Why I think everyone's wrong about the Forbidden City being overrated

I went to Beijing last October and spent a whole day in the Forbidden City. Everyone online says it's just a tourist trap with long lines and nothing special. But I walked through the Hall of Supreme Harmony around 3pm when the crowds thinned out, and the details on those bronze lions caught me off guard. The sheer scale of the place hit me differently than any picture could show. Has anyone else felt like the hype is actually underselling it?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthewh282d ago

Funny enough, the Forbidden City actually messes with your sense of time better than any modern museum. Standing in the outer courtyard, you realize the emperors designed it to make visitors feel tiny and overwhelmed on purpose. That's a kind of deliberate psychological experience you just don't get from looking at a photo or watching a documentary.

sarah1982d ago

Read somewhere the whole layout was based on Taoist beliefs. Symbolic stuff about heaven and earth being connected. Must have been wild to walk through that knowing it was all intentional.