My Time Capsule: Beijing: Favorite Shots of the Forbidden City

15.8.12

Beijing: Favorite Shots of the Forbidden City

Beijing, December 2011

Last time I visited Beijing was about 20 years ago. Yup, that long. Therefore I was curious about how it looks now after 2 decades. I gazed from the plane window and noticed that the city has grown unrecognisable, packed with buildings.

Ni hao (hello) Beijing !

After lunch I walked to the Forbidden City, a Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of Qing dynasty. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft). It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

These are my favourite shots that I took in the Forbidden City:


street vendor outside the Forbidden City


entering the gate

welcome to the Forbidden City



pavilion in the Imperial Garden

military guard in the Forbidden City

About the picture above, I did snap a picture in front of this guard. But for unknown reasons, he wasn't happy about it and made everyone to stop taking his picture. So I walked around and stand behind him to sneak another shot. See ! Don't ever told me to not taking pictures because that makes me want to take picture even more. I don't know what's wrong with him, maybe PMS-ing or maybe he hasn't taken a shower for weeks or is it forbidden to take pictures of the guard in the Forbidden City ?


Imperial Guardian Lion
Lions in the Forbidden City are in pairs, the female extending her leg to play with a baby lion which symbolises fertility of the royal family The male lion has a ball under his paw which represents the imperial power.

When bronze lions are in front of a residence, it means the occupant is an official. First rank officials have lions with 13 bumps on the heads. This decreases with the official rank and 8 being the least number of bumps on the head. Officials of rank seven and below were not allowed to have lions outside their gates.


gilded bronze vat

sunset in the Forbidden City




Which one is your favourite picture ?
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28 comments:

  1. Jeffe Castan15/8/12 12:45

    Hi Debb.
    I like to come on your blog... Makes me travel too.
    For the gard, be carefull !!! It was a time, you'll be going to jail for picturing any poilceman or military in some countries... I got some bad experience in Tunisia. Making very low profile maybe saved me from big trouble... Haha, I would be embarrassed if I must visit you in jail !!!!
    But in Indo, it's the opposite for me, policemen takes the line to be pictured with "Mister Bule" !!! Haha, crazy people !
    Nice doc, Debb, keep shooting, ya ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbzie Leksono15/8/12 13:12

      Merci beaucoup, Jeffe ! Yes, I was thinking the same, maybe it's not allowed to take pictures of the guard. I'll be careful next time, so you don't have to visit me behind the bars, hahaha :p

      Delete
    2. AndreHandoyo.com15/8/12 14:11

      Hahaha... It is very funny part that Indo policemen takes the line to be pictured with 'Mister Bule' :p

      Delete
    3. Debbzie Leksono15/8/12 14:13

      Yup, I think some of Indo policemen are quite "narsis" :p

      Delete
  2. AndreHandoyo.com15/8/12 14:07

    I like the sunset photos... :) btw, there is street vendor in forbidden city. Was it like 'Kaki Lima' in Indonesia?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbzie Leksono15/8/12 14:14

      Correct, there are lots of "pedagang asongan" there :p

      Delete
  3. Anonymous15/8/12 16:41

    I like the Guard photos. The Silhouette, the floor, awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbzie Leksono15/8/12 17:02

      Thank you ! That's my fav too, because I need more effort to take it, lol :p

      Delete
  4. Abby17/8/12 11:55

    Gorgeous!!! I have only been to Shanghai and the surrounding areas. I am dying to go to Beijing! My younger brother has lived in China now for more than two years. I can't believe it. China is such an amazing country!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Debbzie Leksono18/8/12 00:11

      Thanks Abby!
      I think Shanghai is more modern city and Beijing is more for historic places. I wish you'll be able to visit it oneday :)

      Delete
  5. Melissa18/8/12 19:46

    Very nice sunset photos. :)
    I'm sure will be on Beijing in the future.
    Very nice spot.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cipri @Travelocafe19/8/12 17:12

    I love so much your photos, especially that my wife and I wanted to go this autumn to Beijing and it looks now that we might not make it. :( Uh, maybe next time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbzie Leksono19/8/12 19:23

      Thanks Cipri, I'm glad you enjoy those photos :)
      I hope you'll make it to Beijing. Can't wait to read your story !

      Delete
    2. Cipri @Travelocafe20/8/12 06:30

      Thanks, I hope so, too. Maybe we'll get to Japan this year, and China next year.

      Delete
    3. Debbzie Leksono20/8/12 11:14

      Nice ! Japan is awesome :D

      Delete
  7. Renika19/8/12 23:55

    Thanks for sharing your experience in Beijing,,
    I really love the military guard photo
    The light are amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Unknown20/8/12 21:03

    Hey i love travelling. Hope that i can go to China next year !:)
    Stay tuned to your blog and visit mine as well.

    http://richardkangen.blogspot.sg/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbzie Leksono20/8/12 21:31

      Thanks for visiting. I'll check your blog for sure :D

      Delete
  9. Brian22/8/12 16:48

    Nice picture from the Forbidden City! I really enjoyed this place when I visited there. The place is so big, much bigger than I thought it was going to be! The first time I went, I didn't have enough time to see the whole palace. You need a good 3-4 hours to see the whole place. If time is short, the Inner Court of the palace is by far the most interesting to see. If time prevails, a tour of the whole palace, especially the Imperial Gardens located in the Outer Court, is recommended.

    Also try not to do travel there on the main Chinese holidays as it will be extremely crowded. These holidays are: Chinese New Year (around end of Jan. to early Feb.), Labor Day (May 1), and National Day (first week of Oct).

    There is a good website that I used when I was in BJ for the Forbidden City http://www.greatwall-of-china-beijing.com/forbidden-city.html. I found it to be very useful.

    Also, as someone mentioned, military and government workers (police, fire, etc.) are not allowed to have their photos taken while in uniform. I also learned this the hard way! Be safe.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Debbzie Leksono22/8/12 17:54

    Thanks Brian :D
    Yeah, Forbidden City is huge. 3-4 hours would be a good timing to explore the place. Also I'll be careful next time if I wanted to sneak pictures of military and government workers. Thanks for the tips :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10/1/13 13:42

    Saya suka photonya bagus2....terutama sunset di forbidden citynya...hati2 kalo mau belanja dg pedagang asongan disitu....harus pintar nawar juga kalau bisa pakai uang pas....pedagangnya suka kasi uang kembalian sambil kabur....setelah dilihat ternyata uang kembaliannya uang rusia....- fendyliem

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbzie Leksono10/1/13 13:53

      Wah kalo masalah kena tipu udah pernah donk, pas di Summer Palace. Rasanya belum lengkap ke China kalo belum kena tipu sekali aja, hahaha :p

      Delete
  12. Anonymous8/3/13 16:59

    Sunsetnya bagus!!!
    Waktu saya kesana sedang rame banget, dan hasil fotonya gak maksimal karena pake kamera hape :|

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbzie Leksono8/3/13 17:11

      Thank you :)
      Saya juga pake camera pocket. Gpp walaupun ga maksimal, foto tetap berharga buat kenangan :)

      Delete
    2. Unknown10/12/13 14:10

      ini camera pocket, mba? are u serious? kok bisa bagus banget gini? :O ah, jadi gak sabar 3 bulan lagi ke Beijing saatnya ngubek-ngubek blog mba Deb :D

      Delete
    3. Debbzie Leksono10/12/13 18:50

      iyah, sebagian besar foto di blog ini pakai camera pocket aja :D
      Wiiii asik donk mau trip ke Beijing, aku ada beberapa posting tentang Beijing tuh

      Delete

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