10th Oct 08 - Forbidden City
Construction of the Forbidden City began in 1407 in the Ming Dynasty. It has 9999 (and a half!) rooms and covers some 200 acres. It is BIG. It is also very crowded with sometimes over 100,000 visitors a day.
Parts of it were restored in time for the Olympics and its gold leaf, in particular, looks very impressive.
By the way, the rain and thunderstorms of yesterday had completely cleared away all the air pollution. It was a fabulous bright sunny day. Marvellous!
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| I wish I could have a lion like this in my garden |
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| The Outer Court with the Gate of Supreme Harmony and the Golden Water River and its five marble bridges |
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| The Hall of Supreme Harmony |
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| The crowds were horrendous. This group of Chinese with matching baseball hats had the right idea if you ever want to keep together. |
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| Bronze crane used to burn incense |
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| Strange place for a soldier. Maybe he was just a photo opportunity? |
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| A pagoda spied in the Imperial Gardens beyond the Forbidden City |
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| The stone stairway carved with dragons on the Imperial Pathway behind the Hall of Preserving Harmony |
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| Marble foundations of the Three Fronts Hall |
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| The number of Chinese zodiac signs carved on the roof signified how important the building was. The one above is a "sevener" but the one below is a 'niner' as it had been used for the Royal Honeymoon |
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| Then on to Tiananmen Square and the National Opera. |