Forbidden Palace

Jonathan Shaller, a fellow traveler from the Red Lantern Hostel in Beijing, rendered this pavilion using Autodesk Maya. Jonathan is a professional 3D Environmental Artist with an impressive background. Notably, he’s worked on the graphics for The Chronicles of Narnia, Madagascar, and Transformers. He modeled this pavilion after visiting the Forbidden City’s Imperial Garden, where the Emperor once chose women for his harem.

Emperor's Bedroom

The Imperial bedroom was the most popular scene in the Forbidden City. Crowds of tourists pressed their lenses up to the glass and peered in to see where the Emperor slept. The symbol on the far wall is “double happiness,” literally comprised of two happiness characters strung together. Many translations of Chinese into English happen to sound like Orwell’s 1984 “Newspeak.”

Bridal Palaquin

The exhibits were well curated with labels and often explanations for each artifact. Paintings or photographs served as the backdrop, artistically illustrating the objects in action. The largest exhibit was devoted to imperial marriages. This gold palanquin carried the bride into the Forbidden City. Before the marriage, a formal proposal event took place involving three phases: stating the proposal, requesting the woman’s full name and lineage to ensure there were no blood relatives in common, and an astrological process to check compatibility.

Forbidden City Art

Many pages from the Emperor’s “wedding albums” were displayed on the museum walls. It was fascinating to recognize the architecture portrayed in the paintings from a few minutes prior to viewing them.

Forbidden City Lantern

Lanterns such as the one above were lit for the arrival of the Empress-to-be through the gates of the Forbidden City at midnight. Once the Empress stepped over a saddle to enter the bridal chamber and the Emperor formally joined her, they proceeded to the bed and … ate underdone dumplings, literally. This special food was consumed on their marriage day to provide them with good male heirs. Drinking the nuptial cup was then the climax of the marriage.

Forbidden City Pathway

Emerging from an indoor museum at the Forbidden City can best be described as walking out of the Medieval Art exhibit at the MET in NYC and unexpectedly finding yourself strolling through the corridors of a European castle. The more I wandered around this landmark, the more realistic it felt to my senses. The museum closed at 16:20, meaning there was an exodus of Chinese tourists moving toward the gates at 16:15, escaping the possibility of experiencing the palace after dark. At that time, crows came out to perch on the ornate eaves alongside the ceramic animals, and the palace really started to feel alive.

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City served as the Emperor’s Palace in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1644, 1644-1911). It’s the most impressive place I’ve seen in China and happens to be the world’s largest palace complex.

Crossing the Moat

To enter the Forbidden City, you must first cross a 6-meter deep moat.

Palace Blueprint

The southern half of the palace, where the Emperor ruled, is devoted to prominent buildings on the central axis, large open spaces, and a royal obsession with symmetry. The northern half, where the Emperor and his family lived, is a maze of smaller buildings that are unfortunately not open to the public.

Lion Statue A

Bronze and copper statues guard the entrances to the central axis buildings, which have very impressive architecture.

Lion Statue B

Perhaps this lion was meant to be so fierce that it was clawing one of its own kin…

Painted Wood

In addition to gold, all the primary and secondary colors are on display except for purple, which is nowhere to be found on the intricately painted wood underneath the eaves. Orange is rare and looks like white paint that was mistakenly mixed with red paint when it is used.

Fire Protection Vessels

When the palace was inhabited, these bronze vessels were filled with water in case of fire. During the winter, they were covered with quilts to keep the water warm or heated with coal.

Grain Measure Vessels

These grain measure vessels were placed outside the palace to credit the Emperor with establishing a grain measuring standard that unified the nation.

American Express Translations

Outside each central axis building, there was a sufficiently well-translated sign noting the parameters of the structure – one auspicious bay number times another auspicious bay number – and describing what function the building had for the emperor. Note the line at the bottom indicating that the sign was translated by American Express, the only piece of advertising in the whole palace.

Changing Clothes Throne, Bao He Dian

Though one structure was for meeting dignitaries and another for resting, they all looked similar on the inside: a mainly empty hall with a carpeted throne , statues, and vases. These interiors were also not open to the public. Instead, tourists swarmed at the front rail, and pushing was necessary to get a view of the throne.

