DESPITE its past grandeur and massive courtyards, the Forbidden City is a sombre place as all of its 900 rooms remind us of its haunting presence.
Like its name, the massive complex – enclosed by giant gates, high walls and vast courtyards – is a city in itself.
Tucked in the centre of Beijing and flanked by high rise buildings and luxury hotels in the Dongcheng district, the Forbidden City, like the Great Wall of China, is a must-see, especially for first-timers to the capital of China.
Like many people of my generation, I am intrigued by palace stories after binge-watching countless Chinese historical period drama series about scheming imperial concubines such as My Fair Princess, Empresses in the Palace, Scarlet Heart and the recent hit series, Story of Yanxi Palace.
The plot is always the same: Vengeful concubines vow to do anything to win the emperor’s attention, even if it means killing off a few princes and princesses along the way.
But why do such shows cause fans to swarm the Forbidden City or Palace Museum (Gu Gong)?
With a record of an astounding 17 billion streams on China’s online video platform and as many as 700 million people tuning in every day, it is no wonder that the Story of Yanxi Palace, set during the Qing’s Qianlong emperor reign, brings an unexpected increase of visitors to the Forbidden City.
The show relies heavily on Chinese history with intricate costumes and set pieces, replicated from the Palace Museum’s collections. Many have commented on the details, like the elaborate velvet flower or rong hua made by artist Zhao Shuxian for the character Empress Fuca Rongyin.
When the series ended, I knew where I should spend my year-end holiday – the Forbidden City, of course!
PALACE STORY
The Forbidden City is divided into two parts: The Outer Court where many official ceremonies take place and the Inner Court houses the royal residence for the emperor and his families.
Electronic gates and long stretch of ticketing counters have replaced the once heavily-guarded Shenwu Men or Meridian Gate on the south side of the Outer Court.
Visitors are screened and checked by workers from the Palace Museum. Security is tight. The security gate beeps as I pass through and a worker comes over and asks if I have something in my pockets.
I’ve forgotten to put smaller electronic items into the basket before passing through the security gate. The staff understands my predicament and just smiles.
As I pass through the main gate, I breathe in the dry and cold wintry air, overwhelmed by the massive complex.
“So, this is what the emperor must have felt when he went through this gate in the past,” I say to myself, as I look at the smaller gates on each side, reserved for high-ranking officials and members of the royal family in the past.
The chant of the traditional greeting to the emperor — wansui, wansui, wanwansui (literally 10,000 years of long life) — seems to echo along these high walls as I pass through the gate.
I imagine court officials and ministers crowding the stone steps as they declare their loyalty to the court.
When Ming emperor Yongle decided to move his court from Nanjing in the southern region of China to Beijing in the north, he had a grand idea: To build a city within a city with a series of massive structures that reflected the realm of the Heavenly Ancestor and the emperor, the Son of Heaven.
Covering 720,000 sq metres from the north to south, the imposing rectangular walled megastructure, which took 14 years to build (10 of which were spent on the details), is constructed not only to inspire awe among the Chinese subjects in the past, but also kingdoms from lands afar.
From the beginning, the Forbidden City was designed as a place of spectacle.
Franz Kafka in his 1917 notes described the Forbidden City as a place of “…glittering and yet mysterious. The empire is immortal but the individuals in it rise and fall, and the people will never know anything about these struggles and sufferings within these great walls”.
The description becomes a sure-win formula for an oriental fantasy but echoing within these red walls with its gold coloured (the colour represents the five elements in Chinese astrology) roofs and mythical figures is a hidden world of intrigue.
It is here that many important imperial rites take place to ensure the harmony between heaven, earth and man.
Most important of all, it was the political centre of the Ming and Qing dynasties for almost 500 years.
From the Meridian Gate, if you follow close to the walls and towards the south, you’ll arrive at Tiananmen Square (Gate of Heavenly Peace), where Mao Zedong announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949.
Previously, all major imperial edicts issued by the emperors were promulgated here, until 1912 when the last emperor, Aisin Gioro Puiyi, announced his abdication.
With this edict, the Great Qing Empire, who has ruled China for over 268 years, came to an end.
IMPERIAL FAMILY ABODE
Behind the Meridian Gate, in the Inner Court, are ceremonial halls built on raised marble platforms. This was where the emperor and his ministers met daily to discuss affairs of the empire. It’s almost mid-day when throngs of tourists begin to arrive at the Forbidden City. Many, like me, are eager to see the emperor’s office and the room he once ate and slept in.
In Taihe Dian (Hall of Supreme Harmony), where Ming emperors used to issue his edicts, the dragon throne remains untouched since the last century. When the Qing came to power, Taihe Dian was used for ceremonial events such as imperial weddings.
Facing the south, Taihe Dian is the largest complex in the Forbidden City. Built over three levels of marble stone base that rises some 30m from the ground, Taihe Dian is also the largest surviving wooden structure in China. The six pillars closer to the throne are covered in gold and decorated with dragon motif.
Every furniture, decoration, paintings and scrolls are left as they are, as if time stands forever still in this room. But for many, Taihe Dian reminds us of a once powerful empire that has lost its authority.
The Inner Court houses the imperial family’s “palaces”, all of them are stationed in a courtyard. The higher your status, the further your house is.
For example, the empress got a lavish courtyard in the far northern end of the Forbidden City; while lower rank concubines and servants were housed on the southern end.
Materials used in the construction of the Forbidden City came from all over China.
For example, the stones were transported from a quarry, 70km away from Beijing; the timbers from forests in Southwest China and golden tiles were fired in kilns in Suzhou in East China, 100km northwest of Shanghai.
PROSPECT HILL
To the north of the complex, past the imperial garden, the Jingshan Park or Prospect Hill overlooks Forbidden City. The once private garden is a popular spot among photographers and tourists, who want an unobstructed view of the Forbidden City.
Here’s a fun fact: Prospect Hill is a man-made hill. The 46m-high hill is constructed entirely from soil (29,000 cubic metres) excavated from the Forbidden City and a nearby canal during its construction and were dumped here.
According to feng shui, the hill serves as a medium to balance earth and water.
However, there is a more logical explanation to this. The hill helps to block cold wind from the north and attacks from enemy.
Following carefully carved stone steps, it takes 15 minutes, with a break, to reach the peak. The summit has five smaller individual mounds with their own pavilions. In the past, court officials gathered here over a cup of tea.
Surrounded by tall pine trees, it is said that the last ruler of the Ming dynasty, Chongzhen, committed suicide here by hanging himself from a tree when Beijing fell to rebel forces in 1644.
Most of the walls of Old Beijing have since been taken down to make way for commercial buildings and roads. But there are a few that survived the clutches of modernity.
Take a long, slow stroll along these few remaining walls as you exit Forbidden City. You’ll be surprised by how much of Old Beijing still lives in these walls.
TRAVEL FILE
TOUR WITH KLOOK
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As the WeChat App is the most used messaging app in China, it is best to have the app readily installed in your mobile phones. Follow-up communication with the guides is usually made via WeChat app.
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POCKET WIFI
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