The Forbidden City stands in the center of Beijing. It is protected by walls 10 meters high, and a moat on all four sides— 6 meters deep and 50 meters across. The Emperors of two dynasties, the Ming and the Qing, lived here with their families and hundreds of concubines and palace eunuchs. From their throne in the Forbidden City they governed the country by holding court sessions with their ministers, issuing imperial edicts and initiating military expeditions. The Forbidden City was inaccessible to the common people. Even the highest civil and military officers could not enter it without good reason.

The construction of the Forbidden City started in 1406 and took 14 years and an estimated 200,000 men. The layout of the Forbidden City is based on a Chinese cosmic diagram of the universe that clearly defines the north-south and east-west axes. The extensive grounds contain 800 buildings and over 9,000 rooms. The buildings represent the largest and best-preserved examples of Chinese traditional architecture found today. Since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant color in the Forbidden City.

After the republican revolution of 1911, the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, then still a child, abdicated the next year. But he and his family and their entire entourage were allowed to stay in the palaces. They were finally expelled by republican troops in 1924. The Forbidden City was renamed as the Palace Museum and opened to the general public.

And we danced...