Forbidden Cities and Heavenly Temples

orginally published March 8, 2018

I apologize its been so long since I have updated you. I’ve been so tired because we have really long days and pack so much into those days. It’s a good tired though. I don’t want to miss out on anything.

Three days ago we walked the grounds of the Temple of Heaven and two days ago we visited the Forbidden City. The reason I have decided to post about them together is because they are very similar. They were created around the same time during the Ming Dynasty. Plus some of the architecture is very similar.

The Temple of Heaven is located on a large compound. To actually reach the temple you must walk the grounds. On your walk there are so many trees. The trees were decorated really pretty because of the Chinese New Year there were really pretty lanterns hanging on the trees. The area you walked to get to the temple was rather large. We saw a group of women dancing in traditional garments and groups of men playing cards. It was really pretty. We could not go inside of the temple. I’m honestly not sure why, but we were able to see the beauty of the compound and the outside. The temple was used a place of prayer. People would come to pray for a good harvest in the upcoming year.

The Forbidden City has been my favorite tourist attraction we have been to since the Great Wall. The Forbidden City has so much history. This was the first exertion where we used a tour guide. She was great and very knowledgeable. The Forbidden City is actually the palace where the of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasty resided during their reign. The palace closed in 1912, a little over a hundred years ago. The palace grounds are huge. Our tour guide said that if someone visited every single room in the palace it would take them 27 years!

The palace housed the emperor, empress, the emperor’s concubines, and eunuchs. The eunuchs were poor boys who’s parents would drop them off at the palace to serve the emperor. These men were castrated because the emperor had hundreds of concubines and the emperor didn’t want these men having relations with his women and risking one of them being pregnant with a son that is not his. The concubines were the very pretty women in their town. There were also tier’s to the concubines. You started off as a maid then made your way up. During that time it was seen as an honor to be chosen as a concubine. The empress was usually princess from a neighboring country. She was meant as a sign of peace and to bear children. The emperor was either the eldest son of the emperor and the empress or the eldest son of all of the concubines. It was quite a system. During the tour we were able to only see a small chunk of the grounds because the entire compound is just way too big.

The history behind this palace is so interesting. I would highly recommend looking more into it. Our tour guide told us a story about one the concubines who made her way up to political power and it sound like a soap opera. There was so much drama, pain, and betrayal. I personally did not know that Chinese history could be so interesting. Do some research you will be surprised what you can learn. Keep following my instagrams for more pictures: @wanderlustingandcarpediem and @mal_pal131 follow them just in case. Also don’t forget to show support by ordering your own Wanderlust Continent Map Necklace. https://www.shopthepinkrose.com/product-page/golden-world-map

Carpe Diem,

Mallory