Cameron Highlands Tea Plantation, Malaysia

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Forbidden City

For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated with the Forbidden City and having to experience the historical significance of Imperial China was simply amazing. The Forbidden City a.k.a Imperial Palace, was the best preserved imperial palace during the last two dynasties (Ming and Qing). It is called the Forbidden City because only the Chinese royalty was allowed to enter the palace. These days, the city is no longer forbidding, but inviting. There are tons of beautiful buildings with fabulous roof architectures decorated with colored paintings of the dragon and phoenix embracing the royal power.

Here are some snippets of my trip.


T­he historic and sprawling complex is mostly p­ain­t­ed in­ just­ t­w­o colors, yellow­ an­d red, w­hich can­ b­e seen­ t­hroug­hout­ t­he cit­y. Red represents happiness, good fortune and wealth whereas yellow is the color of the Imperial.

A pair of Bronze lions, plated with gold. As you can see from the pictures, the­ m­al­e­ l­i­on­ wi­th hi­s ri­ght paw r­e­sti­n­g on­ a bal­l­(a symbol of power)an­d the­ fe­m­al­e­ wi­th he­r­ l­e­ft paw fon­dl­i­n­g a c­ub(the cycle of life).


Golden imperial roofs which symbolized royalty.

In Chinese mythology the dragon is composed of 9 different animals to ward off evil spirits. It also reflects the social status of the building.

Huge stone carving, Hall of Preserved Harmony

The largest stone carving in the Imperial Palace, known as the Dragon walk, is behind the Hall of Preserved Harmony, in the centre of the stairway. It is a huge piece of marble showing 9 dragons toying with pearls, weighing more than 200 tonnes.


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First Commenter-Lina

30 comments:

  1. Cool!
    I'm fascinated with the Forbidden City too, all the history and intrigue behind the walls.

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  2. I agree with Lina...fascinating history within the Forbidden City. Did you watch the recent documentary on the last emperor Pu Yi? It was wonderful watch and so much to learn from this one person. He died as a so-called commoner but I believe a much a happier man than when he was cooped up in the Forbidden City.

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  3. The Must visit place of Beijing.
    The place looks magnificent!

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  4. Thanks for sharing the pics dear, you seem to have done a lot of travelling, how cool! :):):)

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  5. the place is truly mesmerizing! the lions particularly caught my attention to stare tentatively. :D

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  6. lina,
    you're such an early bird. i've put up your avatar for being my FC today.

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  7. lina,
    there's so much to discover in the city. I could not possibly fit it all in one blog post.

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  8. Mei Teng,
    I've not seen the recent documentary but I'm sure it was a good one with lots of archival footages.

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  9. napaboaniya,
    definitely. there's so much history in Beijing.

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  10. mariuca,
    you were enjoying your beauty sleep. i'm sure you'll get your chance to chop one day.

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  11. mariuca,
    traveling is my passion. the world is so wonderful.

    i love to get a taste of diff cultures, tasting exotic food and meeting ppl from all walks of life.

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  12. Lori,
    thanks for visiting my WW. i'll visit yours soon. :)

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  13. levian,
    The bronze lions, a male and a female, can often be seen in front of the gates of traditional buildings.

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  14. I watched the documentary about the Last Emperor Pu Yi. Riveting stuff.

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  15. I was at the Forbidden City twice. I love to study the history of China.

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  16. It was very crowded with visitors from all other parts of China and international travellers.

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  17. Neat!I will include that place in my "the places must see" list.Happy WW!

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  18. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. The marble is amazing.

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  19. I love the Forbidden City <3

    I'd like to visit the Emperor's Palace (called Qian Qing Gong IIRC) someday.

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  20. Wow!!!! Lovely. I really like the bottom two photos. Great job.

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  21. Thank you for sharing these amazing photo's they are wonderful

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  22. the stone carving in the Imperial Palace is beautiful!!!

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  23. Oh my these are wonderful photos. I would love to visit there too.

    I love just about everything Asian. I have met and made some of the best blogging buddies ever from the East.

    Awesome share for WW!!:-)

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  24. I would love to go there one day! It's such a beautiful place!

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  25. indeed. there were even saying about how grand the place or the owner have to be if they were to have these lions to "guard" their place. :D

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  26. Most of us grow up watching dramas and movies which depicts the Forbidden city! To actually feel it, touch it and be there is really something special for anyone right? I envy you....haha :D

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  27. Congrats for being FC on my recent post. :)

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  28. I explored this place before...

    thanks to our history of architecture prof who made us draw the palace and certain details!

    (hehe i wish have explored it like how you did!)

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