3/46.- Beijing, Forbidden City, door detail

Although I had visited royal palaces in Europe and Asia before coming to Beijing, I had never seen anything so big!

The Forbidden City, with its 9,999.5 rooms, several dozens palaces and courtyards, is the biggest royal palace in the world. More than half a mile long and almost half a mile wide (1 Square km), it looks more like a city than a palace complex.

The name of the place comes form the fact that nobody except the Emperor, the Empress, the Emperor's concubines, the eunuchs, the servants and the King's guests was allowed inside the Forbidden City. Even the local firefighters were not allowed inside the complex. In case of fire, the king's servants had to put the fire out. This happened frequently, because most of the constructions were made of wood.

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