The Forbidden City is the largest preserved royal palace complex still standing in the world. Located in the centre of Beijing, China, it served as the residence of 24 Ming and Qing Dynasty Emperors, and the political center of the Chinese government for over 500 years from 1420 to 1924. Today, it is administered by the Palace Museum and part of the vast complex is open to visitors.
The Forbidden City, also know as 故宫 or 紫禁城, was inscribed in UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987. Covering an area of over a million square meters, the Forbidden City is an enormous rectangular complex with more than 9,000 bays or rooms. So vast that even if one is to visit a different room every day, it takes more than 24 years to do just that.
Today the Inner and Outer Courts are managed under the name ‘Palace Museum’ and possess an all-encompassing collection numbering over 1.86 million items across 25 major categories.
We joined a half day tour to visit the Forbidden City on the second day of our short trip to Beijing.
If you are joining a tour, like we did, the likely meeting place is after the Meridian Gate. Do factor in time to queue and clear the security checks at the main entrance. During our visit, it took around 30 mins.
Meridian Gate 午门 is the main gate of the Forbidden City and primary entrance for visitors. There are 5 passageways in it; 3 central passageways and 2 side passages. The passageway right in the center was reserved for the emperor. There were only 2 exceptions. The empress was permitted to use this center passageway only during her wedding ceremony. The top three successful candidates could also exit through this passageway after the Palace examination results were announced. The other two passageways flanking both sides of the center one were used by officials and members of the royal family. The side gates were only opened during grand celebrations.
Forbidden City tickets are released 7 days in advance and run out quickly, so do book quickly when they are released. We got our tour and tickets booked through agency so less of a hassle. The tickets are tied to your passports. Ensure that the passport numbers given are correct. Here’s the Palace Museum ticket booking link.
Past the Meridian Gate, you’ll reach the Gate of Supreme Harmony 太和门. There are 5 bridges over an internal river. The center bridge reserved solely for the Emperor with two bridges flanking it reserved for the royal family members. The two outermost bridges were for ordinary officials.
The Outer Courts
The outer courts comprises of Hall of Supreme Harmony 太和殿, Hall of Middle Harmony 中和宫 and Hall of Preserving Harmony 保和宫. Collectively they are known as the three majestic halls or 三宝殿. The Emperors did not use these halls on a daily basis but only during major occasions. Hence the saying ‘无事不登三宝殿’.
Past the Gate of Supreme Harmony or Taihe Gate, you’ll first reach the Hall of Supreme Harmony 太和殿.
Hall of Supreme Harmony 太和殿 was the site of grand ceremonies in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Important occasions celebrated here include the Chinese New Year, winter solstice, emperor’s birthday, enthronement ceremonies, imperial weddings, coronation of empresses, announcement of Palace Examination results and launch of major military expeditions.
The original structure built in 1420 was burnt down and the building today was rebuilt in 1695 during Emperor Kangxi’s reign.
The interior of the Hall is out of bounds to visitors. One can only look at the throne from afar and as the hall is not lit, the photo below is pretty dark. Above the throne hangs a tablet with the inscription 建极绥猷 in Emperor Qianlong’s hand which means ‘establish the highest principles and bring peace’.
Bronze crane and tortoise outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony symbolising everlasting rule and longevity.
Gold-plated copper vats were positioned within the complex which was mainly of wooden construction. The vats were filled with water in the past ready for fire fighting. During the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion of Beijing, the invaders looted a large number of treasures from the palace and they even scraped the gold off the vats. At present, there are more than 220 vats in the Palace Museum.
Then next is the Hall of Middle Harmony 中和宫, where emperors received homage from ceremonial officials before holding court or leading ceremonies at the Hall of Supreme Harmony 太和殿. The hall, completed in 1420, was also used for the approval and storage ceremony of the genealogy of the Qing imperial family or yudie 玉牒 compiled every decade.
Hall of Preserving Harmony 保和宫 was where imperial banquets were held. It was built in 1420 and rebuilt in 1625.
