Beijing Forbidden City Half-Day Tour

Formerly known as the Forbidden City. It is the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the largest and most complete ancient building complex in China. It was listed as a "World Cultural Heritage" by UNESCO in 1988.

The Forbidden City covers an area of ??720,000 square meters, with 9,999 and a half rooms and a construction area of ??155,000 square meters. It is a rectangular city with ornate turrets standing at the four corners. The wall is surrounded by a 52-meter-wide moat, forming a castle with tight barriers. The building is majestic, luxurious and magnificent, and is the essence of ancient Chinese architectural art.

The Forbidden City has four gates, the main entrance is called Meridian Gate. Commonly known as Wufeng Tower. Its plane is concave, with a double tower in the middle, double eaves as the roof of the verandah, and four double eaves pavilions on each wing. The open corridors are connected and magnificent. Behind the Meridian Gate there are five exquisite white marble arch bridges leading to the Taihe Gate. The east gate is called Donghua Gate, the west gate is called Xihua Gate, and the north gate is called Shenwu Gate.

The architectural layout of the Forbidden City can be divided into outer court and inner court. The architectural atmosphere of the inner court and the outer court are completely different. The three main halls of the Outer Dynasty, namely Taihe, Zhonghe and Baohe, are the centers where feudal emperors exercised their power and held grand ceremonies. The inner court is centered around Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Palace, and Kunning Palace, where feudal emperors and concubines lived. In addition, there are Wenhua Hall, Wuying Hall, Imperial Garden, etc.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony, commonly known as the Jinluan Hall, is located in the center of the Forbidden City and is one of the three main halls of the Forbidden City. It is built on a white marble platform about 5 meters high. There are rows of cloud-dragon-cloud-phoenix pillars surrounding the platform base. There are three stone steps at the front and back. The middle stone steps are carved with dragons, setting off the "imperial road" with waves and flowing clouds. Inside the hall, there are gold-lacquered wooden pillars and an exquisite dragon caisson, with a plaque reading "Upright and Bright" hanging on them. In the middle of the hall is a gold-lacquered dragon throne, a symbol of feudal imperial power. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, with its red walls, yellow tiles, red linings and golden doors, is resplendent in the sunlight. It is the most spectacular building in the Forbidden City and the largest wooden palace in China.

Zhonghe Hall is one of the three main halls of the Forbidden City, located behind the Taihe Hall. The plane is square, with yellow glazed tiles at the four corners and spires, and a gilded crown in the middle. It has a magnificent shape and exquisite architecture.

Baohe Hall is one of the three main halls of the Forbidden City, behind the Zhonghe Hall. It is rectangular in plan, with yellow glazed tiles at the four corners and a pointed roof. The architectural decoration and painting are very detailed and gorgeous.

Qianqing Palace is at the front of the inner courtyard of the Forbidden City. Before Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, this was the place where the emperor lived and handled government affairs. After Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor moved to Yangxin Hall, but he still reviewed memorials, selected officials and summoned ministers here.

Jiaotai Palace is between Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace. The plane is square, with yellow tiles and spires at the four corners. In the Qing Dynasty, the ceremony of conferring titles and treasures on the queen, as well as the queen's birthday ceremony were all held here.

Kunning Palace is located at the very back of the "Inner Courtyard" of the Forbidden City. It was the queen's residence in the Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, it was changed into a place for worshiping gods. Among them, Dongnuang Pavilion was the bridal chamber for the emperor's wedding. Emperors Kangxi, Tongzhi and Guangxu all held their weddings here.

To visit the Forbidden City, you can enter through Tiananmen Square or the back door - Shenwu Gate. Entering Tiananmen Square, passing through a square paved with green bricks, you arrive at the Meridian Gate, the main entrance of the Forbidden City. The city walls here are tall and the gate towers are majestic, giving people a feeling of incomparable majesty and making people standing here feel small. This is the most prominent example of ancient rulers using architectural art to serve to enhance their imperial deterrence. .

After passing through the Meridian Gate, there is another large square with a Jinshui Bridge. Crossing the bridge and passing through the Gate of Supreme Harmony is the majestic Hall of Supreme Harmony. Viewed from a height, the Jinshui Bridge and the Royal River flowing through the square are shaped like a huge bow. After passing through the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Zhonghe, and the Hall of Baohe, and passing through the Qianqing Gate, you enter the inner court. The inner court is divided into three routes: the middle road, the east road, and the west road. If it is a half-day tour, you can only travel one of these three routes, and you can generally take the middle route. Walking along the middle road, you can see the emperor's bedroom (Qianqing Palace), the place where the emperor's seal was placed (Jiaotai Palace), the emperor's new wedding house (Kunning Palace), the place where the concubines lived (some of them have been turned into exhibition halls) and Royal Garden. Generally speaking, it is quite strenuous to spend half a day visiting the Forbidden City. It is better to arrange a day trip. If you have time, you can arrange a two-day tour.

The Forbidden City embodies Chinese culture everywhere. Many details of the Forbidden City have certain symbolic meanings and embody the cultural essence of ancient China. The name "Forbidden City" is related to ancient Chinese philosophy and astronomy. The purple of the Forbidden City is the purple of "Zi Wei Zhong", which means that the imperial palace is also the "middle" of the world. "Forbidden" refers to the residence of the royal family, which is extremely dignified and is strictly prohibited from intrusion.

There are 9,999 houses in the Forbidden City, and each door has 9 copper door nails horizontally and vertically. This peculiar digital phenomenon is related to the ancient Chinese people's understanding of numbers. Ancient people believed that the character "9" was the largest number, and the emperor was the largest in the world, so the corresponding "9" must be used. The homophone of "9" is "jiu", which means "eternal", so it also means that the country will last forever and never change its color.

Careful tourists will find that the names of the buildings in the Forbidden City all have the words "Ren", "He", "Zhong", "An", etc., such as Tiananmen, Hall of Supreme Harmony, etc. These words represent The meaning is the core of Chinese Confucianism, namely "righteousness" and "benevolence", which highlights the traditional Confucian concepts.

The names of Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Palace and Kunning Palace where the emperor and empress lived are also related to the Confucian classic "Book of Changes".

"Book of Changes" says that "Qian" symbolizes "Heaven" and represents "Male"; "Kun" symbolizes "Earth" and represents "Female"; "Tai" in the middle means "peace and smoothness", and the whole meaning is "Heaven and Earth". "Beauty" implies a harmonious relationship between the emperor and the empress, coupled with "uprightness" and "tranquility", imagining life in a palace as extremely beautiful.

The colors in the Forbidden City also have profound meanings. The Forbidden City mostly uses yellow glazed tiles, and the interior colors are mostly yellow. The layout of the Qianqing Palace is particularly outstanding. This usage comes from the Five Elements Theory in the ancient classic "Shangshu". The ancients believed that the world is composed of the five elements of "metal, wood, water, fire and earth". The five elements are mutually reinforcing and restraining each other, so the world is constantly changing. "Yellow" represents "earth". Earth is the foundation of all things, and the emperor is also the foundation of all peoples, so yellow is often used in the imperial palace. The only building in the Forbidden City that uses black glazed tiles is the Wenyuan Pavilion in the library. In the Five Elements, "black" symbolizes "water", and "water" can overcome "fire", so the library uses black tiles to represent water overpowering fire, which means fire prevention. The design is well-intentioned.

While appreciating the magnificent external buildings, you should carefully savor the cultural significance each building symbolizes, and you will be full of interest and meaningful.

Only by understanding the materialized Chinese culture can we understand the great story