Beijing – Forbidden City

What was once forbidden is now open to the Chinese people.
What was once a sign of power, Chinese Rule and centuries of history has fully opened up it’s arms to Western Capitalism and once housed a bloody Starbucks! Although this has now closed.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony, Palace of Heavenly Purity and the Gate of Heavenly Peace all conjure up images of calm, tranquility and little old Chinese men doing Tai Chi…..now add a few thousand Chinese tourists and any sense of calm quickly dissappears. The Forbidden City in Beijing was the imperial palace and home to many of China’s emperors and is a small city inside the city where the Chinese people were forbidden to go, it’s a huge site and stunning to see, even if fighting through the hoardes of people does make it a little tiring. It’s immaculately kept and has been carefully restored, with imposing temples and building surrounding a huge square with a river running through it and beautiful crafted marble stairs and bridges. Most of the temples are out of bounds for visitors but have a few doors open where you can peer inside at the rooms, from bedrooms to state halls where people would have been paraded in front of the emperor! Not that you could get near the doors to actually see inside for all the people but it’s a good job the Chinese are all little and I could just look over them.