Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A sealed-off stomping ground for century upon century of emperors, Beijing's lauded
ImperialPalace-betterknownintheWestbyitsunofficialtitle,theForbiddenCity-is
themostfamoustouristdrawinallChina.Foritsfivecenturiesinaction,cleanthrough
the reigns of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, civilian Chinese were for-
bidden from even approaching its walls. With its maze of eight hundred buildings and
nine thousand chambers, the Forbidden City was the core of the capital, the empire,
and(sotheChinesebelieved)theuniverse.Itremainsanextraordinaryplacetoday,un-
surpassed in China for monumental scale, harmonious design and elegant grandeur.
This jaw-dropping specimen of dynastic splendour sits just off
Tian'anmen Square
, at over
400,000 square metres the greatest public space on earth. Symbolically the heart of the coun-
try, the square is an infamous place which in its austerity provides a complete contrast to the
luxury and ornament of the palace. Laid out in 1949, it's a modern creation in a city that,
traditionally, had no places where crowds could gather. As one of the square's architects put
it: “Beijing was a reflection of a feudal society… We had to transform it; we had to make
Beijing into the capital of socialist China.” They created a vast concrete plain bounded by
stern, monumental buildings, not least the
Great Hall of the People
to the west and the
Na-
tional Museum of China
to the east.
