Amazing architecture with a rich history, from the 九钉门 (how only the royal doors will have 9 rows and 9 columns of 'nails') to the different functions of the various 宫殿 (太和殿,中和殿,保和殿,三宫六院) containing a total of 8,707 rooms, covering 150,000 sqm out of the 720,000 sqm premises. We entered through the middle door at 午门, which usually is used only by the Emperor, even the Empress can only enter through here once (on their wedding day, which are not many because usually most are already married before the Prince becomes Emperor). The top 3 scholars (科举的状元, 榜眼,探花) are also exceptions that are allowed to enter through the main door, once in their life when they make it to top 3 of the imperial exams.
I enjoyed the place, it's breathtaking, despite the hazy weather, you can still the beauty of the architecture, the pure presence of the size (imagine how much they had to walk in the past and how they navigated this huge red-walled maze without Maps). The Emperor's throne was alttle underwhelming though, I had expected it to be bigger and more glamourous.
Ended the day exiting through 神武门 after 2 hrs of walking in it.