9999 5 Rooms In This Palace

S panning over 178 acres of        used in the construction of the    land, the Forbidden City,       terraces. According to             or the Zijin Cheng is a         historians, the builders dug       major tourist attraction in           wells along the roads from the     Beijing. Also known as the            queries to the construction sites  Imperial Palace, the building         and poured water on the road to    dates back around 500 years,          get the thin ice in the winters    though it was recently reopened       so they could slide the heavy      for public after repairs in 1949.     stones to their destination.       Surrounded by 7.9 meter high city                                        walls, the Forbidden City was         The 9999.5 rooms the palace        protected by a six meter deep and     boasts, is just half a room short  52 meter wide moat as well. That      of what is believed to be the      though, did not stop this             number of rooms in heaven itself.  monumental building from being        The half room has a staircase in   sacked multiple times and be          it that keeps the building from    razed to the ground completely by     matching the heavens. The          the Manchus.                          building is still intimidating                                           with its huge courtyards and       Although the original building        imposing gates. The ceremonial     had pillars in the important          halls include the three halls of   halls of the valuable Phoebe          Harmony, and the inner courtyard   zhennan wood, the reconstruction      holds the Palace of Heavenly       by the Qing Dynasty replaced the      Purity. The symbolic wall art,     pillars with pinewood ones and,       the evocative messages, all add    unlike the original pillars,          to the beauty and value of the     these are not whole logs used         site. While the government tries   lavishly. The interesting aspect      to keep commercialism down,        of the Palace’s construction was      souvenir shops are still never     the transportation of the stone       too far and you can have           photographs of this monumental                                           structure as well.                    For those visiting the Forbidden                                         City in Beijing, Redwall Hotel     Throughout its long history, and      Beijing is a great place to relax  even as recently as 1949 when         after a day of sightseeing. The    China declared itself a People’s      hotel is not only close to some    Republic, the Imperial Palace was     major tourist spots in the city,   persistently damaged by lootings,     it is close enough to shopping     conquests and even the Cultural       centers as well for those          Revolution. The Palace today does     interested in the modern China.    not hold all its treasures within     With 200 modern rooms and those    the Imperial Museum, however, for     geared at depicting China’s        what it depicts and whatever it       cultural heritage, the Redwall     still has, its cultural and           Hotel Beijing holds the country’s  historical importance is              culture at its heart and serves    undeniable. Every year millions       Western as well as Chinese         of tourists throng its courtyards     delicacies in the restaurant and   to visit this UNESCO World            the Glanviue Coffee Bar            Heritage Site.                         About the Author: Beijing hotels Published At: www.Isnare.com