In the Paths of Emperors

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Jing Shan Park just north of the Forbidden City seemed to meet all of the requirements to start my day of exploration of what is left of Imperial China. After all, the pavilions on top of the hill at the center of the park command a perfect bird’s view of the Forbidden City below (Officially named “Palace Museum” by the Chinese government). Perhaps the most interesting part of the experience was to see normal Chinese people’s version of a Sunday in the park. Men and women of all ages were dancing and singing to the tune of traditional music delivered to the park in much more modern ways (such as with boom boxes).

After a taxi brought me from my hotel and delivered me to one of the entrances to the park, I quickly climbed Prospect Hill (one of the names that has been given to this hill over the centuries) and searched for the pavilion on top. I soon discovered that there were several pavilions in the area, each with its own character, appeal and an inspiring name that is characteristic of all names in China: Fulan (or Eye Feasting) Pavilion, Jifang (or Gathering Fragrance) Pavilion, Guanmiao (or Wonder Appreciation) Pavilion, etc. In fact, the pavilions are intended to represent five directions and were typically paired in a symmetrical location. I did not appreciate this fact until later when I was looking at the pavilions from the gate that gives access to the Forbidden City below.

After I had seen what I came to see at Jing Shan Park, I entered the Forbidden City through its North Gate (Gate of Divine Prowess). This was a timesaving move because most tourists enter the site from the larger South Gate that gives immediate access to the Forbidden City’s Outer Court.

One of the first areas that you see coming from the North Gate is the Imperial Garden and the palaces where the emperors, empresses, concubines, and everyone serving them lived their normal lives. The last time I visited the Forbidden City, I was in the company of two of my colleagues and therefore did not spend adequate time seeing everything that there is to see in this area or the rest of this vast imperial complex.

This time, I had plenty of time to see every hall and palace and even read the now ever-present English-Language signs (facilitated by non-other than American Express Company) describing when each structure was built, reconstructed, by whom, who lived or otherwise performed ceremonies there, etc. etc.

Because of my visits to both the Ming and Qing Dynasties’ mausoleums during previous trips to China, I could not help but thinking about the striking similarities between those tombs and the actual places where those emperors and their families lived. The modern equivalent would be for people to have an exact copy of their house, condo, or flat somewhere in the countryside to eventually contain their burial site along with some of their dearest earthly possessions.

My tour of the Forbidden City followed a loop from the northern gate, through the Imperial Garden, to the western Inner Court palaces, the Outer Court halls and courtyards (including the Golden Water) up to the southern gate, the eastern inner court palaces and finally the Imperial Garden once again before exiting through the same Northern Gate that I used to gain access to the complex earlier in the morning.

Before heading back to my hotel, I decided to walk around the area of Bei Hai Park, another place that I would like to visit in Beijing. I started my walking tour by going all the way to the western edge of the Forbidden City, crossing the street westward onto Xi’an Men Wenjin Jie, which allowed me to border the southern edge of Bei Hai. As soon as it was possible, I turned north through a cross road until I reached Di’an Men Xi Dajie, which took me east again, eventually bordering the north edge of Bei Hai. By the time I completed this seemingly short tour, it had turned quite dark (at around 5:00 PM), so I got into a taxi and returned to my base.

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Photos

Golden Water
Five marble bridges (from the five virtues of Confucianism) go over this west to east channel.

Jing Shan Park
Path to the pavilions

Jifang
Gathering Fragrance Pavilion

Reserve Lions
Just outside the Outer Court