The Forbidden City – Forbidden No More

Here’s another in a series of epic thrillers from Nigeria’s most traveled woman, Jazzy Jess. Her adventure stories in Asia began with the experience she had climbing the Great Wall of China. Now, she’s telling NewsmakersNG readers about her trip to the Forbidden City in central Beijing.

Jazzy Jess/

When I first visited China, the “Forbidden City” was not really on my list. I had seen it mentioned but I really wanted to visit Macau (the Las Vegas of the East), drive to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, climb the wall of China, visit the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium and eat Peking Duck in Beijing. I did all of that.

The decision to travel alone was tough. It was my first time and I did not know what to expect. Neither did I speak the languages. I had wonderful friends who painstakingly prepared me for my trip to their country. They even prepared a deck of flashcards with comments like “I am going to Wangfujing Street; Where is the ferry to Hong Kong? Where is the train station?” and the names of all my hotels in Mandarin and Cantonese. Most importantly, in Beijing, I was introduced to a wonderful couple that spared nothing in showing me the wonders of the city.

Excitedly, we weaved through the crowded streets of Beijing at night as I took in all the wonders of this lovely city. How did we communicate? I knew zero Mandarin except hello and thank you – “Nǐ hǎo” and “Xiexie”

I was excited to visit Hong Kong and Macau, but I had added Beijing out of curiosity. It was Spring when I arrived in Beijing and three strangers are waiting to show me around. We bonded really fast visiting Wangfujing Street and its famous food market. By the time we reached one of the Beijing Hutongs (old towns that maintain old Beijing traditional architecture and culture), we were fast friends. Excitedly, we weaved through the crowded streets of Beijing at night as I took in all the wonders of this lovely city. How did we communicate? I knew zero Mandarin except hello and thank you – “Nǐ hǎo” and “Xiexie” and my new friends spoke little English. So, we used a translation app on our mobile phones.

The next day, we started early and my friends took me around Beijing. My first view of The Forbidden City was from Jingshan Park. It is a lovely park on a hill opposite the Forbidden City. From the top, you could see beautiful aerial views of the Palace. In this park, the last emperor of the Ming dynasty hung himself on a tree which is still there today and has become a major tourist attraction.

The Forbidden City (Zijin Cheng) is a Chinese Imperial Royal Palace built during the Ming Dynasty by Emperor Zhu Di for 14 years from 1406 and it is made up of the huge palace of the King, many smaller palaces for the Queen, the concubines, the Crown Prince, temples, offices and meeting halls, etc. It is located in Central Beijing and was the home of many Ming and Qing dynasty emperors. It is made up of palaces with beautiful traditional Chinese architecture, lovely carvings, and sculptures including Chinese symbolic spiritual creatures like the turtle, the crane, and the dragon. It was also the political Seat of China. It was the Forbidden City because no one was allowed into it without the Emperor’s permission.

My first impression of this palace was that it was so huge. I said to my friends, “This has to be the biggest palace in the world, right? I was right. It is the largest palace in the world. It is a city within the City. This is Chinese traditional architecture at its best with beautifully raised pavilions with glazed roofs that had sculptural pieces of animals on them. Each palace was a walled town within the walled city. My friends explained the significance of the 81 knobs on the palace’s gates. They are only present on doors of important buildings like temples and royal palaces during the Ming dynasty. Scores of excited tourists streamed through the big gates and spread all over the edifice in awe. It was a worthy adventure.

My trip to China was amazing. I hardly used the flashcards. From Macau to Beijing, I met many wonderful people, received a lot of kindness, and learnt about China, its people, food, and its history.                                                                                  

As for the Forbidden City, I was glad that I got to learn its secrets. I will never forget the leap in my heart the first time I passed through its big gates. It is still mysterious, beautiful but forbidden no more.

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