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"1644 to 1911..."
The Forbidden City lies in the city center of Beijing. It covers 720 000 m2, and was built during the Ming Dynasty. The complex served as the Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing dynasty, and is now to find on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The construction of this gigantic palace city, of about 1000 buildings (980 are still remaining), took only 15 years. Over one million workers were needed to complete the city, which were built where the previous palace had been (before it was burned down by the Hongwu Emperor, when he moved the capital down south to Nanjing. The construction began in 1404.
We lived in walking distance from the Forbidden City, so in the morning we crossed the Tian'anmen Square, and entered the Forbidden City through the gates of Heavenly Peace. Right above the gate hangs a large picture of Mao Zedong.
When we came inside, we just kept walking for hours. The size of the buildings, the vastness of the countless squares, and the small number of visitors amazed me beyond believe. There were hundreds of tourists, but nothing like what I have seen pictures of in the summer. And when we got passed a few huge palace buildings, we could find small gardens, museums showing artifacts, and large buildings that we almost got to ourselves. A lot of the city is restored, but there are still damages from the different moves in the political games played out over the last 150 years. For instance did the French forces occupy the palace city during the Second Opium War, in 1860, the Japanese occupation in 1933, the establishment of The Peoples Republic of China in 1949 also created damage on the city, although it was protected from further destruction during the Cultural Revolution. Not to forget that almost the whole city burned down in 1644, when the rebellion that overthrew the last Ming emperor seized power.
Naturally, most of the artifacts on display in the various rooms of the temples are from the Qing dynasty, which was the last in Chinese history. If you visit the Forbidden City there is one thing you know when you leave; the beginning and end of the Qing dynasty. On everything on display they have just put up which dynasty it comes from. And since the ten Qing Emperors were the last ones to change things and leave things in the Forbidden City, almost everything can be traced back to them. As you walk among their arts and buildings, you keep wondering if what you are looking at comes from the late 17th century, or the early 20th century. And as you keep walking, you begin to get annoyed, almost upset about this. All you know is that it was made between 1644 and 1911, and that it is time to find some food.
We walked out over the moth and left the Forbidden City on the opposite side than we entered. On the way to the hostel, we entered a couple small restaurants to have some lunch. One place served dumplings. We all got a good amount for about 2,5 RMB (2 NOK / 0.3 USD) each. The next one was a noodle place. Also very cheap, and a lot of food!
I have spent more time eating in China, than I have spent sleeping. I have been to all sorts of small dirty places in the back alleys, and they make amazing food for literally no real money. Most places don't have an English menu, but a few have pictures on the wall. If not, I just look at the prices and point something out. Always a thrill when they come out with huge portions of some fantastic looking food.
Sadly I was not able to see the best and most valuable artifacts from the Forbidden City. This is because they were moved to Taiwan when the Japanese attacked China in 1933. And I did not get time to see the Summer Palace because I spent the time I had designated for that in various police stations in Beijing.
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