Entering the Forbidden City

Beijing, China
By Theresa Yiju Lin

My first memory of the Forbidden City is a fictitious drama that aired on TV when I was five, about Emperor Kangxi of Qing dynasty. Honestly, I don’t remember the story very well, but later I have seen more TV shows talking about the buildings and art collections.

What fascinates me the most is the fact that it was the home of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties and the buildings had remained a mystery for thousands of years! Now we finally can see it with our own eyes. Walking inside the palace, experiencing the imperial lifestyle and imaging thousands of people used to be surrounded by these masterpieces of art and architecture every single day, the journey at the Palace Museum is really something.

Stories of the Imperial Families Draw Visitors

The palace that used to house the real emperors and the imperial family members is accessible to the public. People had been wondering about visiting the Forbidden City for centuries, but not every one was allowed to be too close to the buildings. In the past, if one wanted to enter the Forbidden City, he or she would need an invitation or permission from the emperor. Otherwise, the security guards had the rights to capture or kill them because they might be intruders who endangered the emperor’s life.

Beijing, the capital of China, is where the Forbidden City is. Forbidden City is the largest and best-preserved ancient building in China. Today it is one of the most legendary tourist resorts in China. UNESCO listed the Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987.

The Palace Museum is at the heart of Beijing. Next to the museum is the Tiananmen Gate, another main tourist spot in Beijing. The east is Wanfujing, the west is Zhongnanhai and the north is the Prospect Hill (Coal Hill).

The officials called the Forbidden City the Palace Museum, and the locals know it by the name of Gugong, meaning the old palace. The Last Emperor, the story of Puyi, was filmed here.

In the ancient time, the Chinese astronomers calculated geographically to build the palace where they believe it is the center of the heaven and name the palace The Purple Forbidden City (Zijincheng). Therefore, it represents the cosmic significance. The Ming emperor Yongle throned in the 14^th century and decided to move the nation’s capital from Nanjing to Beijing. The buildings were first finished in 1420. The last emperor who lived in the Forbidden City was Puyi of the Qing dynasty. The revolutionists allowed him to stay in the palace after his abdication in 1911 until 1924.

Imperial Garden

When Qing dynasty collapsed and Puyi still lived in the palace, he tried to sneak out some of the valuable items to make some money. To cover his misbehavior, he burnt the record of the collection. Since the 40s, scholars and archeologists spent over a decade to record all the art pieces in the palace. With the public’s donation of some missing historical pieces, today the museum has a more complete collection.

There are 800 buildings and 9,000 rooms in the museum, and the area is a total of 720,000 square meters. The official guides at the museum suggest planning a two-hour, a half-day or an all-day trip to see the most beauty of the palace. In average, there are about six to eight million people visiting the museum every year.

The rectangular complex is surrounded by ten-meter high walls and a 52-meter wide moat. There are four gates on each side, but the entrance and exit are the south Meridian Gate (Wumen), the north Gate of Spiritual Valor (Shenwumen). There are tour guides available for the tourists, as well as the audio tapes in multiple languages. However, in order to make sense with the introduction, visitors will need to enter the museum from the south gate.

Former Emperor Meeting Site

When you are inside the museum, you will soon notice that the symmetrical design. The symmetry signifies the importance of the harmony in daily life. You can see a sequence of halls and palaces, and the dominant color of the buildings is yellow, the symbol of the royal family. One exception in the Palace Museum is the royal library. The library has a black roof because the black represents water that can extinguish fire.

The three halls of Supreme Harmony, Central Harmony and Preserving Harmony were hosting most of emperors’ routine. Other important religious rites, administrative activities and ceremonies were also held in the palace. The Palace Museum has one sixth of the national’s treasures: over one million antiques are placed throughout the buildings. Part of the palace also functioned as the emperors’ residence. The empress, the concubines, and other royal families and staff members were also living in this amazing structure.

Sometimes it can be challenging without feeling lost in the museum. Therefore, it is recommended thinking about how you would like to explore the palace. Although it is not difficult to find your directions going in and out, have the map handy because you want to spend valuable time and enjoy the stroll in the museum. My mom was accidentally left behind the group after the third stop, and she felt the rest of the day walking and touring in the museum by herself, which was “quite a workout!” Literally, she meant it both physically and emotionally. So knowing where you are heading all the time is essential.

The operating hours are: from April 16 to October 15, the museum is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The last ticket will be sold at 4 p.m. The rest of the days within a year, the museum will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the last ticket is sold at 3:30 p.m. Begin a virtual tour before visiting the Palace Museum, go to the official Web page.