The Empty Forbidden City
I've been to the Forbidden City a couple of times. Having been to a number of Korean palaces, I felt like the Forbidden City was the same, just on a grander scale. It is large, but, somehow pretty straight forward to walk around and see it all.
The whole time I was walking around, I was trying to imagine scenes from 'The Last Emperor' and what life was like, not just during the last emperor's time but also hundreds of years ago. Taking roughly 15 years to build, the city was completed in 1420 and served as the imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty.
On my second trip to the Forbidden City, while inside the grounds but still near the entrance, I watched as a mother helped balance her toddler, while he took a whiz out in the open. A security guard was only 10-15' away, but did nothing. I think it's quite sad that people will condone literally pissing all over their cultural history!
One of the many buildings comprising the Forbidden City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
