During my 2016 visit to Beijing, I got as far as the subway exit nearest the Forbidden City and turned back. There were too many lines and too many people. Last week, I finally got to see inside those imposing red walls.
Approaching the South gate at the Forbidden CIty. Photo: SLCT
Preparation for the 2023 visit was a 2-hour lecture a couple of weeks prior, on the historical background of the Forbidden City, a cultural experience presented by the Diplomacy Association. We were told about the history of the city, the placement of the buildings, the animal motifs on the roofs, and the significance of the tile colours – information that held us in good stead when we finally made the one-way only trek from the South gate entrance and exited at the North gate. We entered through the Emperor’s Gate, walked the central line, and crossed the Emperor’s bridge, following many, many groups who were enjoying the fine weather: families, elders, non-Chinese visitors, and adults and children in traditional dress.
The Emperor’s bridge (left), Forbidden CIty. Photo: SLCT
With each step and around each corner, I felt the place was familiar. Not a sense of déjà vu, but familiarity that came with a year’s worth of binge-watching two 2018 Chinese television series on YouTube, about life in the Forbidden City. One was ‘Story of Yanxi Palace’ and other ‘The Legend of Ruyi’ or ‘Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace.’ Both were set supposedly in the Forbidden City, and scenes replayed in my mind as our group walked the length from gate to gate, up steep flights of steps, and across wide courtyards.
The perspective of one of the inner courtyards at the Forbidden City. Photo: SLCT
When we got to the Imperial Gardens, and I saw the covered resting places, I remembered scenes with the consorts and concubines having tea and gossiping or walking and admiring the flowers or plotting their next unfriendly move.
Imperial Garden, Forbidden CIty. Photo: SLCT
By that time, I was on sensory overload, from admiring the traditional architecture, the colours and patterns; the mosaic stonework on the ground; stonework and bronze work; the ponds with lazy koi; bent trees with attitude, and the strong smell of history seeping up from the flagstone.
Roof detail, the Forbidden City. Photo: SLCT
All this, while keeping in mind the reason the city was built, who was allowed in and why, and for the many women who came into the city to live and work, life was not all fun and games. I felt the same way when I am in a museum and exposed to monumental art: I get Stendhal syndrome, where the art makes me feel to pass out. I sat down and had an ice cream to calm myself.
Water drums – early fire stations at the Forbidden City. Photo: SLCT
In a fast-becoming uber-city, Beijing still holds onto its roots, in this case, the [once] Forbidden City, solidly encased within tall red walls, securely guarded by watchtowers and gates, and protected by an army of people dedicated to preserving its treasures and stories for generations to come.
The moat and a corner tower. Forbidden CIty. Photo: SLCT