Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and elaborate timepieces, mostly gifts to the Qing emperors from overseas. Time your ar-
rival for 11am or 2pm to see the clock performance in which choice timepieces strike the
hour.
Complete Palace of Peace & Longevity
宁寿全宫
宁寿全宫
A mini Forbidden City, this palace was built in the northeastern corner of the complex,
mimicking the structure of the great halls of the central axis. During the Ming dynasty,
this was where the Empress Dowager and the imperial concubines lived. Now it houses a
number of fine exhibitions, known collectively as the
Treasure Gallery
(entrance ¥10).
Understand
Concubines & Eunuchs
If ceremonial and administrative duties occupied most of the emperor's working hours, it was the pursuit of
pleasure that took up his time come nightfall. According to an ancient Chinese belief, frequent sex with young
girls could sustain one's youth, so the emperors sought to prolong their lives with as much frolicking with the
imperial concubines as possible.
The names of the concubines were kept on jade tablets near the emperor's chambers, making it easy for the
emperor to choose his companion for the night. Stripped naked (and therefore weapon-free), the lucky lady was
gift-wrapped in a yellow cloth before being piggybacked over to the royal boudoir by a eunuch.
As for the palace eunuchs, the royal chop was administered using a swift knife and a special chair with a hole
in the seat. Around half died after the operation. Mutilation was considered grounds for exclusion from the next
life, so many eunuchs carried their former appendages around in pouches, believing that at the time of death the
spirits might think them whole.
Imperial Garden
御花园
御花园
At the northern end of the Forbidden City is this classical Chinese garden with 7000 sq
metres of lovely landscaping, including rockeries, walkways, pavilions and ancient, car-
buncular and deformed cypresses. Note the pair of
bronze elephants
whose front knees
bend in an anatomically impossible fashion, signifying the power of the emperor; even
elephants kowtow before him!
