Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
palace complex and vast park-like gardens, all enclosed by a good-looking
10km-long wall.
Through
Lizheng Gate
( Lizheng Men), the
Main Palace
( Zheng Gong) is a
series of nine courtyards and five elegant, unpainted halls, with a rusticity
complemented by towering pine trees.
The first hall is the refreshingly cool
Hall of Simplicity and Sincerity
, built
of an aromatic cedar called
nanmu,
and displaying a carved throne draped in
yellow silk. Other prominent halls include the emperor's study (Study of Four
Knowledges) and living quarters (Hall of Refreshing Mists and Waves). On the
left-hand side of the latter is the imperial bedroom. Two residential areas
branch out from here: the empress dowager's
Pine Crane Palace
( Songhe
Zhai), to the east, and the smaller Western Apartments, where the concubines
(including a young Cixi) resided.
Statue of Guanyin, Puning Temple (
Click here
)
CHRISTIAN KOBER/GETTY IMAGES ©
