The palace is divided into three main sections: the eastern, middle, and western.

It boasts more than 300 impressively decorated rooms. The palace resembles Beijing's Forbidden City in size and layout, although it is only 1/12.

I'm standing on Phoenix Tower, which used to be the tallest structure in Shenyang. Today, we can see the tops of all those roofs. And this is where we find one big difference between the imperial palace in Beijing and the one here. The borders of the roofs are green, while the ones in Beijing are gold. This is because the Manchu are from the grasslands and forests and have a deep respect for nature and greenery.

This is a typical Manchu courtyard that was later found in Beijing as well. On the side are residences. On this residence, the door is not in the center, but on the side. This is another Manchu characteristic.

The Dazheng Hall or Hall of Great Affairs is the leading attraction of the palace, located in eastern section. It is an octagonal, wooden structure in vivid red and lacquered gold, with two pillars with twisting golden dragons.

This eight-sided structure has elements from many nationalities. For instance, there are no real walls, but these doors. This is very Manchu. At the same time, this structure is made completely of wood and there are dragons on these poles. That is very Han.

The Hall has an elaborate throne and was where ceremonies and meetings were conducted. Incorporates the architectural style of the Manchus as well as that of the Han and the Mongols.

In front of the hall are ten pavilions for the Manchurian tribal lords to gather for discussion of state affairs and other important ceremonies. They form neat rows along the left and right sides of the plaza before Dazheng Hall. This is one of the few places where the emperor and tribesmen could work together.

Wensu Pavilion stands out because the poles are green and the tiles on the roofs are black. That's because it's a library with a complete collection of Four Branches of books.

The Four Branches of books or Si Ku Quan Shu is a large scale collection compiled in the Qianlong reign, who was the 6th Qing emperor. In the Si ku quan shu are important works pertaining to the five thousand years of Chinese civilization, including history, law, politics, economics, society, technology, and philosophy.

I found the second big difference between the imperial palace in Beijing and the one in Shenyang. On that sign, the left side is for Manchu characters and the right for Han. Usually, the left is taken to be more important, and so it's the reverse in Beijing.