Bejing 2016 part I - Forbidden City

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With 14 million visitors each year the Forbidden City is not so forbidden anymore

Last year Ake's mother, Britt-Marie, turned 70. Ake's birthday gift to her was a week in Beijing. Emma could not come along on this journey so Britt-Marie and Ake went by themselves. Here is the first blog entry from this trip and it is about our visit to the Palace Museum or, as it is better known as, the Forbidden City.



We arrived in the morning to the front gate and already then the queues were long. But the staff at the ticket office were efficient so we only had to stay in line a short while before we could go in. We started the visit by climbing up the Tiananmen Gate, which you pass when you visit the Forbidden City but isn't a part of the museum. Before we went up there we had to leave our bags in a locker room. The reason is simple: Tianmen Gate faces Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen Square is a very exposed and a very symbolic public place. The Chinese authorities do not under any circumstances want to see any protests there. It is easier to ban all bags than to seach each one for banners or other unwanted materal.



Less than half of the palace is open to the public. But still it is so large and there is so much to take in that we spent the better part of a day on our visit there. One advantage with the Forbidden City being very large is that in spite of the great many visitors each day it isn't as crowded as you might expect. Also, many tourists visit the Forbidden City as part of a group. When a group passes by it gets very crowded for a few minutes. But once they have passed you might find that you have the site pretty much by yourself.



We walked from entrance in the south to the exit in the north. There really isn't very much to say about the visit other than that we both enjoyed it there very much even though it was a hot day.



A few things about the palace:

• On every roof there are decorations in the shape of small figures. They were not just decorations. It was believed that the figures would prevent the building from being struck by lightning.

• The buildings in the Forbidden City are all built using wood. More than once there has been devestating fires destroying buildings.

• All over the palace there are large containers. These containers used to hold water to be used to put out fires.

• The Forbidden City is a world heritage site.

• There is a clock museum in one of the buidings in the Palace. The clocks on display were once used in the palace and many of them are priceless works of art

• When they dug the moat around the palace the excavated soil was deposited just north of the palace. The soil was used to create a small hill there, a hill from which it is possible to get a very nice birds eye view of the palace.



After we had visited the Forbidden City we went to a restaurant and had dinner. We finished this, the first day in Beijing, by visiting Jingshan Park just north of the Forbidden City and the hill I mentioned before, the one made from soil dug up when creating the palace moat. In the evening sun the Forbidden City is very impressive.



For those who are interested in statistics: The Forbidden City sees around 14 million visitors each year making it the most visited museum in the world. The area enclosed within the walls surrounding the palace is, at more than 700 meters wide and 1,000 meters long, larger than any other palace in the world.



This is all for now. Hope you enjoyed it

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Photos

Buildings and large open areas
This is the classic view of the Forbidden City. The large open areas and buildings in the distance

Palace buildings are impressive
The palace buildings are impressive

Throne
A royal throne in one of the buildings

14 million visitors each year
With 14 million visitors each year you might think it gets crowded. Surprisingly enough is is not as bad as you might expect. Look at the picture. It could be a lot worse, right?

Not crowded at all
To avoid people all together all you have to do is step to the side a bit

Some parts of the palace sees fewer visitors
Less than half the palace is open for visitors. Still, it is so large that most visitors skip some of it. In the lesser visited parts you are almost by yourself

Britt-Marie in the Forbidden City
Britt-Marie, Ake's mother, in the Forbidden City

Ake in the Forbidden City
I try to avoid being photographed. But this is one of those places where you must have a photo of yourself, isn't it?

Water - in case of fire
All over the palace there are large jars. These jars used to hold water to be used to put out fires.

Canal
Near the entrance there is a small artificial canal going through the Forbidden City

Typical building
Pretty much all buildings in the Forbidden City look like this

Tiananmen Gate
Tiananmen Gate as seen from behind. In a later blog entry I will post a photo of it from the front, which is the famous view of that gate...

Small gate in the palace
Decorated gate in the palace

Decorated wall
Wall decorated with glazed tiles

Clock museum
There is a clock museum in one of the buidings in the Palace.

Clock museum
The clocks on display were once used in the palace and many of them are priceless works of art

Nine-dragon wall
There are three or four so called nine-dragon walls in China. This is a small section of the one in Forbidden City. Could you guess that this is approximately 2/9th of the wall?

Lion statue
These lion statues were probably a powerful symbol because they can be seen in many old buildings and other structures in Beijing.

Mythical creature statue
This gate is guarded by these statues

Statue of a tortoise
The powerful symbols of yesterday aren't always what we see as powerful symbols today. Tortoises aren't the pet of choise if you wish people to fear you...

Water container
Another style of water container. Every building in the entire palace is built from wood so a fire could really be devastating

Comments

[Dancing Dave]

The Forbidden City
Happy 70th birthday to your mother Ake. What a great birthday present from her son...a week in Beijing. Fabulously sharp images of the Forbidden City. Having been to Beijing a few times I'm looking forward to where you take your mother next. Enjoy.

[Ake Och Emma]

I'll send my mother the greetings
Thanks for the comment. We will probably go somewhere together again. We have a few ideas on where to go but nothing is decided yet. /Ake

[Rainyb]

It was nice of you to take your Mum on a trip!

[Rainyb]

ahhhhhhh I've never seen that before, & I've seen lots of Chinese temples, but it makes sense ;o)

[Rainyb]

Nice shots! I had planned to visit there from Malaysia but never got there waaaaaaa

[Ake Och Emma]

I love China
I have been to China several times over the years and I love it there. Unfortunately I don't think I will go there again any time soon. In the last couple of years they have increased the price for the visa a lot and now it has become so expensive that it is not worth it. That's a pity but there are close to twohundred other countries in the world I can visit so I don't cry myself to sleep at nights over it. /Ake