In the past few years, the Forbidden City has been on fire again and again. The proud and majestic Forbidden City is no longer the impression of a place of interest when I was a child, but has been transformed into a museum full of life. People's joy for the Forbidden City is not only because of the reputation here, but also because the time has passed for thousands of years, and it is still wrapped in red makeup, witnessing the power of the mountains and rivers of the years. I was nostalgic for the low-key and profoundness of the ancient capital of the capital. On the day of the Lantern Festival, I took my mother to revisit the Forbidden City. Everyone has a different view of the Palace Museum, and I also planted the grass of "the more I know, the more I like it".
How to visit the Forbidden City
Whether you are visiting for the first time or have visited many times, I believe that the feeling of visiting the Forbidden City is different every time. If you want to take a good look at the emperor's residence, you have to spend at least a whole day! It is recommended to watch at three points and listen to seven points. Coupled with the pictures and plots in the TV series that linger in your mind, maybe you will have the feeling of time travel without knowing it?
I saw some reports: At the end of 2016, the Forbidden City announced that the number of collections was 1,862,690 pieces (sets). In general museums, it is remarkable that precious cultural relics account for 5% to 10% of the total collection, but the proportion of the Forbidden City is 93.2%.
With the restoration of ancient buildings, the open area of the Forbidden City has increased from 30% in the past to 60% in 2015, and reached 80% in 2017. Dean Shan Jixiang said: "Cultural relics are never dusty antiques, and the Forbidden City should be given full play to the value of the museum. I hope that in two years, the open area of the Forbidden City will reach 85.02%", which is also the reason for visiting the Forbidden City again and again.
supreme official building
The center of Beijing's central axis, the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties in China - the Forbidden City, formerly known as the Forbidden City, is the essence of ancient Chinese palace architecture. It is also the largest and best-preserved ancient palace complex in the world. It is a national treasure of China and an outstanding world cultural heritage.
The "Dian of Supreme Harmony", which can directly reach the heart and soul of the Forbidden City, is the largest wooden temple in China.
The double eaves (sounds the same as "five") on the top of the Hall of Supreme Harmony symbolizes the supreme status. The 11 bays in the Hall of Supreme Harmony (the door between the two pillars is called the bay) exceed the 9 bays of the emperor and the 7 bays of the empress, which means the ultimate supremacy.
The Forbidden City in Beijing is centered on three main halls, covering an area of 720,000 square meters, with a construction area of about 150,000 square meters. There are more than 70 palaces of different sizes and more than 9,000 houses. It is one of the largest and best-preserved wooden structure ancient buildings in the world. It ranks first among the top five palaces in the world (the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom, the White House in the United States, and the Kremlin in Russia). You can be a little proud.
24 emperors lived in the Forbidden City. The Zhonghe Hall behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony was the place where the emperor rested and received worship before attending major ceremonies. The first half of the building symbolizes the supremacy of the emperor's power, and the second half of the inner court building is the place where the emperor, concubines, and princes live and play, and most of them are self-contained courtyards.
The four seasons alternate, and the Forbidden City has its own unique beauty in spring, summer, autumn and winter. It is worth taking a camera to the Forbidden City to appreciate the thick and quiet beauty that has passed through hundreds of years.
Rui Beast on the Roof
The emperors of all dynasties often hoped that "the country will be safe and the people will be safe, and the weather will be smooth" in the palace, hoping that they can help realize their wishes. Do you all know the little auspicious beasts sitting on the corner of the eaves? When visiting the Forbidden City during the day, there are so many tourists, it is better to take a look up perspective, use telephoto to shoot architectural details, and learn some knowledge points by the way.
The glaze used for firing spine beasts is monopolized by the royal family. "Great Qing Huidian" clearly stipulates that ordinary ministers and common people are prohibited from using colored glaze without royal franchise. Among them, yellow is the emperor's patent, and Prince Baylor can only use green. In addition to yellow and green, the blue of the Temple of Heaven is used for places of worship, black glaze is used for places where royal books are collected, and variegated colors are used for royal gardens. These cannot be wrongly used.
