Forbidden City Palace Museum
Tour Day Three: Monday, April 23, 2001
Marc Gregory snaps the Hall of Perfect Harmony.
Tourists are not allowed inside many of these buildings. So people mill about trying to get a glimpse in one of the open doorways. Some move right and others left with no visible queue moving with any coordination. It is impossible for one carrying a small camera with built-in flash to get enough light on the subjects to photograph the interiors of these buildings.
Ceiling Detail
These buildings a decorated in every way. The ceilings are painted with intricate designs. At right is the details from the porch of one of the buildings.
Quite often the walls are decorated with designs rendered in ceramic tiles that must be fitted together to complete the design.
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Roof Detail
The nine figures on the tips of the eave corners represent the emperor and eight of his ruling circle. The Emperor figure is closest to the center of the roof. The one riding the chicken at the tip, closest to the edge, is out of favor with the emperor. He positioned here so that on the way to the promised land he may fall over the edge and not arrive at the desired destination.
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