During its 500 years, officials forbade the public from entering.
– Mier W. Wang
You’re standing inside one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions.
Designed on a strictly symmetrical north-south axis, construction for the massive 178-acre site employed more than a million laborers and took 15 years to complete. A former royal residence, this palace was fabled to have 9,999 ½ rooms painted red for happiness and yellow for power signifying the monarch’s status as a divinely chosen representative on Earth.
When entering the complex, you stepped across one of five arched bridges spanning a winding canal and walked toward two imposing, bronze lions guarding the gate. Passing between them, you moved into a vast, open courtyard where no trees overshadowed the magnificent architecture of what’s considered the most valuable piece of real estate on the planet.
In front of you now stands a colossal wooden structure supported by 72 pillars housing a gold-lacquered throne. On the roof you see 11 mythical beasts set there to protect the building. They include a winged monkey to prevent lightning strikes, a heavenly horse to turn calamity into blessings and a phoenix to bring peace and prosperity.
Reid & Robie ask, “Where are you now?”
Send us the name of the place in the comments below and we’ll post the winner with the next Where are you now? quiz.
The answer to the last Where are you now? quiz was Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, London answered correctly by Futuristic55.
Congratulations!
Reid & Robie 