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.

***************************
First Commenter-Lina