The Forbidden City is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the centre of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the 54-acre Zhongshan Park, the sacrificial Imperial Ancestral Temple, the 171-acre Beihai Park and the 57-acre Jingshan Park.
The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the former Chinese imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political centre of the Chinese government for almost 500 years. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artefacts was built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987.’ Wikipedia
Setting sun-Shenwumen Square
Find a not-so-cold but sunny afternoon to watch the setting sun outside Shenwumen. The Shenwu Gate is hardly more powerful than the Meridian Gate, but the busy traffic after going out will give you a feeling of a world away when you just walked out of the Forbidden City. If you happen to be in the Forbidden City for a whole day, you can just come out of the Shenwu Gate at four or five o’clock: Jingshan is directly in front, and the North Sea can be seen to the west.
The afterglow colours of the setting sun are already intoxicating. What’s more, what you want to see is the colour change of a palace for hundreds of years under the rays of the setting sun. Find a quiet corner, surrounded by a moat or a painted palace wall. The hustle and bustle of tourists in front of you does not belong to this palace. The birds flying above you can freely enter and exit the old palace next to you.
Watch House
You know, the clock and watch hall in the Forbidden City used to be Fengxian Hall, which functions as a royal family temple. Or for this reason, the interior of the hall is quite spacious and empty, but quiet and pleasant. In my opinion, there are two fascinating things here: First, the success of the renovation of the watch hall-the years are around, and the history is on the head. Secondly, the watches in the museum are all exquisite works, so don’t ignore them because of the fading of the surface.
The renovation project of the Watch House in Fengxian Hall in recent years has well preserved the original appearance of the building structure in the hall, and you can see the rafters, purlins and other wooden components on the roof when you look up. In addition, not all new paint has been applied, and the complexity of the wooden structure, combined with its size and height, looks very shocking. The Watch House is a place like this to see ingenious clocks and watches, the most famous of which is the British-made gilded bronze writing clock. The robot doll in it can write the words “Eight directions, the king of nine soils” with a brush in hand, and the characters are neat and even there are even strokes.
Overlooking the Forbidden City-Jingshan Wanchun Pavilion
Shenwumen Jingshan was originally the imperial garden in the backyard of the imperial palace, which is a natural extension of the Forbidden City. Climbing to the top of Wanchun Pavilion, it is an excellent location overlooking the capital. Not only can you overlook the Forbidden City from the south and catch up with the afterglow of the sunset, but the yellow glaze of the palace in the Forbidden City is also even more beautiful. This Jingshan Park is not all easy royal stories. The Palace of Shouhuang in the north of Jingshan is now the Beijing Children’s Palace, but historically it was the place where his fourteenth brother was confined after Yongzheng ascended the throne. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen saw Li Zicheng infiltrate the city of Beijing, and hanged himself on Jingshan Mountain.
Forbidden City in Snow
If the beauty of the Forbidden City lies in its majestic atmosphere and heavy tranquillity, then nothing can stand out more than the Forbidden City in the snow. When I was a child, the snow would fall a lot. It was really covered in silver, and the Forbidden City seemed to have changed an unusual appearance. The Forbidden City in the snow often has fewer visitors than usual, and the coldness makes the palace quieter. In the snow, you and the palace have enough time alone. Seeing water drops dripping from the ice hanging on the eaves, the melting ice takes away the dust of years.
