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Lying in the centre of Beijing, the Forbidden City
has a rich and mysterious history. China's largest and best-preserved
ancient buildings are found there and the Forbidden City is
one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world,
visited by about ten million people a year.
It is estimated that it took one million labourers to complete
the construction of the Forbidden City in 1420. Covering
an area of two square miles, it has over 800 buildings and
9000 rooms, which now houses a vast collection of priceless
relics including ancient pottery, bronzes and paintings.
Today, there is a permanent restoration team that moves around
repairing parts of the city and a complete renovation is said
to take about ten years and by that time the first parts to
be repaired would need to be worked on again.
History
For 500 years, the Forbidden City remained the
exclusive domain of the ruling emperor and his servants, and
it was strictly off limits to the rest of the common folk.
A total of 24 emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties
ruled their kingdom from the confines of the city and they
did not leave it unless it was absolutely necessary. This
however, sometimes caused the emperor to be cut off from the
external affairs and court eunuchs would be the ones with
the real power.
Through the centuries, there have been many tales of betrayal,
murder and power struggle in the Forbidden City. Manchu
Empress Dowager Cixi was notorious for her ruthless methods
and murderous plots against her rivals. It is rumoured that
she once ordered her eunuchs to wrap the emperor's favourite
concubine Zhenfei in a carpet and throw her into a
well. The concubine had often interfered with the Empress'
plans, perhaps once too many. The well is still there today,
in a tiny courtyard in the northeast of the palace.
Feng Shui and Architecture
The Forbidden City was designed to reinforce the
idea that emperor is the Son of God and will rule forever,
and this ideology is seen throughout the architecture of the
buildings. The buildings are painted red and its tiles yellow,
and these Imperial colours are seen exclusively in the Forbidden
City.
The layout of the buildings within the city strictly followed
the principles of Feng Shui. The city is laid out along
a north-south axis as it is believed the balance of yin (north)
and yang (south) will bring universal harmony to the kingdom.
Carved dragons were placed on rooftops as it was believed
that they attracted cloud and water and would therefore protect
the buildings, which were very prone to fire as they were
all made of wood.
Gate of Supreme Harmony
The Gate of Supreme Harmony is the final
gate before the throne. Between this gate and the Hall
of Supreme Harmony lies the courtyard where the entire
Imperial Court of 100,000 people would gather to be
reviewed by the emperor from his throne. An official would
call out the emperor's arrival and the people would fall to
their knees to kou tow (touching their foreheads to
the floor) nine times, as a display of their complete subservience
to the emperor, the Son of Heaven.
The Dragon Throne
More than half of the Forbidden City remains off-limits
to the public and the Dragon Throne is unfortunately
in that catagory. Intricately carved dragons and cranes adorn
the throne where the most powerful person in the country once
sat: the emperor. The imperial pathway from the Dragon
Throne is made of solid white marble and weighs around 200
tons. It is said that 20,000 men took 28 days to lay the pathway
in place.
Exploring the city
The Forbidden City is open from 8.30am to 5pm but
admission tickets ($7) are only sold until 3.30pm. Tapes are
available for self-guided tours but bear in mind that they
only make sense if you enter the city from the south gate
and leave from the north. You will often also be approache
by men offering themselves as an English speaking tour guide
(not strictly official), if you decide to take this option,
make sure you barter hard, they will try to charge you as
much as possible!
To get to the ticket offices to the city, you have to walk
past Tian'anmen Gate ticket booth, where many visitors mistakenly
buy tickets which allow you access to the upper areas of the
gate. Walk up north and eventually you will come to the correct
booths.
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