The Inner Courts
The Inner Court was both the residence of the imperial family and where the emperor managed state affairs on a day-to-day basis. The three grand halls in the Inner Court are the Palace of Heavenly Purity 乾清宫, Hall of Union 交泰殿 and Palace of Earthly Tranquility 坤宁宫.
The Gate of Heavenly Purity or Qianqing Gong 乾清门 divides the Forbidden City into two parts, the Outer Court and the Inner Court, therefore, serving as the main entrance to the imperial household. The entrance has its Chinese and Machu names side by side, as with the other buildings within the Inner Court.
There is a pair of glided bronze lions guarding the Gate of Heavenly Purity; the male lion with a ball in hand on the right and the female lion with a baby cub on the left.
The Palace of Heavenly Purity or Qianqing Gong 乾清宫 served as the Emperor’s Residence during the Ming Dynasty. In the early Qing Dynasty, Emperor Yongzheng moved his residence to Yangxin Dian 养心殿. From then on, Qianqing Gong served as a venue for emperors to meet courtiers, review memorials, handle daily government affairs, receive envoys and hold banquets.
Emperor Yongzheng started the custom of placing the name of the heir to the throne behind the tablet 正大光明. The emperor also carried the heir’s name. Upon his death, the names were compared before the successor was declared.
At the front halls, there are a number of bridges and below these are passageways used by the palace maids and junior eunuchs as they went by their daily duties as they were not allowed to use the bridges.
The Hall of Union 交泰殿 houses a throne in the centre of the hall. In the Qing Dynasty, the empress received homage here on three occasions a year: first day of Chinese New Year, her birthday and winter solstice.
The Palace of Earthly Tranquility 坤宁宫 was used as the residence of the empress in Ming Dynasty. First built in 1420, the structure that we see today is rebuilt in 1655. Qing Dynasty Emperors Kangxi, Tongzhi, Guangxu and Puyi, all of whom ascended the throne at a young age, completed their weddings here. There are bays on the side which were used as a shrine for shamanistic sacrifices and cooking of sacrificial meats.
The imperial garden or 御花园 was not as big as I envisaged it to be. And as it was late winter/early spring, some of the trees were bare and no blooming florals.
Six walled palaces compounds on either side, known as the Six Eastern and Six Western Palaces served as residence for imperial consorts. Beyond these was a palace compound as Emperor Qianlong’s retirement complex and another as the residence of the empress dowger, among other structures and courtyards.
The Palace of Prolonging Happiness 延禧宫 is one of the Six Eastern Palaces in the Inner Court where imperial consorts used to live.
The Bower of the Spirt Pool was an uncompleted structure in Western architecture standing right next to Palace of Prolonging Happiness or Yanxi Gong. It was built during the last days of Qing Dynasty and never completed.
The Palace of Great Benevolence 景仁宫, one of the Six Eastern Palaces.
We chose a half day tour, which ran from 9am to 12pm. There is a choice to visit the Treasure Gallery of Palace Museum, which we passed upon hearing the guide saying it was always crowded. Secondly, we were kind of tired after so much walking within a couple of hours and went for a dessert break instead.
We exited the Forbidden City via the Gate of Divine Prowess, the northern gate of the complex. This gate played an important role in daily access in the past. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the empress would exit and enter through the main passageway of this gate when going to offer sacrifices. In Qing Dynasty, young girls chosen as candidates for the imperial harem would also enter through the side passages of this gate. Note this gate is around a 20-25 minutes walk to the nearest metro station.
The Forbidden City, IMHO, is a must visit for any visitor to Beijing. And after writing this post, I’m keen to go back again for another visit.
Retail / F&B
There are a number of souvenir shops within the complex. It’s worth the time to go into at least 2 as the items on sale in each one is not entirely similar to the rest.
We took a short break in one of the F&B outlet. Besides hot drinks and hotdogs, there are intricately designed cakes and desserts on the menu.
We chose to have a walnut paste 宫廷核桃酪, bayberry (yang mei) lychee drink 馥郁红梅妃子饮 and Chinese pear drink 清润雪梨羹, together with a persimmon mousse cake 柿柿如意 (柿子口味慕斯蛋糕). The prices of the cakes range from ¥32 to ¥38, and the cold and hot desserts are priced at ¥28 each.
