Street Special: streets around the Forbidden City

There is white bridge. That is where we are and this is the Forbidden City. The bridge used to have a high arch, so that the royal boat of two or three stories tall could go through beneath it.

When the country was transformed from monarchy to a republic, the street was revamped and expanded. The path of modernization also made a detour here: originally the street didn't run straight, because it had to go around the old Tuancheng, or the Round City, which was built on a small island on the lakes.

This is probably the smallest city in the world. Tuancheng was part of the royal garden and it's built like a castle on a hill. It used to serve as a great viewing area for the royal family. It's covered with dozens of cypress and pine trees, many of them hundreds of years old. Some even have their own official titles.

The stories goes that long long time ago, on a very hot day, emperor Qianlong came over here for a rest and he enjoyed a cool afternoon under this tree. To express his appreciation, the emperor bestowed an official title to this tree, the Marquis of Shades. Somehow the emperor was afraid this tree would feel lonely up here, so he bestowed another name to the tree over there, the White Robed General. Quite a sense of humor, isn't it?

The Round City rises 4.6 meters above ground level and it's a mystery how all these trees could survive with their roots so far away from the ground water. The secret lies in the construction. The bricks were shaped like a wedge with the bigger side, the longer side of the trapezoid shape on top to gather the rainwater, and deliver it to the trees. It is a very cunning irrigation system.