There are 5 gates to into the first courtyard. The middle gate is the tallest and was for the emporer only. The one to the right of that was for the royal family, while the one to the left was for honored guests. The two on the end were for commoners when a general audience was being held. The name “Forbidden City” comes from the fact that if you were caught inside the city without a direct invitation from the emporer, you would be executed.
We entered through the Emporer’s entrance. Inside is another courtyard. It is massive with a canal flowing in through to provide humidity. In this courtyard the emperor would hold his general audience to make announcements to the public. When construction of the Forbidden City was finished, the public was allowed into this courtyard. It is unknown if that is because the rest was private, or because the rest burned down immediately upon completion due to a lightning strike.
The large gate on the other side of the courtyard is the gate of supreme harmony. It is guarded by two large bronze lion statues—which hold the world record for being the largest bronze lion statues—one representing the Emperor, and one the Empress. The Emperor had a globe under his paw, while the empress has a baby lion. Our guide pointed out that these statues were made before Chinese people had seen lions. For that reason, they look more like dragons than African beasts.
Entering through the Gate of Supreme Harmony, you are in...another courtyard. In this one, we could see the Hall of Supreme Harmony (the first of the three imperial halls.) This is where the Emperor “ruled China.” Representatives from each of the 16 provinces would meet with the emperor her to discuss various matters. When they were in session, 16 incense burners would be lit—one for each province—giving the illusion that something heavenly was going on in the room.
You cannot go in any of the halls, but they are beautifully decorated. Each corner of the roof has 9 dragons on it, as Chinese mythology tells that dragons always have 9 sons. Dragons are often seen to represent gods and the emperor was considered to be a son of god. There were also bronze statues of turtles and cranes, which were supposed to bring longevity. Cages for crows were also kept by the hall because crows were a sign of good luck.
I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of The Forbidden City and each building looks just like you imagine it. The walls and pillars are red, the roofs decorated in golden tiles, and the doorways covered in beautiful mosaics.
The next hall is the Hall of Middle Harmony, which was basically the Emporer’s break room. The final one is the Hall of Preserving Harmony, which was used for two purposes (1) weddings (2) testing. China developed the first enlisted service system, in which boys could study for years to take an exam that would allow them to work for the government. This exam was proctored in this hall.
Beyond the three halls is another gate that leads to another courtyard, which in turn leads to another gate. In some ways, the Forbidden City reminds me of Prague castle (sort of a city within a wall) but it is so much more massive.
Beyond this next gate was the emperor’s living quarters. (Fair warning, this is where it gets kinky.) Again—like in the Hutong—the emperor and his wife had separate living quarters. There was only one Empress (the official wife of the emperor) but he had many concubines that lived in the palace as well. The empress primarily raised the children and dealt with small political affairs. The concubines pretty much just entertained the emperor and provided him with more children. Each night, the emperor would be given jade tablets containing the names of all of the girls living his palace. He would select the name of the woman he wished to see that evening. The eunuchs (all of the men working the palace were eunuchs—this ensured that any off spring truly were the emperors) would go to the girl, and bring her completely naked to the emporer. A meter long candle would be lit in the courtyard that would let everyone know the emporer was “not to be disturbed.” (A bit more formal than a tie on the door.) The candle would burn for about two hours and when it was done, the girl would be taken back to her room.
We could only look in the emporers quarters through a window. There really wasn’t much to see and the crowd was so chaotic, it made it a bit stressful. We were able to go in the Empress’ quarters, which were very small, but wonderfully air-conditioned.
It was one of the most beautiful palaces I’ve been in. I wish it had been a bit cooler so we could have spent more time, but the heat was miserable. Every inch of shade was filled with people fanning themselves.
We exited through the imperial gardens and caught a shuttle back to our bikes. From there we went to get lunch.
The food was fanstatic. We had some sort of cabbage that had been boiled in chicken broth. There was also a chicken and celery dish, as well as a chicken cooked in a sugar and vinegar sauce. Our guide gave us the recipes for both dishes—although some of the cooking terms he used I’ve never heard before.
As we ate, we joked about travel. The couple on the tour—who were thankful I joined them to get a lower price—were British. We joked a lot about how American culture and British culture are very similar (although the consensus is Americans are friendlier) as well as how most of the world—for better or worse—is the way it is because of Britain.
Our guide suggested we stay at the restaurant for an extra hour because the thermometer outside was reading 110*. Ordering a two liter of coke, and four glasses, we decided that sounded like a good plan.
Our afternoon was much shorter and slower paced. We rode over to the Peking Opera building, which looks like a giant YingYang symbol. Next, we went over to Tiananmen Square and saw Mao’s mausoleum, as well as the giant poster of Moa hanging on the government building. Our final stop was the Temple of Heavenly Peace.
Heaven Worship is a key component of Chinese religion, While many people worship anscestors as well as practicing some sort of Buddhism, Taoism, or Confuscinaism—or often a blend of the three—Heaven Worship is basically the oldest “belief system” in China. It is the recognition of a “Supreme God in Heaven” whom the Emperor was allowed to pray to. He would come to the Temple of Heavenly Peace to offer sacrifices to this supreme god as well as to pray for matters facing the empire.
In Chinese tradition, heaven is represented by a sphere, while earth is represented by a globe (think about how these symbols were used in the Olympics…the birds nest was round, while the swimming pools were square). The base of the temple is square, with a three tier blue roof leading up to a golden orb. Again, we couldn’t go into the temple, but it was really beautiful.
An odd phenomenon in China is taking public wedding photos. Unlike Western Culture where the bride and groom normally don’t see each other dressed up until the big day, Chinese people dress up and take very elaborate photos in very public places. For example, I’ve seen them many times being taken in the middle of intersections in Shanghai. I also saw them at San Paulo in Macau. This temple was a popular place for these photos and lots of couples were dressed to the nines.
From the temple we biked back to return our bikes. Its worth mentioning that biking in rush hour traffic in Beijing is a high intensity sport. Biking in Beijing in general was a good test of coordination, determination, and vigilance, but as traffic picked up in the evening, so did the near miss collisions.
I caught the metro back and just couldn’t believe what an awesome tour it is. I’ll admit, the heat made it hard, and my lungs are starting to have a physical reaction to the pollution, but I am finally getting to see some Chinese history.
For dinner I had dumplings at a noodle house across the street from my hostel. Last night I had really spicy chicken noodles, so I decided to stick to something more familiar today.
I have very mixed feelings right now. In some ways, I can’t wait to go home. The heat is really getting to me, and I am beyond ready to see my family. At the same time, I love days like today where I can explore a new place in a new way. Luckily, I have 10 more days to go…and then luckily, I get to see my family again.
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