China - Forbidden City

If you have never heard of the Forbidden City, it is something that you will enjoy researching. Those who were brought to live in the Forbidden City stayed their for life. It is a huge city inside Beijing. We got a tour guide and after 4 hours we barley saw 1/3 of it. There are 999 rooms throughout the city. '9' is a royal number. You will see it symbolized in many areas, on doors, roof tops etc. Only royalty can have 9 of anything. That is the most perfect.

There is a movie called "The Last Emperor" which does a great job telling about the ending of the Forbidden City starting a huge change to the China we know today.

Some of the customs from China's history are extremely interesting! The one that fascinated my a lot was the binding of girls feet. It was a mark of beauty to have a 3 1/2 inch foot, the size and shape of a lotus flower. It was extremely painful but a sign of great beauty. For her wedding, the young girl was judged on the shoes she made for her small feet. This was done for 1,000 years. No one really knows how it began, but it did start with royalty. It only ended in the early 1900's.

Another custom that is seem a lot is raised door steps. Some are just an inch or two, others several inched tall. It is meant to keep the evil spirits out. You must step over, not on top of the door step.

I'd love to put more pictures here, but there are too many to chose from. I am working on a book with LOTS of pictures. I will post it when it is complete.