The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is the heart of Beijing and has been for almost 500 years. It was built between 1406 and 1420 and was the home to 24 emperors from the Ming Dynasty(14) to the end of the Qing Dynasty(10). It was called the Forbidden City because only the emperors(and their staff) were allowed to live there and you had to get their permission to enter or exit the city.

Entrance to the Forbidden City across from Tian An Men Square.

The place is fucking HUGE!!! While we were there, the entire left side of the palace was closed. Also, from 66 to 75, you had to pay again to see this section. I have found that in almost every historic place we go in China, you pay to get in and then have to pay again and again to visit other sections. It's ridiculous! We walked up and down the middle parts.

The top three pictures are the entrance called The Meridian Gate.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The palace was divided into two sections: The Outer Court and The Inner Court. The Outer Court was for different buildings that were used for ceremonial purposes. These are the pictures of the insides of them above. The Inner Court was where the Emperor, his family, and servants would live and conduct day to day affairs.

The place is like one large maze!! We made a wrong turn once or twice and got completely turned around. I have no idea how people would have found there way to take a piss at night hundreds of years ago!!

Some sections have almost no people at all.

Other sections you can hardly move!

These large iron pots adorned with gold are littered all over the palace. Hundreds of years ago they were filled with water in case of fires. During the winter, they would build fires underneath them to keep them thawed.

I never figured out what this place was in the three pictures above but it looked cool.

There are many different relics around the palace.

The phoenix and the dragon are huge parts of Chinese culture and can be seen everywhere in the palace(and in China itself).

You'll also see many different hybrid animals that have been mixed with dragon!

A very cool tourist spot but it's one hell of a walk. By the end of the day we

were exhausted!!