The Forbidden City - Be An Emperor For A Day

Off limits for 500 years, the Forbidden City in the heart of Beijing was finally opened to the masses in 1949. This is a huge complex and China's most spectacular architectural structure. It was home to 24 emperors in two dynasties, the Ming and the Qing.

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It's an amazing walk around temples, gates, towers, over marble bridges, and through courtyards and gardens. The same paths that were walked by Emperors more than 600 years ago.

Some trivia for the kids:

Forbidden City Chinese Lion

Chinese Lions guard the entrances of Halls. Always in pairs, guess which one is the male, which one is the female?

The Female Lion has a Lion Cub, the Male Lion a ball under his paw.

These Bronze Cauldrons used to be filled with water in case of fire.

Forbidden City Roof Guardians

And check out the Roof Guardians which were supposed to protect the building from fire. The higher the number the more important the building.

There's 9,999 rooms in the Forbidden City, so needless to say, it would take a few trips to see even half of them. And as impressive and overwhelming as the entire complex was, the kids weren't that impressed with the crowds, the heat and the sheer size of the whole thing, after a while, everything started to look the same to them.

If this happens to you, I recommend keeping it short and heading over to Beijing's Beihai Park, which is only a short walk from the Palace. Here, you can unwind, rent one of those pedal boats and go around the lake for a half-hour or so. It's really a beautiful park:

Check out our Beijing Map for this and other Beijing Attractions' locations.

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