Sunday, November 27, 2011

The Imperial garden






From the entrance of the Forbidden city we walked past a series of halls which has different functions. Most of them are empty, the contents have been looted over the years by all the upheavals in China. A lot has been removed by the fleeing Revolutionary people when the Communists came into power. These were taken across the sea to the island of Formosa, which today is called Taiwan. To the end of these halls is the Imperial garden, another huge and immense area. The buildings that houses the residents are to the left and right side. In its heyday it is a city unto itself, with the Royal families, the concubines, their families, the kitchen staff, and the 1200 eunuchs and palace guards. The best information given about life in the Forbidden city was of course still the last resident of the place, the last Emperor of China, Henry Pu Yi.

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