The Forbidden City (故宫) is located at the center of Beijing, and known as the China’s largest and best preserved ancient buildings since 1406. This place was the home to the last 2 dynasties of China, Ming (明朝) & Qing (清朝) before the West and other countries combined to concur China. The Forbidden city is divided into 2 main parts, the Outer Court (前殿) and the Inner Palaces (后宫), with remaining over 2600 palaces inside.
I paid RMB60 for the entrance ticket and another RMB20 for another 2 optional palaces inside. Initially I thought I could finish the place within 4 hours but it took me more than 6 hours until the place was officially closed at 5pm and I still couldn’t finish walking the whole Forbidden City. I literally had blister on my legs after getting out from that place.
The rich history of the Forbidden City had made me to be more aware of my Chinese root and culture. Whatever happened inside the Forbidden City back then had shaped the world today in a way that many people could never imagined and the remain of the buildings now are the standing testimonies of the rich Chinese history.
For more information, please check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City
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| Map of The Forbidden City |
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| Wu Men (午门) – The place where the emperors used to behead people |
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| Me on the Wu Men |
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| The front palaces |
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| Crystal Jade River |
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| In front of the Grand Palace |
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| The grand palace where the emperors used to work |
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| Inside the palaces where the emperors used to work |
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| Inside the palaces where the emperors used to work |
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| Inside the palaces where the emperors used to work |
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| Inside the palaces where the emperors used to work |
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| Inside the Forbidden City |
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| Stone artwork made out of one big piece of stone |
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| Explaining Nice Dragon Screen Wall |
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| Nice Dragon Screen Wall |
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| Me and Nice Dragon Screen Wall |
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| Chang Yin Ge (畅音阁)- The place where used to play music & theater |
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| Most of the palaces with golden dragon in the center of ceiling |
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| More palaces |
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| Inside the bedroom of the concubines |
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| Inside the bedroom of the concubines |
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| Me at the long corridor |
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| More palaces |
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| Pot which was used to be covered with gold but was peeled away by the enemies |
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| Fierce lion which was used to be covered with gold but was peeled away by the enemies |
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| Stone stand in the Royal Garden (御花园) |
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| Pavilion in the Royal Garden |
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| Corner Palace (角楼) |
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| The well that Zhen Concubine was murdered (珍妃井) |
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| More precious stuff of the emperors & empresses |
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| More precious stuff of the emperors & empresses |
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| More precious stuff of the emperors & empresses |
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| More precious stuff of the emperors & empresses |
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| One of the many fascinating clocks collection |
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| Clock collection of the emperor |
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| Shen Wu Men (神武门) |
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| Jing Shan Gong Yuan (景山公园) – A man made mountain behind Forbidden City |
For my other posts on Beijing, please click here.
