Best bets along Beijing's backbone

Forbidden City .[Photo/China Daily]

Across the Avenue of Eternal Peace (Chang'an) is the entrance to the Forbidden City, now officially called the Palace Museum. Suffice to say, we cannot dwell on its details here as it merits its own article, or a separate day's exploring. You can enter on any of its four sides, but the most dramatic entrance is on the south.

When you re-emerge from the palace through the north gate, you are advised to cross the street and visit Jingshan Park if the weather is good. On a clear day you get a panoramic view of the palace from the hill and a visceral feeling of the crumbling of power by visiting the tree where the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty hanged himself. A peasant rebel and his army had broken into the city and the emperor had nowhere else to turn. Maybe he just wished he had dug an underground maze for refuge. That was in 1644.