JEDDAH — In the land of the Far East, China, where mythical creatures believed to be real long ago and the strong presence of an exotic culture and rich history are seen everywhere even in the very heart of the capital Beijing. Despite the massive development China has achieved in recent years, the country has still managed to hang on to its historical spirit and beauty. China had a total of 24 dynasties with the Ming and Qing Dynasties' strong existence felt everywhere. The last dynasty was the Qing dynasty. The Republic of China, now limited to Taiwan, saw the Qing dynasty come to an end in 1911. One unique remnants of those dynasties is the imperial palace called now “The Forbidden City” which is located in the very heart of Beijing and was home to 24 emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The construction of the grand palace started during the Ming Dynasty and took 14 years to finish. All of the palaces have the same ancient Chinese architecture and yellow and green, considered to be noble colors, cover the palaces. Dragons or phoenixes are strongly apparent in the architecture and are often covered in mass gold powder or foil. In ancient times, the emperor was said to be a son of Heaven, and therefore Heaven's supreme power was bestowed upon him. According to Chinese myths, the emperors' residence on earth was built as a replica of the Purple Palace where God was thought to live in Heaven. One of the reasons it was named the Forbidden City is that such a divine place was certainly forbidden to ordinary people. Originally called Zijin Cheng (“Purple Forbidden City”) but now it's called Gugong or the Old Palace. It is alleged that some emperors were afraid to leave the palace. To represent the supreme power of the emperor given from God and the place where he lived being the center of the world, all of the gates, palaces and other structures of the Forbidden City were arranged about the north-south central axis of old Beijing. The Forbidden City covers an area of about 72 hectares with a total space of approximately 150,000 square meters consisting of 90 palaces and courtyards, 980 buildings and 8,704 rooms. There are 3 Halls of Harmony, the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian), the Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghedian) and the Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian). It is in these halls where the emperors attended grand ceremonies and conducted state affairs. The huge palace is decorated with dragon figures, which in Chinese folklore represents the emperor as the son of Heaven. Away from Beijing, two hours to be exact, another historical wonder is located: The Great Wall of China, which holds history of wars, triumphs and defeats. The Great Wall is a series of stone and earthen fortifications, built, rebuilt and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. The journey from central Beijing takes about two hours. Since the wall is located on the mountains, you have to get onto a cable car to finally reach one of the gates where panoramic views of the village can be enjoyed. What makes The Great Wall so unique is the fact that it remains the world's longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, but stretches to over 6,700 km in total. It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass. At its peak, the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men. It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall. The primary purpose of the wall was not to keep people out but rather to protect the borders. People often tend to think that the Great Wall was a product of wars (actually of defense), thus its role ought to have been most closely related to battles and bloodshed. This is, however, not the case. Most of the time under the Great Wall passed in peace rather than war and the wall, in all times, was connected to the culture, foreign policies, and economy of the country. Moving away completely from skyscrapers and modern buildings in the busy city of Beijing, Chinese culture is rich and apparent in the beautiful city of Hangzhou, the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. The city is famous for the West Lake, a freshwater lake located in the historical area of Hangzhou. Throughout the years, the lake's magnificent view has inspired famous poets, scholars and artists since the 9th century. It comprises numerous temples, pagodas, pavilions, gardens and ornamental trees, as well as causeways and artificial islands. During the fall, the lake is usually misty early in the morning but one can surely enjoy the scenery on a cruise around the lake. The West Lake has influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries and bears an exceptional testimony to the cultural tradition of improving landscapes to create a series of vistas reflecting an idealized fusion between humans and nature. The famous Song Dynasty poet Su Dongpo wrote, “Ripping water shimmering on sunny day, Misty mountains shrouded the rain; Plain or gaily decked out like Xizi; West Lake is always alluring.” Finally, while people usually recommend Beijing and Shanghai, visiting Hangzhou would give travelers a real sense of ancient China. Overall, China remains a place so far away but worth exploring.
