Saturday, August 10, 2013

Of Impression X And Reality: Forbidden City 紫禁城.故宮

7:30 a.m.

Tian An Men 天安門queue-ing almost half an hour for the ticketfeels like going to a carnival-picnic

 

9:15 a.m.

glimpse of one of the main palaces

Dong He Palace, 中和殿

 

not satisfying, but

that’s the best I could

but the main central door was shut

Dong He Palace, 中和殿

 

according to one of the many tour-guides

yup, I got to eavesdrop and free ride

the dragon mural in the middle of the walkway

is the pathway for the Emperor

I think it would be quite a danger

no.. I think they carried him in a palanquin

The walkway, Forbidden City

 

11:15 a.m.

squeeze in

squeeze in

photo-capturing crowd is everywhere

and finally a proper photo of

how does the real palace look like

Bao He Palace, 保和殿

 

as you could see

the building is of oblong shaped

therefore it doesn’t exactly fit for

hundreds and thousands of statesmen to enter

 

I supposed only the highest among the higher ranked

could be in there during assembly

there rest would probably just stand outside

sun/snow/rain

and would only get to enter the hall

when they are liable to answer to something

it could mean a deadly call

so I guess it is still better to stand on the plaza

Tai He Plaza, 太和廣場

 

the royal garden

I doubt it is an ideal spot for “scandalous” meet-up

as illustrated on tv screen

because it’s of an open space

and the trees do not really have

those overshadowing shades

Royal Garden, 御花園

 

and the long corridor in between palaces

6 each on the West and East side for the

12 higher-ranked concubines

on TV screen, the protagonist managed to

lend a helping hand to his crush who

unfortunately bumped into either an assassin

or an evil superior   

on another occasion,

the protagonists managed to catch a conversation of

a treacherous plot

They have specific names, but.. oops

 

but seriously

there’s no corner to hide an assassin

or hold a secret meeting

in the first place I don’t think

any statesmen except the eunuchs

will be allowed entrance to

the residence of the emperor

They have specific names, but.. oops

 

princess no longer take one tiny step at a time

They wear sneakers!!

Princess dress-up

 

this palace has undergone

the worst ever looting in human history

internal and externally

therefore some of the artifacts 

on display are incomplete

some are replicas, very excellent replicas

and half of them are in the Taipei museum

Buddha artifacts, Forbidden City

 

half of the places were being locked up

not even peeping is available

because I guess most probably

they are quite empty right now

there are actually a list of things

I would like to see

such as

the servants’ quarter, the kitchen,

a chamber of a princess, including the wardrobe

慶云齋仁祥門

 

3:00 p.m.

finally got to enter a real palace

and best of all

not much visitors made their ways there

it’s on the East side of the “city”

where you have to pay another 10 rmb

for entrances to a couple of mini museums,

this one and an opera theatre

Huang Ji Palace, 皇極殿Huang Ji Palace, 皇極殿Huang Ji Palace, 皇極殿

 

4:20 p.m.

exit via the south-gate

drop dead soring feet

Shen Wu Gate, 神武門

 

despite the “waking up from the impression”

disappointment, indeed a little

it was indeed a long good walk through

the best of Chinese architecture

pieces from Forbidden Citypieces from Forbidden CityP1230431pieces from Forbidden Citypieces from Forbidden City

 

exiting tips:

exiting from the South Gate

it’s most probably not a good idea to 

walk all the way back to the

Tian An Men East Metro station

 

suggestion is that

catch a convenient bus ride

to Wang Fu Jing shopping district

it only costs 40 cents per bus ride!!

and hang around for a quick break or

at least, the Metro station is just within walking distance

 

alight after the huge Apple store comes into sight

they have a whole street of local delicacies

or the familiar one like McDonalds’ and all