25th April 2006

 

The infamous Tianamen Square (天安門廣場) is the worlds largest urban open square in the world (880m X 500m).  Originally built in 1417 during the Ming Dynasty it was filled with offices for the imperial ministries and was only around 1900s when the area was cleared and then finally in 1949 was it enlarged to its current size.

 

Located adjacent to the southern part of the Forbidden city, Tiananmen Square provides a large plaza for the locals; and for the tourist ample photo opportunities of the entrance to the Forbidden city (with Mao Zedong's portrait hanging from Tiananmen Gate).

 

The Forbidden City (紫禁城) located at the exact centre of ancient Beijing was the imperial palace for 24 emperors (14 from the Ming Dynasty and 10 from the Qing Dynasty) from 1420.  It is the worlds largest palace complex that covers 720,000 square metres, has over 800 buildings, and more than 8,600 rooms (including one Starbucks).

 

The Forbidden City is impressive because of its size (not withstanding the hordes of tourist) and also for its history and magnificent architecture.  Having only a few hours to spend there we only got the chance to literally walk from one end to the other end of the complex (we only lost members of our group to the crowds a few times).