It is no irony that the City that calls itself ‘Forbidden’ - and was once limited as the exclusive domain of the ruling emperor and his servants and eunuchs - now admits up to 80,000 visitors each day. However, it is the largest palace complex in the world, so even at capacity, the countless faces, tour guides and sun-umbrellas melt away as you walk under Mao’s infamous portrait and through Meridian Gate. The entrance to the Imperial Palace lies north of Tiananmen Square where, at sunrise and sunset each day, a troop of soldiers raise and lower the national flag to throngs of enthralled onlookers: even at 4.47am this morning- the exact time of the sun’s appearance - the crowds on the Square were at least fifty deep.
The Forbidden City is encased by a moat and, within the turreted walls, employs a wonderful symmetry and geomantic structure to achieve a balance between yin and yang; positive and negative energy. The City’s spine is composed of eleven south-facing halls or gates, which are colossal, exquisite, ornate and awe-inspiring. Branching off from this central vertebrae are more than eight hundred buildings that share the exclusive combination of Imperial colours: red walls and yellow roof tiles. Elsewhere, jade green, gold and azure blue decorate the woodwork, archways and balconies. The doors to the halls are heavy, red, thick and studded with gold. The intricacy of the design is astounding. Each row of roof tiles on every building in the City ends with a delicate carving. The Hall of Supreme Harmony – the most important building in the City – models a row of beautifully carved animals on all four corners of its roof, each animal representing an auspicious character in Chinese mythology. These animals appear throughout the complex, but no building other than the Hall of Supreme Harmony boasts the full set of eleven, necessary to protect the emperors and bring good luck and prosperity to the country.
Despite its size, a wander around the Forbidden City’s streets and alleys feels intimate and personal. Away from the central squares, the buildings to the east and west are smaller but bursting with Chinese history: galleries and exhibitions of paintings, sculpture, ceramics, gold and silver jewellery, clothing, bronze artefacts, calligraphy, weapons and clocks offer any visitor a vibrant and informative insight into life in the palace and outside from 6000BC to the 20th Century. There are a number of interesting and consistent architectural themes to follow as you progress deeper into the belly of the Imperial Palace. Sundials feature in many squares as symbols of the Emperor’s authority over time-keeping. Huge bronze cauldrons – once used to store water in case of fire – punctuate the open spaces. Statutes and carvings of dragons (the symbol of the Emperor), cranes (symbolic of longevity) and lions (associated with mystical protective properties) are abundant. The complex of buildings and rooms are crowned by the trees, rocks and water-features of the Imperial Gardens.
The Forbidden City is a pilgrimage for Chinese and international tourists alike. It is an incredible structure and its size cannot be underestimated! It took a good fifteen minutes at an average constant pace to walk just one length of the moat running north to south of the City. Save your legs, though, as Jingshan Park lies just outside the North Gates. This green park is situated on a hill constructed from the earth from the dug-out moat. It has its own critical history, as it was the spot where the last Ming Emperor hanged himself from a tree after rebel forces invaded the Imperial Palace in 1644. The view from the top of the park extends for miles from the glistening yellow roof tiles of the Forbidden City to the new-age glass structures of China’s financial centre: a unique perspective of the ancient and hyper-modern.
