The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the imperial palace from 1420 to 1912.  The Forbidden City is so named because it was forbidden for commoners to go there. Only imperial dignitaries were allowed in the outer courts, wives, concubines and eunuchs were allowed in the inner court, and there were parts of the Forbidden City that only the emperor was allowed.
When the communists took over the emperor was allowed to live there for a few years, but was ultimately kicked out. They then turned the Forbidden City into the Palace Museum that houses tons of relics from the imperial times.
While we were there Beijing experienced the worse flooding it has had in twenty years. The Forbidden City was full of water, but it was cool to see the dragons spitting out the excess water.

This slab weighs 20 tons and took

soldiers 3 months to move to the 

Forbidden City which was 12 km away.

The number of mystical animals denote the importance

of the building. This building has nine animals so it 

is really important.  The first animal is always a man on a 

phoenix. According to legend it denotes an emperor

who ruled harshly and was beheaded. It is a reminder

to always rule with grace and dignity.

In Chinese folklore dragons were friendly and 

spit water instead of fire.