The Forbidden City was built by Emperor Yongle in the 15th century as the Imperial household, with a total of 800 buildings and 9,999 rooms. The complex was eventually opened to the public in 1949, having served as the Emperor's home for 505 years - used by 14 Ming and 10 Qing emperors.
The 'city', called "Gu Gong" in Chinese, is rectangular (961 metres x 753 metres) and is enclosed within its own protective nine-metre walls and 52-metre wide moat. Guards in watchtowers protected the city further with bows and arrows.
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08/02/2019 · By Lorna Heatley
It’s not rare for an immigrant community to band together in foreign countries and make a home-away-from-home.
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13/12/2018 · By Lorna Heatley
Ah, tea drinking. That Great British tradition. So passionate are we about tea that the American’s knew that we’d get very annoyed with them if they were to throw it in Boston Harbour way back when.
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21/04/2016 · By Peter Liney
My journey started with a few days in Beijing and the opportunity to take in all of the city’s great landmarks – in particular Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace...
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