Travel to Forbidden City of Beijing of China
July 19, 2009Travel to Forbidden City of Beijing of China
The Forbidden City also known as Palace Museum, was home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The construction of the grand palace started in the fourth year of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1406) and ended in 1420. In the ancient time, the emperor claimed to be the son of the heaven and therefore their supreme power was conferred upon them from the heaven. Their residence on the earth was built as a replica of the Purple Palace where the God lived in the Heaven. Such divine place was certain forbidden for the ordinary people and it is why the Forbidden City is so called. The museum is a real treasures house of Chinese cultural and historical relics, recognized as one of the most important five palaces in the world (the other four are the Palace of Versailles in France, the Buckingham Palace in the UK, the White House in the US and the Kremlin in Russia.). The splendid architecture of the Forbidden City represents the essence and culmination of the traditional Chinese architectural accomplishment. In 1961 the Palace Museum was listed as one of the important historical monuments under the special preservation by the Chinese central government and in 1987, it was nominated as the world cultural heritage b y the UNESCO.
The Forbidden City is the best preserved imperial palace in China and the largest ancient palatial structure in the world. Because the emperor believed that, his palace was in the center of the earth, so the palace was symmetrically built along the north-south central axis of the capital city of Beijing. The whole imperial city extends from the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower in the north to Yong Ding Men, or the gate of Permanent Peace and Stability in the south. Despite of countless complex structures and buildings, the imperial city is know for its harmonious layout and deemed to be the summit that the ancient Chinese architecture had ever reached.
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