Before entering the site, there is a large park where seniors go each morning to visit, exercise, play cards, dance, play musical instruments and do crafts.
It served as a stage for solemn rites performed by the emperor of the time, known as the Son of Heaven, who prayed here for good harvests and rain. The temple is surrounded by a long wall. The temple halls are round and the bases are square. Heaven is round, Earth is square. This is an alter rather than a palace.
Within the park, we saw the icon of Beijing - The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven, which is wrapped around by the Echo Wall (a whisper can travel from one end to the other), the Round Alter - made of marble and arranged in 3 tiers, geometrically with the number 9. Odd numbers possess heavenly significance, with 9 as the largest single - digit odd number.
Tian'anmen Square is the world's largest public square (440,000 sq. m) surrounded by Soviet - style buildings and a white fence. This flatland of paving stones lies in he heart of Beijing. Each morning at sunrise there is a flag raising ceremony where the People's Liberation Army soldiers March to precisely 108 paces per minute.
This square is not a place for people to sit and visit. It is a public square but is heavily monitored by the government. This is where he riot during the Cultural Revolution took place and the death of Premier Zhou Enlai happened. Hundreds died but none were killed in the square.
The Forbidden City is now known as the Palace Museum today. It is the largest palace complex, 720,000 sq. m. , in the world and the best preserved ancient buildings. The Forbidden City is ringed by a 52 m wide moat in the heart of Beijing, extending 750 m east to west and 960 m north to south. The Forbidden City is so called because for 500 years it was forbidden for the common people to enter.
Entering the Forbidden City
The Hall of Supreme Harmony
Our walk through the Forbidden City began at the Hall of Martial Valour, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the most important and largest structure in the Forbidden City. We walked for 3 hrs. and saw many complexes and walked through the Three Great Halls: Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Middle Harmony, and Hall of Preserving Harmony. We walked our way to the Imperial Garden with the ancient cypress trees and pretty pavilions exiting via the garden's West Gate.
The Peking Opera - painted faces and acrobatics.
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