Beijing’s Forbidden City is one of China’s most popular attractions as well as one of the most visited museums in the world, with 14 million visitors annually. The former Imperial Palace of the great emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was residence of the “Sons of Heaven” from 1420 to 1912. The archetypal example of Chinese palatial architecture, the complex takes up 720,000 square metres of space in the heart of the city – surrounded by a 52-metre-wide moat, the architects did a fantastic job of getting across the message that the emperor was all powerful and divine! The palace was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. There are said to be nearly 10,000 rooms (bad luck whoever had to count!), each of which are full of works of art and priceless relics – in all there are about a million artifacts within the Forbidden City’s walls.
Officially the Imperial Palace, the palace was home to the emperor, the imperial family and their retinue, which included concubines and eunuchs, who spent their days moving between the incredibly beautiful buildings and gardens. It has been suggested, however, that as beautiful as the surroundings of the imperial family were, the palace was more like a prison than a home, so trapped were they in their roles as divine rulers. The name Forbidden City comes from the fact that for 500 years, access was forbidden to ‘commoners’ without the express permission of the emperor. This was so strongly upheld that the penalty for entering without it was execution.
The Forbidden City may be extremely popular, but the complex is so large it is easy to lose the crowds, especially if you head for the lesser but just as magnificent structures on the edges. If you are really interested in thoroughly exploring the palace, we would recommend a full day or several visits here, though for a quicker overview, half a day should do the trick.
As you explore look at the symmetry of the construction, both on a small and large scale – a way of achieving the balance of positive and negative, yin and yang. You’ll also see that the majority of buildings have red walls and yellow-tiled roofs, yellow being the officially colour of the Chinese emperor.
The Central Halls of the complex are the most beautifully and intricately decorated – you’ll come to these soon after your arrival through the Meridian Gate, which was originally reserved for the sole use of the emperor. Crossing the first courtyard, pick one of the five marble bridges to take you across the Golden Stream and stop to admire the Gate of Supreme Harmony (Tiananman) before passing into the palace proper. The halls and rooms are named in that wonderful traditional Chinese fashion – the Hall of Preserving Harmony, the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and the Palace of Earthly Tranquillity (to name a few), which was once the centre of the palace harem.
As you explore deeper, you may find yourself in the Imperial Garden, designed in the classical style, complete with rockeries, pavilions, walkways and trees as ancient as the palace itself. The perfect place to stop, find a peaceful spot to sit and reflect on everything you’ve seen so far! As mentioned above, there are over a million artefacts throughout the palace – the 1745 water clock in the Hall of Union is particularly interesting – one place to see a lot of the glittery ones all in one go is the Treasure Hall, where there is jewellery, jade and robes to admire.
There is so much about the Forbidden City to capture the imagination and give you a glimpse of the Imperial China of times gone by, that we can’t recommend a visit to the Forbidden City enough. Talk to one of tailormade specialists now to make sure you have all the time you need to explore it on your China itinerary.