Street Special: streets around the Forbidden City

Now we are staying at the northeast top corner of the Imperial City. Traditionally the city of Beijing was planned based on alleyways and streets. We don't have the concepts of squares as you would often see in western world.

It's interesting to note that today, on the ruins of the old city wall of the Imperial City, people have built a little park. The city wall symbolizes a closed, restricted society. But, now, on its ruins, has raised a park that provides pleasant leisure space for everyone in the city.

There are several gates on the city wall, and the ruins of one of the gates were discovered here: Dongan Men, the Dong'an Gate. Apparently at the time the ground level was much lower than today's ground.

The wall of the Imperial City was the outer protection of the Forbidden City. At this gate, we can see the ruins of a bridge that once went over an old river that was linked to the Great Canal between Beijing and Hangzhou. We wonder what it was like to enter the city on a horse, trotting down a wide street that was flanked with little eateries, the air full of the old style cries for customers.

On the four corners of the Forbidden City are four turret watchtowers. And there's an interesting story about the construction of these. Apparently the emperor ordered that the workers build four turrets, each with nine beams, eighteen pillars and seventy-two roof ridges. And he gave them three months to do it. The construction engineers of the day racked their brains but couldn’t figure out how to build such towers. Then one day an old man brought them a gift of a cage of grasshoppers. And a smart worker saw that the cage was the perfect model for the towers, with nine beams, eighteen pillars and seventy-two roof ridges. In every sense, the little streets along the moat at the foot of the Forbidden City's mighty walls are among the most picturesque of Beijing. The soft willow branches soothe and intoxicate anyone who ventures here to soak up some of the old charm of the royal life.