These little beasts standing on the corners of the eaves seem to be sitting in the clouds, mysterious and hazy, and the shadows projected on the red wall are also very vivid. Because people have to look up at them, it reveals the mystery of the communication between heaven and earth conveyed by ancient Chinese architecture. The more unfathomable it is, the more it echoes the charm of mystery.
The more decorative beasts, the higher the building level. Taking the Hall of Supreme Harmony as an example, it has a set of 10 ridge beasts (upper left), while the Qianqing Palace, where the emperor lives and handles daily government affairs, is second only to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and there are 9 small beasts on the eaves and corners; Kun Ning The palace was originally the queen’s bedroom, and there were 7 small beasts (lower left); the east and west palaces where the concubines lived, the number of small beasts was reduced to 5 (lower right); in some side halls, there was only one ridge beast sitting on the top and watching the sky alone .
Hierarchy and order have always been the "etiquette" that royal power attaches great importance to. Let's talk about the sorting, the one at the top, the unshakable one is "Riding the Impatiens". Then there are dragons, phoenixes, lions, celestial horses, seahorses, Yayu, Suanni, Xiezhi, bullfighting, and Xingshi. Generally, the auspicious beasts on ancient buildings appear in singular numbers like 13579. Only the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which has an extra "Xingshi" on it, can be matched with "perfect and ten perfect" and "ten things are complete". The picture is taken from "Forbidden City 100"
The members of the Ridge Beast each have their own supernatural powers and their own auspicious meanings. After understanding these, when you look up at the eaves next time, you can probably guess what level of palace you are in.
The vicissitudes of the years, the wind and frost in the world, and the appearance of a hundred years of reincarnation, just like the Forbidden City itself, are a poem of romance.
great docent volunteer
When you come to the Forbidden City, the experience of visiting the Forbidden City is completely different from the experience of visiting with special explanations. In the permanent exhibition halls such as "Treasure Hall, Clock Hall, Ceramics Hall, Calligraphy and Painting Hall, and Sculpture Hall", you can also find explainers. Volunteers, this is definitely a free experience worth recommending for a super-value tour.
It happened that a friend was a volunteer guide in the Forbidden City, so I was curious to learn more about this interesting job: The volunteer guides of the Forbidden City come from all walks of life and all ages, all because of their love for the Forbidden City and traditional Chinese culture. A common hobby brings everyone together to learn by doing and get better at it. For them, no matter in terms of time and space, they have a deeper understanding of the Forbidden City, and they cherish every time they enter the Palace, and regard explaining and disseminating it as a part of their spare time. a meaningful form of leisure.
After learning about this, I can’t help admiring the volunteer guides. You must know that not only are they not paid, but they even prepare subway tickets and water by themselves. They are willing to use their spare time to do things that they really like and make selfless contributions. And benefit everyone, how low-key and great it is. It turns out that the more you are willing to give, the more you can perceive the beauty and kindness of this world.
Volunteer teachers usually stand at the entrance of the permanent exhibition or wait by the sign, looking for teachers wearing explanation cards or wearing yellow vests, they are right. Next time I have the opportunity to go again, I must make an appointment for a professional explanation. It would be perfect if there are architecture-related explainers in the future.
How to become a volunteer guide of the Forbidden City:
The Forbidden City recruits volunteers from the society from time to time. The recruitment will probably go through: preliminary screening of resumes-written interviews-pre-job training-assessment, these steps, if you pass the final assessment, you can serve on the job.
Tuesday (Summer Monday) to Sunday (except national holidays)
Daily 9:30—11:30, 13:30—15:30
New Year's Taste of the Forbidden City
The Forbidden City's "Celebrate the New Year and Welcome the New Year-Forbidden City Celebrating the New Year" is the most bright spot in the capital this year. It restores a variety of festive decorations of the old palace for the New Year, hanging palace lanterns, pasting couplets, and visiting door gods.... The Forbidden City is also full of New Year's flavor Son, it seems to have traveled through a hundred years, experiencing the atmosphere of the royal New Year.
It's great to be able to be so conscientious and return to the basics to promote traditional Chinese culture!
