More from Forbidden City in Beijing

These People's Liberation Army soldiers are about to leave through the Gate of Heavenly Peace as I'm entering.  The vast array of buildings in Forbidden City are all in front of me, nearly 1,000 of them still surviving in the palace complex that's over a half-mile long and nearly a half-mile wide.

After entering through the Meridian Gate on the south side of the complex, this is the view toward the Gate of Supreme Harmony.  Approaching the gate you can see the five marble bridges crossing the Golden Stream.  The stream is shaped like a Tartar bow, not too inviting, really, considering that the upcoming three Great Halls all have harmony in their names:  Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Middle Harmony and Hall of Preserving Harmony.

Rows of these vats stood outside the Great Halls and around the imperial compound, over 300 of them in all.  They were filled with water in case a building caught on  fire.  During the winter each had a fire burning under it to keep the water from freezing.

Crowds gathered around doorways with views of the emperor's throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.  When I actually did get close to a doorway, the throne was hard to see because of dim lighting and because it was set back so far.  The subdued colors on the inside of the hall are supposed to be more authentic than the bright colors of the restored exterior.

Usually the young Chinese men were the tourists sporting souvenir army caps with the red star, but this older gentleman went not only for the cap but for the jacket, as well.  Somehow the symbolism of this cap that I associate with Comrade Mao seemed to clash with the imperial magnificence all around us in Forbidden City.

Many people took pictures of family members touching gold handles on pots, gold door knobs and the paws of lion statues in the imperial complex, making them shiny.  This is done in hopes of good fortune rubbing off.

The Imperial Gardens had a number of immense rock sculptures, in addition to trees and shrubs, pavilions and ponds.  The number and size of rock sculptures in an ancient Chinese garden corresponded with the status of the resident.  Light and form are carefully considered elements of the sculptures,.  I could have used some enlightenment to appreciate what I was looking at.

In the Imperial Garden near this red pavilion are several Chinese junipers, each with this curious trunk shape.  Horticulturalists would split these young trees down the middle and cover the wounds with wet burlap until they healed with this inverted V, suggesting the Chinese character ren, which means human being or person.

Just outside Forbidden City to the north is Jingshan Park.  In my last post was a photo I took from the Drum Tower, looking toward the opposite side of this park.  When the moat was dug around Forbidden City the excavated earth was used to create this hill, which supposedly protects the imperial palace from evil spirits and the nasty dust storms that blow into Beijing from the north.  I ran out of time to climb to the top of the hill for another view of Forbidden City.

Moat on the northeastern corner of Forbidden City.

Right outside the exit from Forbidden City was this throng, hoping that we'd hop in their pedicabs to take a guided tour of the nearby hutongs, the scenic narrow old alleys in the city.

Further along the sidewalk outside Forbidden City were several musicians entertaining for donations.   Two blind men, one accompanied by his wife and another by his toddler, were playing traditional instruments and singing, and this man was lip syncing to loud pop music.  Even though the Chinese government doesn't give sufficient help to the disabled, I've been told that generally Chinese people are hesitant  to give to disabled people soliciting money,  not only because they're associated with bad luck but also because some of the disabled are reportedly only pretending to be so.  This man's unfortunate circumstances are apparent.