I wish I had more than my 3X-zoom little camera.  I spent a total of 6 hours being foiled and being successful in loading these shots; it's still not perfect.  Nonethless, come with me as we enter the largest, existing centuries-old Royal abode....

This is Tiananmen Gate, entrance to the Forbidden City.  No one was allowed to take photos this close to Chairman Mao; but others were doing so and my pleading sort-of worked because a Chinese girl behind me said to him in Mandarin: "She's a Tourist!".  So it was a quick shot before I got into trouble. I felt a sense of unease here. 

First stop - buy tickets. SGD12.  Worth every red cent.

Another view of the imposing entrance - the Meridian Gate.

The very first gateway.  I can't believe my shot didn't include the top of the arch.  Excited, I guess.

The first building - The Hall of Supreme Harmony

One of the few shots without other people in it.  This was at a side building.

One of the thrones!  No one is allowed in.  You view through glass.

Love the roofs.

I think these lower-level areas might have been for the thousands of children.

No one was allowed into these rooms.

How old is this door ?

You take your breaks when you can.

Such imposing buildings.

So beautifully ornate

A wide-angle camera would have been very good to have.

I held back the people so I could pose for this shot!

Go on, Children - go run around!

Just see how old the stones are

This was part of the buildings on the left side of the grounds.

My favourite shot. The roof ridge of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

 

And yet 9 purses were stolen the day before I was there!

I tried going backwards to get the full arch but came face to face with a guard who was doing X-ray screening of bags.  

The Throne in the Palace of Heavenly Purity

The entrance to the Emperor's Garden.

This was the only area that had vegetation.

I thought this was the most beautiful building in the Forbidden City.

 

Yup, I love the beautiful doorways.

This cypress tree is more than 300 years old.

The Emperors had one hell of a Garden.

Touch the Tree for luck.

Sorry, it was crowded and I missed the last line - "300 years old"

Isn't this a beautiful doorway ???

 

 

The other end of the Palace Museum - The Gate of Divine Prowess. The building at the very top of the picture, across the road is Prospect Hill; not part of the Forbidden City, but known as the Forbidden Garden.  It got hazier as we left.

Amy!