The Forbidden City . . .

I woke up saying, "Today's the day, I go to The Forbidden City."  

Well everybody else in Beijing did too.  

Tickets are sold daily from 8:30am - 3:30pm, and they usually sell out by noon.  Patrons are free to roam the public areas, but everyone must leave the grounds by 5:30pm, no exceptions.

I stood in line in 100 degree heat.

A girl behind was working her paper fan, overtime.  Since she was right upon me and breathing down my back, I got the benefits of her hard work :-)

YES!  One hour later, I got the "golden ticket".

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty, during the years 1420 to 1912.  The name means “Forbidden Palace”. 

It took 14 years to complete and was built by more than a million workers.  It is located in the centre of Beijing, and served as the home of emperors and their households as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government for almost 500 years.

Entering!!  Crossing over a moat.

Here it is :-)

Whoa!  These stones are the original stone floors. And they hurt too walk on.

The Forbidden City has 980 buildings, and more than 8,886 rooms. And of course, the map of the grounds is in Chinese! 

These copper pots were everywhere.  They were used by the fire department in The Forbidden City in the 1400's.

This compound is a series of mazes.

And gorgeous building that have influenced architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. 

There was a special art exhibit in one of the rooms.

I eat up this kind of history. Birthday gifts!! :-)

Hall of Union and Peace.

That's old, ya'll!

There are conspiracy theories about ghosts running rampant on the grounds.  So much so, that some rooms are off limits.

 I love all the details.

I forget the name of these trees, but the Chinese say they resemble humans.

This rock was built in 1940. There is small red door (you probably can't see it; it's behind the boy), and it leads to sleeping quarters up above.

More tunnels.

These signs are everywhere in China, and will most certainly make it into my movie.

I love these colors.

It took me about 2 hours to walk the grounds.  Now I'm leaving.  "The End"

Crossing a moat to exit.  And, um, nobody told me that when you leave you have to walk ALL THE WAY back around to the front - about a 30 minute walk. 

Nice piece of history!!

~SS