Forbidden City, Beijing
Posted On December 2, 2009
The Forbidden City did acted as the Chinese Imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty and continued to be the same till the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the central Beijing in China. These days it is known for being the palace museum. It did serve as the royal palace of the king for nearly five centuries. It has been a political as well as ceremonial centre of the Chinese Government.
The construction of the palace started from 1406 and was completed on 1420. This complex has in all 980 buildings and near about 8707 rooms. The total area covered by the imperial palace is about 720000 square meters. The buildings of the palace epitomize the traditional Chinese palatial architecture. Also it has played a major role in the architectural as well as the cultural developments in East Asia. In the year 1987 the Forbidden City was announced as the World Heritage site by the UNESCO. The palace has the largest collection of the age-old wooden structures in the world.
The palace Museum has taken the charge of the museum since 1925. The palace museum has the collection of the artifacts and the artwork which were inspired from the collections of the imperial palace. Many items of the palace are today kept in the exhibition in the National Palace museum which is located in Taipei. Both the museums belong to the same association but were divided when Chinese Civil war was over.
The Forbidden City is the English translation if its Chinese name that is Zijin Cheng another translation for the same name is the forbidden palace. Today it is known as Gugong on Chinese which means the former palace. Palace museum is the museum which is based on the age-old buildings of the palace.
The Forbidden City is very much important when it comes to the civic scheme of the city of Beijing. The city’s central axis is the north and south axis located in the city’s centre. The extension of the axis in the south meets the Tiananmen Square via the Tiananmen gate. Tiananmen Square acts as the ceremonial center for the local Chinese people. In the north the axis extends up to Yongdingmen via the Bell and drum towers. The north-south axis is tilted by two degrees very slightly. Religion has always been an important part of the life of the people of the imperial court. The Palace of Earthly Harmony was used as places of the Manchi Shamanist during the Qing Dynasty. Later the Chinese religion, Taoist had an important place in both the Qing as well as Ming dynasties. In the Forbidden City there was two Taoist’s shrine one was places in the Inner court while the other was in the Imperial Garden. Another important religion that was followed on a greater extent in the Qing dynasty was Lamaism, Tibetan and Buddhism. You will find various temples as well as shrines being spotted in the various parts of the Inner courts. The Pavilion of the Rain of the flowers was the most important among them.
The best time to visit the place is from late march to the mid-may as well as from September to October.
You can use the options like taxis/cabs or cabs from Beijing Airport and Railway Station if you want to reach the Forbidden City. Also, a Local bus drops the travelers to the area. Qianmen is the nearest located underground local train station to the Forbidden City.