Ceilings

Most of the buildings had gable roofs and beautiful panelled ceilings.

Non-Axial Buildings

The continuous structures lining the sides of the palace have been converted into museums that house artifacts from weddings and wars. Of course there was no mention of servants’ lives or the role of anyone below royalty.

Forbidden City

Pictures & videos coming soon. I’ve spent the past two days at The Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, Zhongshan Park, Silk Street Market, and a family music shop.

Today, I visited the largest lamasery, where Tibetan temple architecture is framed by figures of tourists lighting incense in fire bins. I hope to get pictures up soon, though the biggest role of monks at the temple – from what I, a westerner, could tell – was getting in front of tourists’ cameras and requesting, “no photo.” I wonder if they realize that angry monks make good tourist pictures too.

I’m now sharing a room with 3 other people at a hostel near the center of the city for 50 Yuan a night ($7.32). If you have suggestions for where to go or requests for pictures, please let me know via comment or email.

Glass Ship

Hefang Jie feels like an extraordinarily realistic live museum. While strolling down the old street, you can see artisans showing off their skills to the curious tourists. A glass blower works at a table covered with his creations in the middle of the street. Below, you can enjoy my first attempt at editing a movie for the blog.

VIDEO

Hefang Lu – Glass Blower

Hefang Jie

Hefang Jie, a famous pedestrian street off the southeast shore of Xi Hu, is the heart of old Hangzhou. Also known as the South Song Dynasty Imperial Street, it is lined with a variety of artistic souvenirs and snacks from all over China. ‘Though the street was recently heavily renovated, it is still home to century-old shops and maintains a Song Dynasty theme.

Biking in Hangzhou

Biking is by far the best way to explore Hangzhou. In fact, a bike is needed to see everything in the tourist town. There is a trail around the perimeter of Xi Hu (West Lake) as well as on both of its causeways. The government-subsidized red bikes are the most popular and cheapest to rent.

Hangzhou Bike Station

Hangzhou has several bike stations scattered around Xi Hu. Rachel, my fellow tourist from Hong Kong, taught me the ins and outs of the Hangzhou bike system. First, a $300 Yuan (44 USD) deposit needs to be placed at a bike station booth in order to get a card. By scanning the card on a bike stand, you unlock a bike and are free to take it wherever you like. The trick to the system is that the first hour is free. After that, the price goes up incrementally. Rachel timed our bike rides so that when we had been out for almost an hour, I would quickly find a nearby bike station on the map. We’d then scan our card on an empty bike stand to lock the bike, wait a minute, unlock it, and continue biking. All the bikes seemed to be the same and after a while the only characteristics I had to look for were a high seat and working bell. Aside from those inconsistent qualities, the bikes were pretty good and exceptionally stable, which is a blessing when you have to navigate around crowds of pedestrians and brake to save yourself from turning taxis.

No Biking Sign

In some locations, bicycles were forbidden from lakeside parks. Biking around the lake was still enjoyable, but I was always eager to get near the water again, so I finally pretended to not read the Chinese signs and entered the park. I was promptly yelled at by a Chinese cop, biked away, and got a picture of the cop strolling where I had just been. There is something Soviet about the appearance of security guards and policeman here, who always seem dwarfed by their fur-lined black winter coats two sizes too large for them. What especially struck me about the Hangzhou cops was how peacefully they’d stroll around the beautiful lake shore while being attentive enough to yell in a split second at an American girl biking into the park.

Hangzhou Cop

After having fun being thrown out from three gates by three different guards, I decided to stop messing with Chinese law enforcement. However, there was one clearing next to the lake that was three meters from the bike path with a beautiful bridge and Lefang Pagoda in the background. Desperate to get the perfect picture, I carried my bike this time, placed it on its kickstand, and proceeded to take a picture. No sooner had I turned on the camera, than a guard started yelling at me about the parked bike. I communicated as best as I could with hand motions that I wasn’t biking, but just stopping to take a picture. He wasn’t pleased with my attempted explanation and started lifting the bike, so I carried it three meters back to safety.

