Laid out in a grid according to ancient feng shui principles, the Northern Capital and former centre of the world is still anchored by the immense and simply spectacular Imperial Palace.

Entrance to the Forbidden City and stage for Mao during the cultural revolution when he addressed 500,000 frenzied admirers in the huge square below.

The Imperial Palace is commonly known under the name 'Forbidden City'. This name is derived from the fact that nobody was allowed inside the city, except the emperor himself, his wives and concubines and the eunuchs. The Forbidden city has 9,000 rooms and is surrounded by a wall 35 feet high and two and one-half miles on each side.
The courtyard beyond covers a space of 10,000 square meters. There are no trees on the square since in ancient China emperors considered themselves Son of Heaven, born to reign over the country, so they should occupy the highest position. Nothing was allowed to overwhelm the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the highest building in the Forbidden City and trees were no exception.


Dragon Throne,
where the emperor ruled
The Dragon Staircase at the Temple of Heaven. In the middle of the staircase is a carving of nine dragons playing with pearls. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, anyone who was caught touching this holy stone would be punished by death penalty!

Dragon Staircase

Very conspicuous on palace roofs are ridge decorations: mythological beasts at the ends of the ridge are meant ot protect the building from evil spirits. The animals include a lion, dragon, pheonix, flying horse, and unicorn, among others. One can also spot a man riding a hen - another common figure intended to keep away diaster and stigmatise the tyrant. Tradition has it that the evil tyrant on the hen cannot leave the roof because the hen cannot carry him in flight.

The lion, with a ball under his paw, symbolizes control of the empire. Lions are associated with power and prestige, and the use of this mythological beast was reserved for the court and officials of high rank.


The wall was built in the 1300's and stretches almost 4000 miles. On average it is 25 feet high, 18 feet across and meanders in a zig zag line across the countryside. At times, it appears to double back upon itself and sometimes looks like there are two walls running parallel. The Wall was constructed to keep out the "mongol hordes" along what was then the Northern border of China.



Views of the Great Wall at Badaling



Silly Tourists

The Summer Palace, Yiheyhun, is located in the northwest area of the city, and during the late Qing Dynasty was the summer retreat from Beijing's heat for the imperial family and court.

Marble Boat


The longest corridor is a covered walkway with ornate paintings on each sequential roof eve. No two paintings are identical.


Xi'an was once a major crossroads on the trading routes from eastern China to central Asia, and once vied with Rome and later Constantinople for the title of greatest city in the world. Today Xi'an is one of China's major drawcards, largely because of the Army of Terracotta Warriors on the city's eastern outskirts.


One of the peasants
In 1974 a group of peasants digging a well, made what was to become the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century when they unearthed fragments of a life sized Terra Cotta Warrior. Excavation of the vault revealed thousands of warriors and their horses, an entire army designed follows its emperor into eternity.

Why did Qin Shi Huang decide to use the warriors and horses as funerary objects? The objects a person regarded as most valuable in his lifetime would be buried as funerary objects along with the person when he died so that he would continue to enjoy them in the underworld. Historically, phalanxes are formed in line with military tactics. Using such formations in the funeral first appeared in the building of the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. It's incredible to see that the formation made up of 6,000 warriors and horses were meant to protect the owner of the tomb. The reason Qin Shi Huang used the life-size figurines had to unify the whole of China. This is why he wanted to lead his army to the nether world to protect his spirit and perpetuate his rule.

The terracotta warriors look the same at the first glance, because their shapes and costumes are similar in conformity with the designs for the military formations. But closer scrutiny reveals the differences in the details of their complexions, expressions, ages, hair styles and beards.

 
There are no females among the figurines, because in ancient times woman could not serve in the army. But why do the terracotta warriors display such handsome hairstyles? The fact is that Qin warriors' hairstyles were part of their attire in those days. Hairstyles in ancient times were not only part of people's life but also a reflection of their social status. In the Qin period, eunuchs had to have their eyebrows pulled off, prisoners their hair shaved, and minor offenders their temples and beards plucked out.




 

 


Photos taken by Carol Shahini