The Gate of Supreme Harmony (center right).

The Gate of Supreme Harmony (Traditional Chinese: 太和門; Simplified Chinese: 太和门; pinyin: Tàihémén), is the second major gate at the southern side of the Forbidden City. It is flanked by two minor gates, Zhendu Gate to the west and Zhaode Gate to the east. This gate and the Meridian Gate form the north and south boundaries of a great plaza (Shi Zi) that is divided by a serpentine waterway spanned by the "Golden River Bridges". On the north side of the gate is Harmony Square and the entrance to the grand Hall of Supreme Harmony. The gate of Supreme Harmony. ... The gate of Supreme Harmony. ... Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets. ... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiÇŽntǐzì; also Simplified Chinese: 简化字; Traditional Chinese: 簡化字; pinyin: jiÇŽnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Pinyin is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin, where pin means spell(ing) and yin means sound(s)). This article describes the most common variant called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; pinyin: HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n), also known as scheme... , Overview of the Forbidden City The Forbidden City or Forbidden Palace (Chinese: ; pinyin: Zǐjìn Chéng; literally Purple Forbidden City), located at the exact center of the ancient city of Beijing, was the imperial palace during the mid-Ming and the Qing Dynasties. ... Meridian Gate, viewed from the south The Meridian Gate (Traditional Chinese: 午門; Simplified Chinese: 午门; pinyin: wÇ” mén) is the southern (and largest) gate of the Forbidden City. ... The Hall of Supreme Harmony (太和殿) at the centre of the Forbidden City The Hall of Supreme Harmony (Chinese: ; pinyin: tài hé diàn) is the largest hall within the Forbidden City. ...

Arrayed around the stairs are a large number of incense burners. Incense is a preparation of aromatic plant matter, often with the addition of essential oils extracted from plant or animal sources, intended to release fragrant smoke for religious, therapeutic, or aesthetic purposes as it smolders. ...

The central stairway was reserved exclusively for the Emperor and his immediate attendants, as was the central entrance of Meridian Gate Meridian Gate, viewed from the south The Meridian Gate (Traditional Chinese: 午門; Simplified Chinese: 午门; pinyin: wǔ mén) is the southern (and largest) gate of the Forbidden City. ...

External link

• World heritage immersive panorama

In this panorama your viewpoint will be near a large bronze lion, one of a pair of traditional imperial guardian lions. This female (in appearance much like a male lion) is always to the intruder's left, and is shown playing with a single cub. The male, to the right, will have his left paw on a globe, representing his "feeling the pulse of the earth".