China: Beijing: Imperial Palaces

The east and west sides of the northern half of the Forbidden City include a dozen or more palaces, many of which are like peas in a pod.  Occupied by a range of people from emperors to dowagers, princes, and concubines, they are built to a more intimate scale than the deliberately awe-inspiring audience halls and the associated gates and courtyards that dominate the central axis of the southern or outer half of the Forbidden City.  Many of these palaces are closed to the public, but some are open, though often dilapidated.