Inside the Forbidden City: The Emperor's Clocks
by Hans Zbinden

I just returned from a trip through Asia. One of cities I stopped in was Beijing where I visited the Forbidden City, the palace where from the 15th to the 20th century the emperor of China ruled and lived together with thousands of maids, concubines and eunuchs, the only males allowed within the walls of this incredible city within a city.

The entire complex measures around 750,000 sqm and is surrounded by a protective moat and wall ...

The buildings house almost 9,000 rooms ...

... and now even a Starbucks!

Within the palace, there a numerous exhibits with bronze figurines, enamel work, vases, statues ...

... and to me the most interesting one where I took a lot of pictures I'd like to show here

My guess is that there are around 150 clocks on display in the Hall of Clocks and Watches. Many of them were made in Britain during the 18th century. The several halls which house the clocks were all quite dark and were only illuminated by the bit of sun which shined through the narrow windows.

All the clocks were behind very reflective and sometimes a bit dusty glass so taking pictures was quite a task. Still I hope it's somewhat visible what kind of amazing treasures are on display there. Not much information was on display with the clocks, usually just the country of origin and sometimes the name of the watchmaker like on this sign.

Enough history for now, let the feast for the eyes begin! And please ignore the lurking figure sometimes visible in the background. That's just me desparetly trying to find an angle for a reasonable shot.

This one seems to employ an unusual winding system ...

A few pocket watches were on display as well but the emperors were definitely CIS's and not WIS's

Several of the clocks are animated and/or chime. You can see one of them in action by downloading the short movie at the link below. The end of the film is interrupted by a cellphone ringing and one of the visitor's baseball cap getting in the way. China sure made the step from communism to capitalism in record time ...

Chiming animated clock (2.1 MB)


What better way to end an incredible day than with some fabulous and fragrant Beijing Duck and other culinary delights ...

November 2003