The madding crowds of sightseers snapping their loved ones in front of Tiananmen, the Gate of Heavenly Peace and most iconic of Beijing’s sights, then filtering slowly under the Great Helmsman’s gaze with barely a gap in their ranks can be off-putting to those who prefer to enjoy historical sights in peaceful contemplation. Thankfully, the 72 hectares of sprawling palace grounds and a tendency for tour groups to head through the central axis like a dose of salts mean that some corners of the complex can be relatively secluded. A gradual expansion of publicly open areas and a large budget for research and the production of guides and elucidating materials for the interested visitor makes the Forbidden City is now more accessible than ever.
The only point of ingress currently open to the public is the south entrance, Wumen (the Meridian Gate). In his enjoyable 2008 work
The Forbidden City, however,
Geremie R Barmé recommends taking in the scale of Ming dynasty Beijing by starting at Yongdingmen (Eternal Fixed Gate), some four kilometres directly south of Tiananmen (Heavenly Peace Gate) and the starting point of the north-south axis of the old city (
awaiting review to be a Unesco world heritage site). A pedestrian walk leads from here past Tiantan (Altar of Heaven), Xiannongtan (Altar of the First Farmer) to Qianmen (Front Gate) at the south of Tiananmen Square. Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum is the first obstruction to the ancient axis and should be skirted unless you have the patience to queue in long lines for a glimpse of what may be the communist leader’s preserved cadaver. The Monument to the People’s Heroes depicts key figures in the official version of China’s revolutionary and anti-imperialist history. North of here you take the underpass below the wide lanes of Chang’an Jie and back up to ground level to meet Tiananmen.
Pass under the looming gates to emerge in a courtyard full of souvenir sellers, independent guides and other assorted conmen. The first ticket booth is for the chance to ascend Tiananmen – perhaps to imagine what Mao Zedong may have felt as he announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China here in 1949. Otherwise, move quickly on to buy your entrance ticket (40RMB) from ticket booths and optional audio guides from service booths (40RMB with 100RMB deposit) then enter the palace proper via Wumen (Meridian gate).
The audio guide uses GPS positioning to determine where you are in the palace at any given moment to match up with the accompanying chapter of narration. You are therefore free to wander as you like with the slightly stilted voice of the narrator switching on when you are, roughly, in the appropriate area. The guides can be returned at any of the three exits and their earpieces may help discourage the pestering guides.
A number of
temporary exhibitions complement the permanent in various rooms of the palace and are listed on its website, better than many belonging to Beijing’s tourist spots. The
curators’ picks can give you an idea of some of the best items to expect in the permanent exhibitions.
Various figures for the number of palace rooms are bandied around from the fantastical (9,999) to the audio guide’s slightly more conservative estimate (over 8,700). In any case, it’s likely you will not want to visit them all. In City of Heavenly Tranquility (2008) by Jasper Becker the author dedicates 15 pages to the Forbidden City. He writes:
‘If you spend too long wandering the Forbidden City it seems a claustrophobic maze. The walls are high and imprisoning. And beyond the walls, one knows one is trapped by still more. The buildings no longer seem magnificent but oppressive and wearying in their monotony.’
There’s no reason not to visit more than once in an attempt to take it all in, however, and if it’s been a while since you last entered the walls of the ‘Palace of Blood and Tears’ it’s worth scouting out new areas to explore. Bear left (ie west) after entering via Wumen to find two linked halls Wuying Dian (Hall of Military Valour) and Jingsi Dian (Hall of Tranquil Contemplation), originally housing imperial printers and publishers and now a recently opened and dazzling exhibition space dedicated to printing.
The western section was considered the finest by Juliet Bredon, author of Peking - A Historical and Intimate Description of its Chief Places of Interest (1922), of the eastern, central and western areas. She describes Yuhua Ge (Pavilion of Rain and Flowers), the most complete Tibetan Tantric temple in China thus:
‘Overlooking these poetic gardens, loveliest, perhaps, in autumn when the fallen leaves of the Ginko trees weave a golden pattern on the paths, is the Yu Hua Ke, “Tower of Rain and Flowers,” the highest building in the Forbidden City and one of the most striking with its golden roof dragons and dragon-wreathed pillars.’
The blue tiles and writhing dragons are certainly very striking and the whole roof was, amazingly, cast entirely from bronze including the central Tibetan
chorten.
Any Beijing or China guide will dedicate several pages to the Forbidden City. Recommended are:
The highest point of land in central Beijing is the artificial hill in Jingshan Park, just north of the Forbidden City. The view from Wanchunting (Pavilion of Everlasting Spring) should be considered part of any visit to the imperial palace, allowing as it does, spectators to take in an unrivalled view of the expanse of curved roofs and age-defying walls.
Sitting through 100 six-minute mini-episodes can be rather tiring and you’ll need good Chinese to follow the material (Chinese subtitles help somewhat). The documentary claims to be the first to detail parts of the Forbidden City that the public don’t get to visit, and details of the daily life of past palace-dwellers inside. It’s certainly impressive.