Green Guard Enters

By this time, a green guard was approaching and they seemed to be conversing about my nerve to carry a bicycle in to take a picture. Perhaps the cop wasn’t as worried about the bike being stolen as I was. I then figured that maybe if I got the same cop to take a picture, I could keep an eye on the bike and a thief would have to be a little more gutsy to steal right next to a cop.

Cop Armed With Camera

The cop was actually quite glad to take pictures. After finding a place to put down his tea thermos, he even motioned for me to pose a few times to take photos from multiple perspectives.

Biking Around Xi Lu

A few hours before catching the train from Hangzhou back to Shanghai, I visited a bike station booth to get my deposit back. After returning my card, the woman at the booth put one finger up. I couldn’t imagine what she was referring to, since the rental fees I had accumulated couldn’t have possibly been more than the deposit. I finally asked, “yi quai?” She nodded, I handed her a one yuan coin, and she paid me back the full 300 yuan deposit. I basically paid 15 cents to rent bikes for two days. The price was completely out of proportion with how  much biking enhanced my trip to Hangzhou.

Gondola?

From the moment I laid eyes on Xi Hu (Xi = West, Hu = Lake), I yearned to take a boat ride on it. While Suzhou is called the Venice of China, Hangzhou’s Xi Hu has a more palpable Venetian feel with its paddle-propelled ferryboats. On Saturday, I met up with Rachel, an engineer from a city near Hong Kong. She was also traveling alone, so we decided to hire a boat together.

Dragon Boat

The Dragon Boats were the most noticeable and decadent. The inspiration must have been a Viking longboat made Chinese by practically plopping two traditional buildings in the middle with a single longitudinal connecting beam.

Dragon Boat

Gaudily colored with upturned eaves, these boats featured disproportionately large figureheads. Everyone seemed to want their picture taken with the Dragon Boats.

Lions on the Stern

If this wasn’t a Chinese lake barge, I would be surprised to see enormous bronze statues placed on the poop deck for display with no worries in respect to weights and centers.

Chinese Traditional Boat

The most popular pleasure boats afloat were these wooden tour boats built in the traditional Chinese style. They were probably the most stable as well.

Row Boats

Common rowboats were the most costly since the tourists had to pay for the privelege to row themselves around the lake. The rowers on the right were having a little trouble with coordination.

Motor Boats

Small motor boats were available in one nook of the lake.

My Favorite Boat

This was my favorite boat, a loosely carvel-planked paddle-propelled boat. I say loosely-planked because a one-centimeter thick layer of adhesive was sloppily pressed into the cracks between planks.

Small Ferry Boats

We found a gathering of the small boat drivers hanging out near the lakeside who all had the same price, 80 yuan (12 USD), to hit up two islands and come back. It wasn’t until we approached a few of these groups that we realized the price was fixed and we couldn’t haggle.

Island in Xi Hu

It was frustrating to not see the beautiful landscape on the other side of the like, but the fog lent a mysterious quality to the waters.  Xi Hu seems to be one of those unique locations that is beautiful in all seasons.

Rachel & I

Here is one of the three stone structures, or “Three Pools Mirroring the Moon” that we visited (or “poos” depending on which translated map you’re carrying). These small pagodas date back to the Song Dynasty. Everyone described them as “mysterious,” which I soon came to realize meant that no one I met knew what they were, though they are featured on the 1-Yuan bill.

VIDEO

Xi Hu Boat 1

While the driver paddled us out to the islands, him and Rachel discussed the history of the lake. According to the driver, rowboats were common until it was thought improper for a person of low status to paddle around a person of high status. The same mentality led to the phasing out of rickshaws. When Nixon visited Xi Hu in 1972, he supposedly told the people that motor boats were harmful to the environment, so they switched back to rowboats. The driver also claimed that when asked what he thought of Xi Hu, Nixon stated, “the people are poor, but the lake is beautiful.”

VIDEO

Xi Hu Boat 2

A dragon boat motors by us in the second video. Our vessel, on the other hand, slid through the water like a canoe. It rolled easily in the wake of the motor boats too.

Dredger

The old-fashioned dredgers were the most unusual boats on the lake to me. West Lake was first dredged almost one thousand years ago. At that time, the sediment was used to construct the Su Causeway that traverses the lake. Now, dredging is carried out as part of a restoration effort.