China Trip, Day 3, The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the center of Chinese politics. It is where the Emperor and his royal relatives lived and where he met with his advisers to discuss military and political matters in his empire. Below is the moat surrounding the Forbidden City. It was dug by servants of the Emperor.

This is inside the Forbidden City, one of the many Halls. It is one of the Emperor's buildings, note the roof animals guarding against evil spirits and the three tiers, making it the highest building in the area.

The big steel pot is an ancient Chinese fire extinguisher. They collected rainwater and were placed strategically in all the major courtyards. The City caught fire once when struck by lightening.

Better view of roof animals fending against demons. The more animals present, the more important the building. Cool fact: all entryways had a wood board, about eight inches tall. Apparently it was another mechanism for keeping out evil spirits. The Chinese believed they were very short, so they couldn't get over this menacing barrier.

Royal Lions guarding the entrance to where the Emperor's concubines lived. The closest is a male lion, with a ball under his right paw. The farther is a female lion, caring for a lion cub. So the male is playing, and the female is working.

This is one of the Emperor's rooms. The things in the room are the originals.

This is rock brought from the southern coast of China. It literally took years to move to Beijing. The movers used a series of logs in the summer and in the winter would dig holes and fill them with water. When they froze, they'd slide the rock across the ice surface.

Another person who wanted her picture taken with our famous kids. We charged her $5. Just kidding. Its kind of fun having all these pictures with random people, though.

Crazy old tree in Emperor's garden, over 400 years old.

The man-made hill in the backround was formed from the dirt removed to dig the moat surrounding the gi-normous Forbidden City.

One of the gates to the Forbidden City. Notice the tall red wall. That wall surrounds the whole City and for added protection there are random watch towers and the all-important moat.