We made it to the Forbidden City, even though it was raining on and off all day and it was a national holiday that made everything very crowded and chaotic. Wet and crowded? Jack and I took turns being irritable. The Forbidden City itself is very difficult to capture in pictures because it is so majestic and ancient. Its construction began in 1406. The city is filled with halls and smaller residences called palaces.
In the background of this picture is the Hall of Supreme harmony, the largest hall in the Forbidden City. It is where all the grand ceremonies were held.
This is a side gate which takes you to an inner court. The glazed yellow tiled roof was a sign of royalty.
I am standing in a passage way that leads to a number of smaller residences where the royal concubines lived. All in all, our visit was very interesting. But we found the information that was provided was more about the structures and the governing aspect, than the personalities of the emperors and those that surrounded them. We would have enjoyed more description of what it was like to actually live there on a day to day basis. Even with that missing, it was amazing. Tomorrow on to The Great Wall!
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ReplyDeleteI agree, Lori, The Forbidden City is hard to capture. Didn't the rooms look dark and cold?
Lynn