On Monday, I visited the Forbidden City, home to China’s emperors for thousands of years. The city is over 720 thousand square meters, and it is said to have 9,999 rooms. (Nine is considered a lucky number for Chinese emperors.) I spent most of my day exploring the city.
The Forbidden city is at ground level, yet when you are standing on the terraces and balconies you can see for miles into Beijing.
What was most striking was the sheer number of throne rooms. There were between 10 and 20 throne rooms open to the public; it appeared as if the emperors had a throne room for every occasion.
The details of the decorations were also very impressive. The two square images are details from a wall outside a set of throne rooms; the last image is the detail above a doorway into one of the larger plazas. As you can see from the square images, some of the paint is a bit faded. In fact, many parts of the City appeared to be a bit worn. However, given that the city is thousands of years old with millions of tourists visiting each year, it’s in good shape.
A river twisted its way through the City. It was elegant and clearly meant for beauty rather than as a moat.
“Shop of the Forbidden City” is a good name for a store. I don’t know about the babo gruel.
The City also had many displays of historic art. This is a Long Ware Red Vase from the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1662-1722). The photo is not perfect as the light in the gallery was dim. I’m only including it because the vase was so beautiful.
I left the Forbidden City through the Emperor’s Gate. Goodbye City!
Nov 282007