Twenty years ago this week I visited China for the first time. I found my diary from that trip and here is what I wrote about my visit to the Imperial Palace.
Beijing Saturday 26 June 1993
Well after three days in Beijing, today was time for my long anticipated visit to the Imperial Palace. At breakfast this morning I took one of the tourist maps that are used as placemats, and planned my route to the palace. I wanted to stop by the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Xuānwǔmén Tiānzhǔtáng. It is the oldest Catholic church in Beijing, and the first foundation was established there in 1605 by the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci. Unfortunately it turned out the map was not to scale, and the walk to the cathedral took much longer than I expected. The current cathedral, built in 1904, was certainly very colourful. There were streamers, ribbons and coloured lights, and rather tacky pictures. I did not see any other people, but there was a sign in English advertising mass on the hour tomorrow.
I did not spend very long there and soon set off for the Imperial Palace. The Great Hall of the People, in all its monumentalist grandeur, was, in a strange way, very attractive. Tiananmen Square is very big, but not really very impressive beyond the space it creates. Then it was into the palace, except it wasn't. There was this fair ground kind of situation, all very noisy and tacky. It turns out the famous gate with the big picture of Chairman Mao is the entrance to the Imperial City, not the Imperial Palace. After a bit of confusion over this unexpected situation, I finally arrived at the real entrance to the Imperial Palace; the Meridian Gate. The entrance fee was 45 yuan, and I also hired the audio-tour, which was unexpectedly very good.
What a wonderful place it is. It is such a mixture; with the grand, impressive ceremonial halls in contrast to the small, homely courtyard palaces. I walked around for about four hours, enjoying every minute. It is so sad that such rich cultural, religious and spiritual traditions are now dead. A grand palace like this should be a living symbol of over two thousand years of dynastic rule in China, with the Son of Heaven at its centre; not a museum. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is spectacular, what a wonderful ceremonial complex. It must have been magnificent when in use. I also really liked the Palace of Heavenly Purity Aren't the names beautiful? The Bower of Well-nourished Harmony; the Belvedere of Pleasant Sounds; Palace of Tranquil Longevity; the Pavilion of Myriad Springtimes; the Palace of Gathered Elegance; the Hall of Mental Cultivation etc. etc.
Yet it did not feel entirely like a museum. The private quarters of the palace's last inhabitants were almost spookily atmospheric. You could not enter them, but you could look in through the windows. The rooms looked dusty and run down, almost like nothing much has changed since the Great Qing Emperor and his court departed in 1924. I was particularly taken by the bedrooms of the ladies of the court. The beds are built into the wall, with rich silk hangings to either side. They looks very cosy, particularly as it must get very cold here in winter. Even in the private living quarters, there were still formal places for the Emperor to sit in state. I doesn't look as if he was every really off duty or in private.
Eventually I arrived at the Imperial Garden, in the northern end of the palace. It was not really a garden as such, just on open area with some trees, and surrounded by smaller pavilions and halls. But it was still very pretty in its own way. One of the pavilions was where Mr Reginald Johnson and the Xuantong Emperor had their classes. It was all locked up, but I would have loved to have gone inside for a look. In the garden there were several elderly gentlemen just sitting around smoking, chatting and laughing. A couple of them had birds in cages, and their pretty singing added to the relaxed friendly atmosphere. There were also a couple of ladies selling hot snacks from carts with hot plates. I bought a hot bun that turned out to be very sweet, and a bottle of the ubiquitous Pepsi. Finally, after several hours on my feet, I sat down in the early afternoon sun for a bit of a rest. It was, in some ways, the highlight of the day.
It was soon time to head back here to the hotel, and I had a long way to walk. I departed through the northern Gate of Divine Might and set off. I suppose I could have got a taxi, or tackled the public transport system, but I did not feel confident enough to try this out. So walk I did. I was very tired, but it was still a great walk. It seemed that at nearly every corner there were huge stalls selling a green leafy vegetable that I think was what we call Chinese broccoli. There were also masses of watermelons. The shop keepers smiled and yelled out hello. I passed a street barber who called out to me and held up his scissors. I took off my hat to reveal my lack of hair and he roared with laughter.
Finally, many hours after setting out, I got back and almost collapsed into my arm chair. Out the window I can see the Temple of Heaven, that is tomorrow's destination, it will have to be pretty impressive to top the wonderful Imperial Palace. I would most certainly love to go back again one day.