In fact, I also experienced the experience of staying up late when the Forbidden City ticket booking website was paralyzed by the "Lantern Festival Lantern Festival". It can be seen how attractive the "Forbidden City Shangyuan Night" Forbidden City is open at night for the first time in 94 years.
In the end, I enjoyed the night light show through a powerful network, because the protection of cultural relics must be considered to the greatest extent. There may be some restrictions on the layout of the light show. I can see a lot of intentions and new ideas, which is already very satisfying. Everyone is willing to experience the return to traditional culture. I hope that there will be more opportunities like this in the future, and I hope that everyone will give more support and tolerance to the Forbidden City.
Travel and photography tips
It is not easy to take good photos in the palace, and the crowds of people have verified the firm feelings. It is said that this is the norm. I really feel sorry for the Forbidden City, which is almost open all year round except for Mondays.
It is recommended to visit in reverse, avoid crowds, and pay attention to the rhythm and timing. As long as you don’t enter the outer court middle road, there are very few people on both sides of the inner court middle road. Because the tour groups are all concentrated in the main hall in the middle, and slowly advance to the imperial garden above, you can see "your Forbidden City" as long as you avoid the large groups.
The Forbidden City is very big, and I really want to visit all of it carefully. The time of the day is very tense, and it is also a test of physical strength. There are only light meals in the cafe. It is recommended that you bring some water and food with you, and replenish them during the break.
Ice cellar coffee: In the past, it was an ice cellar in the palace, which was converted into a coffee shop. There is a row of parasols along the palace wall outside, where you can rest your feet and enjoy the cool air. There are light meals such as drinks, cakes, and sandwiches, and there is a souvenir shop next to it.
1. Recommendation for the best time to shoot:
At 8:30 in the morning, as soon as the door opened, I walked in. The square of the Hall of Supreme Harmony without anyone was really shocking.
In the golden half hour before closing, the sunset is just right when there are few people, and there are no dead ends for taking pictures.
2. Choose the shooting route according to the season:
Spring: Wenhua Palace and Compassion Palace take pictures of crabapple flowers.
Summer: rain scene
Autumn: shoot ginkgo leaves. The Garden of Compassion and the Palace of Yanxi Palace are good places to take pictures of ginkgo trees. On the road from Duanhong Bridge to the Palace of Compassion, there are also ginkgo trees beside the palace wall.
Winter: snow scene
transportation:
It is recommended to go to the Forbidden City by subway or public transportation. It is not recommended to drive, and there is no parking lot nearby. If you must drive, the nearest is the underground parking lot of the National Center for the Performing Arts, 6 yuan/hour.
There is only a moment of tranquility until the museum closes, and it is also a recommended time to have the opportunity to take pictures of no one in the sky.
Thank you, mother A, for taking photos of me. Finally, I implore everyone to respect the rules of the visit, pay attention to the protection of cultural relics, book tickets in advance, visit in a civilized manner, and find the real Forbidden City in your heart.
Oh, right! If you see cats in the palace, please do not feed them casually. It is said that these "palace cats", also called "royal cats", are the descendants of those cats left in the Qing palace in the past, and there will be staff to take care of them. I will use some funds to buy cat food, build a small house in winter, etc.
The Forbidden City, which has faded away from the glitz of the day, is so quiet and deep, as if it has the power to swallow all thoughts. Gazing at the peaceful Forbidden City like this, a sense of happiness filled with silence and anticipation filled the bottom of my heart. I think this is probably the greatest charm of the Forbidden City to me.
Ticket official website: https://www.dpm.org.cn
Official Public Account: Weigugong Search: weigugong
Peak season (4.1-10.31) 8:30-17:00 tickets 60 yuan / person
Off-season (11.1-3.31) 8:30-16:30 tickets 40 yuan / person
Closed on Monday
Tickets for the Treasure Hall (that is, entering the Ningshou Palace area, including the Opera Hall and the Stone Drum Hall): 10 yuan/person
Tickets for Watch Museum (that is, entering the Fengxian Temple area): 10 yuan / person
Special thanks to the two friends who provided a lot of professional knowledge points:
Instructor for the Sculpture Hall and Clock Hall of the Palace Museum: Sister Yufan
My good friend: Angie
