On the north side of the Tiananmen Square is the entry into The Forbidden City.  And even me, one who admits a lack of knowledge about China, recognized this landmark.

It is such a joy travelling with Dennis because he enjoys military history and shares his knowledge with me while we are experiencing the actual historic location.

The Forbidden City was the Chinese Imperial Palace from the Ming Dynasty in 1420 to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1912.  The complex consists of 980 buildings.  A common myth states that there are 9,999 rooms, but surveys can only validate 8,886.  But let’s not split hairs. The complex is over 180 acres, and we walked from the south gate through to the north gate which was two miles on uneven surfaces.

It just seems to go on and on with all buildings being a mirror image of each other.  And again, it’s all completely made of wood with no nails!

The Last Emperor of China (1987), a biographical movie, was the only movie ever allowed to be filmed in The Forbidden City.  We watched the movie before this trip and were completely overwhelmed by the massiveness of it all.  We’re truly excited to watch the movie again when we return home.

There are multiple thrones because well, an Emperor can’t just plop down anywhere.

The Emperor did have an Empress along with his 3000 concubines …. just in case he got bored.  Maybe this young bride, that we spotted right outside of The Forbidden City,  was a reincarnated concubine …

I loved this dragon in the Empress’ courtyard …. maybe he has met his match with my Scorpio Dragon (Arizona Wildcat) husband.

By the time we returned to the hotel Saturday night everyone was exhausted.  We had a cocktail in the room, ate another Chinese buffet meal and then I fell asleep fully dressed on the bed.

That is the definition of being completely overwhelmed in Beijing.