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In a warm afternoon light.
Tian'anmen (天安门), or the Gate of Heavenly Peace was first built during the Ming Dynasty in 1420.
Tian'anmen is often wrongly referred to as the main entrance to the Forbidden City. Actually the Meridian Gate (午门, Wumen) is the first entrance to the Forbidden City proper, while Tian'anmen is the entrance to the Imperial City, within which the Forbidden City is located. Tian'anmen is often used as a Chinese national symbol.
The gate itself was rebuilt several times, getting the current shape and appearance with a reconstruction beginning in 1645. It was given its present name in 1651 when the construction was completed.
The Tian'anmen gate was reconstructed once again between 1969-1970. The gate as it stood was by then 300 years old, and badly deteriorated. As the gate was a national symbol, then-Premier Zhou Enlai ordered that the rebuilding was to be kept secret. The whole gate was covered in scaffolding, and the project was officially called a "renovation". The rebuilding aimed to leave the gate's external appearance unchanged while making it more resistant to earthquakes and featuring modern facilities such as an elevator, water supply and heating system.
Mao Zedong Portrait: On July 7, 1949 for the first time the pictures of Zhu De and Mao Zedong were hung to commemorate the Second Sino-Japanese War. Since then, from the official founding date (October 1st) of the People's Republic of China, a portrait of Mao Zedong has been hung above the gate. Each year the old portrait is replaced before October 1, the national day of the PRC.
The text on the gate:
Left: 中华人民共和国万岁, Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó wànsuì, "Long live the People's Republic of China"
Right: 世界人民大团结万岁, Shìjiè rénmín dà tuánjié wànsuì, "Long Live the Great Solidarity of the People of the World".
An archive shot.originally uploaded on April 23, 2014, slightly re-edited and re-posted on October 23, 2025.
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
Beihai Park also known as the Winter Palace, is a public park and former imperial garden located in the northwestern part of the Imperial City, Beijing. First built in the 11th century, it is among the largest of all Chinese gardens and contains numerous historically important structures, palaces, and temples. Since 1925, the place has been open to the public as a park. It is also connected at its northern end to the Shichahai. The park has an area of more than 69 hectares, with a lake that covers more than half of the entire park. 1455
The well-preserved imperial palace complex in Beijing, China is surrounded by walls and a large moat. This shot shows one of the corner guard towers nicely reflected in the water.
—from Wikipedia
The Forbidden City (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng) is the imperial palace complex in the center of the Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming and Qing dynasty Emperors, and the center of political power in China for over 500 years from 1420 to 1924. The palace is now administered by the Palace Museum as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Forbidden City is arguably the most famous palace in all of Chinese history, and is the largest preserved royal palace complex still standing in the world.
The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government for over 500 years. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts was built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987.
The complex claims to consist of 9,999 rooms in total, although experts have shown in recent years that the number only amounts to 8,886, covering 72 ha (720,000 m2)/178-acre. The palace exemplifies the opulence of the residences of the Chinese emperor and the traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. UNESCO recognizes it as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Since 2012, the Forbidden City has seen an average of 14 million visitors annually, and received more than 19 million visitors in 2019.
It was included in the first list of national priority protected sites in 1961. The palace is extremely important to the Chinese public and nation, who often view it as a cultural and heavenly link to their ancestors
This bucolic picture was taken at sundown in Imperial City, Huế, Vietnam (2014).
The citadel is oriented to face the Huong River to the east. This is different from the Forbidden City in Beijing, which faces south. The reigns of the last Vietnamese Emperors lasted until the mid-1900s.
In the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, as part of the Tet Offensive a Division-sized force of North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong soldiers launched a coordinated attack on Huế seizing most of the city. Out of 160 buildings only 10 major sites remain because of the battle, such as the Thái Hòa and Cần Thanh temples, Thế Miếu, and Hiển Lâm Các. The city was made a UNESCO site in 1993. The buildings that still remain are being restored and preserved.
Corridor and red doors in the Forbidden Purple City, historic Hue Citadel (Imperial City), Hue, North Central Coast, Vietnam.
While most of the moat around the Imperial City in Hue was not filled with water, lily ponds did greet visitors at the entrance. A nice contrast to the ancient buildings made of stone.
This is the first and usually only building in the Imperial City that a petitioner to the Emperor would encounter. Built mostly in the 19th century during the Nguyễn dynasty, the Citadel and the Imperial City was patterned after the Forbidden City in Bejing, China. The site suffered extensive damage during the Vietnam War and is still undergoing restoration or reconstruction.
Hue, Vietnam
The Citadel in Hue, Vietnam consists of 8 kilometers of walls in a square (2 km X 2 km) all surrounded by a wide deep moat fed by the river. There is a fortified gate on each side plus fortified towers including the corners. Within the Citadel lies the Imperial City with it's own 2.5 km of walls.
—from Wikipedia
In June 1802, after more than a century of division and the defeat of the Tây Sơn dynasty, Nguyễn Ánh ascended the throne of a unified Vietnam and proclaimed himself Emperor Gia Long. With a nation now stretching from the Red River Delta to the Mekong Delta, Emperor Gia Long moved the capital from the northern Thăng Long (current Hanoi) to Huế, the ancestral seat of the Nguyễn lords. Gia Long looked to "Confucianism and Chinese models of statecraft" as the best modes of authority, and with this ideology, he ordered the construction of a palace complex based on Beijing's Forbidden City in Huế. Geomancers were consulted as to a propitious location site for the new city, and construction began in 1803. Thousands of workers were ordered to build the walled citadel and ringing moat, measuring some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long. The original earthwork was later reinforced and faced with brick and stone resulting in 2 m (6 ft 7 in)-thick ramparts.
