But several people looked as if they just might be the Last Emperor who lived at the Forbidden City — complete with silken garments, rounded hats, and finery in brilliant colors. That’s when I spotted this father/son duo smiling as many of us tourists lined up to snap pictures of them.

Still, I didn’t know what was happening until I peered into a little alcove in one of the smaller halls.  A young girl was selecting a complete outfit so she could pose for pictures.  It reminded me of another establishment in downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee (near where we live): in our part of the world, tourists dress as people from the Old West — saloon girls, barkeeps, gamblers, and the like — so they can take a tintype photo home with them.

Behind this beautifully attired girl are outfits from which tourists can choose and a screen above with superimposed pictures!

And so it was in China.  People dressed up and posed for pictures.  But this was different. I looked up at the screen only to realize that the photos of dressed-up tourists were superimposed atop the iconic buildings of the Forbidden City!  And the tourists were flying!  Yes, they were!

It was fun for all.  We were watching flying videos and taking pictures of the dressed-up people on the ground.  They were smiling back at us! And collectively we were all looking up at the screens and pointing even though we had no idea what anyone was saying!

I guess the people of China are a lot like us Americans– a good time in different clothing is a good time no matter where you live!

Wanna fly over the Forbidden City?  Just head to the back of the Outer Court, force yourself to don some heavy garb, and smile! Forbidden City Flying Tours will do the rest! Would you like to see one of the videos?   Click here!

To read our other posts on this Viking River Cruise: Imperial Jewels of China, just go to the top of this page and click China. You’ll see what’s been added so far.

For more information: 

Viking River Cruises: Imperial Jewels of China: http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/rivercruises/china-yangtze-beijing-shanghai-2013/itinerary.aspx

According to what we’ve learned from our guide, from searching Wikipedia, and from studying a couple of other resources prior to our trip, construction of the Forbidden City began in 1406 and lasted 14 years, requiring more than a million workers. Whole logs found in the jungles of southwestern China and marble from quarries near Beijing were used in the building of this site, known best perhaps as the home of Puyi, a two-year-old boy named emperor in 1908.  During part of his reign, Puyi had several wives and concubines who lived in the last of the buildings we toured. Puyi left the Forbidden City after the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949 when he was imprisoned as a war criminal and wrote his memoirs.  He is still known throughout the world as The Last Emperor of China.

Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is a huge rectangle containing 980 surviving buildings and (some say) 9,999 rooms.  (That number is cited primarily because the number 9 figures so prominently in the belief that odd numbers represent yang, one of the key Chinese design factors known as yin and yang.) Our guide told us that if you let a baby sleep each night of his life in a different room of the Forbidden City, he or she would be 27 years old upon the last night in the last room!  (Oh, what you learn on tours!!!)

We think the number nine is tied to good luck, but we’re not sure.  Even so, odd numbers, especially 9, are evident throughout; for example, there are 81 (9 times 9) brass studs on some of the doors, and the main halls of the Outer and Inner courts are arranged in groups of three.

The buildings we saw reminded us of the graceful designs found in the Lama Temple. (Click here for that post.) Since yellow is the color of emperors, almost all roofs bear these golden-colored glazed tiles with sloping ridges.

At the corner of each roof is a line of statuettes, beginning with a man riding a phoenix and ending with an imperial dragon. These groupings contain an uneven number of mythical creatures — ranging from 3 to 9 — but we read that the Hall of Supreme Harmony has 10, the only building in China permitted to do so.

Here’s a close-up of one of the dragons from the Forbidden City.

We noted again the royal blues and reds that we saw at the Lama Temple as well as the gold embellishments, and the attention to detail and remarkable craftsmanship.

Detail under the roofline on one of the buildings in the Forbidden City

Detail of a dragon inset

In the picture below, this central ramp is the Marble Carriageway reserved for the emperor’s entryway into the building. We were not allowed (understandably so!) to climb onto this carriageway to get a close picture, but we’ve read that there are scenes of dragons chasing pearls among clouds. Whatever is pictured here is beautiful even from a distance!

Bert wanted to examine the architecture more closely, so when we were dismissed from the group and allowed to explore on our own, he went down into the courtyard to get a better look. We didn’t know the extent of the area of the Forbidden City, so we were surprised to learn that the length of the rectangle on which is is positioned measures 3,153 feet from north to south.  We definitely underestimated the size of the complex, thinking that there was only one main hall and a few smaller outbuildings.  Not so.  The entire Outer Court was expansive, taking several hours to explore.

A moat carries water from west to east with five major marble bridges crossing it.  This picture was taken behind one of the buildings where the graceful curves and picturesque landscaping (and lack of people!) caught our attention.

Stately Chinese lions guard the entrances of the halls. (Look in the lower right hand corner of this picture to see an incense burner.)

We were allowed to take pictures from the entryways, but not actually go in to any of the buildings.  This shot (taken with Bert’s iPhone held over the heads of many tourists) shows the interior of the one of the buildings in which the emperor actually lived. (Nice digs, right?)

As always, we were amazed by the huge crowds — from tour groups to individual families — traveling to Beijing to see this national treasure.

In 1987, the Forbidden City was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and, according to China Tourist Maps website, it’s one of the most attractive five palaces in the world with the others being Versailles (France), Buckingham Palace (London), the White House (Washington, D.C.) and the Kremlin (Russia).

Although our guide kept telling us that we had good weather with clear visibility due to a front that had moved in, we were still suffering in the 90+ temperatures, grateful that we had carried a bottle of water with us for the afternoon.  Others took measures into their own hands in their own ways!

Near the end of the journey, I saw this little boy appropriately dressed in what looked to be an outfit worthy of a child emperor . . . like Puyi.  I came to find out that he and his dad had rented the costumes for a photo adventure! You’ll have to check back since I have more pictures of them to share in the next post: Flying over the Forbidden City! 

The experience of seeing both Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in one day was both exhilarating and exhausting, but worth the effort.  Again, our thanks to Jack Xiong, our guide, for sharing his passion for the architectural and cultural treasures of Beijing.

If you’ve missed any of our posts on China, go to the bar at the top of the page and click China for links to the other posts. Feel free to leave us a comment below.  And, as always, thanks for reading!  

For more information:

Viking River Cruises: Imperial Jewels of China: http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/rivercruises/china-yangtze-beijing-shanghai-2013/itinerary.aspx

“Forbidden City.” Wikipedia.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City