Palace of the Heavenly Kingdom by sugarpuff
Well I visited this place whilst I was on a business trip so didnt have time before to read about where I was going. Once in, apart from just one sign telling me I was in the former Presidential Palace, I wouldnt have known. Sure there were signs telling me throughout what I could see, and there were photos with descriptions in both Chinese and English, but it still lacked something.So now Ive read the guide book and understand that this place over six hundred years ago was a private residence for a Ming Prince. After the Ming, came the Qing and the building in turn became the seat of the Provincial Governor. Later the Taiping Uprising happened and it was turned over to the Guomindang Government where it became the Presidential Palace.
Sadly, for me, once youve been in one government building, youve been in all of them! They all depict the lives of the former people who ruled the country, they show you a room which claims to be the person's former bedroom, with just one chair, a bed and a desk where he wrote his memoirs. I just cant get excited about it anymore.
However the gardens we walked through, the Xu Yuan Garden, was lovely and I can imagine in Spring just how beautiful it will get. That is the photo I have posted on this page. They say the gardens are like those in Suzhou, and they're right. Truely magical.