This is an inside gate leading from one courtyard to the next. Even near the end of the tourism season there are still a good many people; during the height of the season it must be a crush.
—from Wikipedia
The Forbidden City (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng) is the imperial palace complex in the center of the Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming and Qing dynasty Emperors, and the center of political power in China for over 500 years from 1420 to 1924. The palace is now administered by the Palace Museum as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Forbidden City is arguably the most famous palace in all of Chinese history, and is the largest preserved royal palace complex still standing in the world.
The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government for over 500 years. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts was built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987.
The complex claims to consist of 9,999 rooms in total, although experts have shown in recent years that the number only amounts to 8,886, covering 72 ha (720,000 m2)/178-acre. The palace exemplifies the opulence of the residences of the Chinese emperor and the traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. UNESCO recognizes it as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Since 2012, the Forbidden City has seen an average of 14 million visitors annually, and received more than 19 million visitors in 2019.
It was included in the first list of national priority protected sites in 1961. The palace is extremely important to the Chinese public and nation, who often view it as a cultural and heavenly link to their ancestors
From a distance the New Palace looks like a European baroque palace or villa, but up close you see that the decorative elements are from Vietnamese mythology. The New Palace was built in the latter half of the 19th century during the French colonial period. The imperial family resided here until the 1940s up to when the revolution began that eventually forced out the French in the 1950s. Located inside the imperial stronghold called the Citadel in Hue, Vietnam, the New Palace is one of many structures.
Koi Fish at the Hue Citadel.
Many thanks to everyone for your kind comments and favs, much appreciated my friends!
The Throne Pavilion is the first and usually only building in the Imperial City that a petitioner to the Emperor would encounter. Built mostly in the 19th century during the Nguyễn dynasty, the Citadel and the Imperial City was patterned after the Forbidden City in Bejing, China. The site suffered extensive damage during the Vietnam War and is still undergoing restoration or reconstruction.
Hue, Vietnam
Looking out of a pavilion at the imperial tomb of Minh Mang, the second emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty, who ruled Vietnam from 1820 - 1840. Hue was the former imperial capital of Vietnam from the 17th century until about 1945 when it was relocated to Hanoi.
Vietnam's history is marked by repeated invasions of the country by a succession of foreign entities, first by the Chinese, who ruled the country for almost a millennium but were never able to assimilate the Vietnamese and endured frequent rebellions. One would think that other invaders would've learned from the failures of the Chinese, but then came the Mongols, then the French, the Japanese, and finally, depending on your perspective, the Americans.
While Americans quibble over who actually won the war in Vietnam, there is no doubt in the minds of the Vietnamese that they won and they succeeded in kicking out the Americans. I remember one of my guides driving past a lake in Hanoi and pointing out that it was the lake where John McCain's plane landed when they shot it down. There is now a memorial commemorating the event at Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi.
Hue - Scorcio della Città Imperiale all'interno della "Cittadella"
Hue - A glimpse of Imperial City inside "The Citadel"
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The interior of the New Palace was furnished mostly in the European style. The New Palace was built in the latter half of the 19th century during the French colonial period and was a blend of European and Vietnamese styles and motifs. The imperial family resided here until the 1940s up to when the revolution began that eventually forced out the French in the 1950s. Located inside the imperial stronghold called the Citadel in Hue, Vietnam, the New Palace is one of many structures.
This magnificent and beautiful roundabout is within the Imperial City of Huế. Forbidden purple city covers an area of 10 hectares. The city was made a UNESCO site in 1993. The buildings that still remain are being restored and preserved.
I take nothing for granted. The Empire may well have millions of troops, but it is still a fragile thing, still in its infancy, and there will always be those who want to overthrow it. But they will look ahead to a time when they are powerful enough to do so; they have no idea that their best time to strike is now, while I have to still consolidate my power. As always, the ignorance and apathy of the populace works in my favor.
-Emperor Palpatine
Star Wars an Imperial Commando Novel 501st
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This shot came out a bit too grainy, but I kind of like it. I've had the foreground set up for a while, but I recently become inspired to finish the scene.
The Imperial City is a walled fortress and palace in the city of Huế, the former imperial capital of Vietnam.
The grounds of the Imperial City are protected by fortified ramparts 2 kilometers by 2 kilometers, and ringed by a moat. The water in the moat is routed from the Huong River (Perfume River) through a series of sluice gates. This enclosure is the Citadel. Inside the Citadel is the Imperial City, with a perimeter wall some 2.5 kilometers in length. Within the Imperial City is the Purple Forbidden City, a term similar to the Forbidden City in Beijing. Access to the innermost enclosure was restricted to the Nguyễn imperial family.
Dragons are signs of good fortune in Vietnamese culture. These are on the the roof of the throne room pavilion in the Citadel, the ImperialCity complex in Hue, Vietnam.
The Imperial Throne Pavilion is the first and usually only building in the Imperial City that a petitioner to the Emperor would encounter. Built mostly in the 19th century during the Nguyễn dynasty, the Citadel and the Imperial City was patterned after the Forbidden City in Bejing, China. The site suffered extensive damage during the Vietnam War and is still undergoing restoration or reconstruction.
Hue, Vietnam