Mooncake, Beijing, and the Forbidden City

September 10, 2011
This past week in China was most enjoyable. Routines in my school were put in place, students were happy with their class placements, teachers were delving into their curriculum, teacher appreciation day was celebrated and it was a shorter week for the beginning of the long weekend celebrating Moon Festival.

Moon Festival
The Moon Festival (also called the Mooncake or Mid-Autumn festival) falls on September 12th in the year 2011. What is the Moon festival? Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie."
Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with dances, feasting and moon gazing. Just yesterday there was a singing competition two blocks from where I live. I was tempted to go and see the happenings, but the sounds coming from the band shell kept me far away.


Another big tradition for the moon festival, are mooncakes. While baked goods are a common feature at most Chinese celebrations, mooncakes are inextricably linked with the Moon festival. One type of traditional mooncake is filled with lotus seed paste (see side photo). The school senior administration provided every teacher with a box of mooncakes. Roughly the size of a human palm, these mooncakes were quite filling, meant to be cut diagonally in quarters and passed around. I found them heavy and dry in taste. However they seemed better when microwaved and with coffee. An acquired taste nevertheless.

Teacher appreciation day
The People's Republic of China celebrated Teacher Day on September 10. Our senior administration brought the entire staff to a most beautiful and delightful dinner. Tradition required that the chairman give an opening speech, followed by the principal general and myself. We introduced the teachers and thanked them for their contribution to the education of our students.

There are many drinking traditions in China to celebrate different festivals of the year including the Moon Festival. The hospitality of the Chinese is fully expressed at feasts or dinners. People will exchange their feelings while they urge others to drink more. They believe that their love for each other will be purified and raised to a higher level while drinking. The Chinese like urging others to drink more in order to express the hosts and hostess' honesty and friendship. The more the guest drinks, the more cheerful the host or hostess feels, which symbolizes having good opinions of the host or hostess. If the guest refuses to have a drink, the host or hostess will feel disgraced.

At the Teacher appreciation meal, being the new principal and their guest, I was invited to participate in this Chinese tradition by drinking “Bái Zhú”. “Bái Zhú” tastes like a mean Vodka. The host claimed it was 50% proof. Being their guest, and honoring the hosts, I had to accept. Their shot glasses are double our size. Happily, I was able to keep up with them. Needless to say, at the end of the night, I was able to hold my own and walk a straight line as I watched my challengers stagger and hold each other up. Canada prepared me well (lol). Until the next challenge…

The Forbidden City

On Saturday, I visited the Forbidden City. From the outside and the pictures, it looks as though one could walk throughout the palace in a couple of hours. It took 4 to 5 hours to make my way through the different courtyards and exhibits. I am told that the Forbidden City is also called Purple Forbidden City. In the feudal society, emperors had supreme power, so this residence was certainly a forbidden place. Purple was the symbolic color of the North Star, which was believed to be the center of the cosmos. So it got the name of Forbidden City or Purple Forbidden City.

Below, I have listed the courtyards from south to north:
• Meridian Gate (Wumen )
• Inner Golden Water River (Neijinshuihe)
• Gate of Supreme Harmony ( Taihemen )
• Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian)
• Hall of complete Harmony (Zhonghedian)
• Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian)
• Gate of Heavenly Purity (Qianqingmen)
• Palace of Heavenly purity (Qianqinggong)
• Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunninggong)
• Palace of Union and Peace (Jiaotaidian)
• Hall of Metal Cultivation (Yangxindian)
• Marble Ramp Carved with Cloud and Dragon Design
• Six Eastern and Western Palace
• Nine-dragon Screen
• Imperial Garden
• Zhen Fei well

The Forbiddden City was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the construction of this group of buildings took fourteen years from 1406 to 1420. In the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it was the imperial palace where twenty-four emperors ascended the throne and exercised their strong power to the nation.

The palace occupies an area of 720,000 square meters (177.9 acres) and has approximately 8,700 rooms. A high red wall with a total length of 3,400 meters (3,718 yards) encases the palace. There are four gates in each side, with Meridian Gate (Wu Men) as the main entrance. Four exquisite watchtowers sit at the corners of the wall. With roofs covered with golden glazed tile, red painted walls and grey-white bases, the rectangular palace appears extremely luxurious and grand. Spectacular halls in it are neatly arranged in bilateral symmetry along a central axis that conforms to the axis of Beijing City.

The palace has two primary parts: the Outer Court and the Inner Court. Some halls are converted into art galleries to exhibit paintings, clocks, bronze wares, pottery and other invaluable treasures. It is said that there are over 1,000,000 articles in this museum that account for one-sixth of such national treasures. Tourists can enter into the palace from the Wu Men (Meridian Gate) or the Shenwu Men (Gate of Divine Might). It is impossible for visitors to see every corner of the palace in a single day.

Since there was so much to see, as you thumb through my slideshow, in this blog, I have highlighted three areas that I particularly enjoyed: the Nine Dragons, the Imperial Garden and the National Treasures.

Nine Dragons

Built in 1773 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), this marvelous wall is 20.4 meters (66.9 feet) long and 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) high. Nine dragons, each playing with a pearl, are carved in a very lifelike manner. Yellow, blue, purple and white are applied to the carvings to depict the writhing dragons, and make the wall very attractive. The face of the wall has 270 pieces of colored glaze, five ridges and another nine small dragons on the main ridge. We know that 270 is a multiple of 9×5. Wondering about the significance of this equation? In ancient China, the numbers nine and five, when combined, signified the supreme status of a sovereign. An emperor was also called 'Majesty of Nine and Five'.

But this wall is not perfect. If you observe carefully, you may find the third white dragon has a piece of wood on its belly. It is said that a carpenter carved it to replace a broken piece of glaze tile. He did it on purpose, for the work must be finished on time, otherwise all the craftsmen would be punished. His part was incomplete, so he took the risk of concealing the flaw and cheating the emperor; fortunately, the emperor didn't discover it.

The Imperial Garden

My favourite part of the tour was the Imperial Garden. The Imperial Garden was where the imperial family members recreated themselves. It was built up in 1420 and remains unchanged in its original layout. The garden with an area of about 1.2 hectares (2.97 acres) has more than twenty structures distributed symmetrically but not prudishly.

The garden centers Qin'an Dian (Hall of Imperial Peace), with other buildings framed by a background of old trees. Surrounding the Hall of Imperial Peace, four dainty pavilions are of a great originality in their styles and are named after four seasons of a year. The steep rockery with a chic pavilion on in the north was where the emperor and empress climbed up to view the distance on the lunar September 9th. Even the paths convey a distinct flavor. They are paved with pebbles with different col ors, forming a variety of designs portraying people, flowers, scenery or stories.

The National Treasures

Some of the National Treasures are quite striking. The intricate carvings of coral and jade stone, the colourful jewels, the polished gold, the fancy snuff bottles, the intricate hair pieces, the beautiful crowns, the ornate belts are just a few of the treasures I saw.

If you decide to come and visit me, plan to take a day to wander through the Forbidden City. You will not be disappointed. Wishing you were all here.
Thank you for sharing in my adventure...