This hall was the residence for empress dowager cixi,after it was burnt down in 1860 by the allied anglo-french force,it was reconstructed in 1889.every year from april to october,the empress dowager would leave the forbidden city and live here in this hall until she died.

The hall is divided into four sections,many of the treasures used by the empress dowager are on display here.

 

Can you see the two big procelain bowls there?they were used to contain fruites,which were not meant for eating but for the fragrance,and the fruits were changed quite regularly,on the ceiling of the sitting room hangs an electirc chandelier installed in 1903,the first electric light ever introduced to china.

The large table in the center of the hall is for the empress dowager to have her meals,for each meal,about 128 eunuchs,cooks and tea servants attended to her every wish in the 8 big courtyards,more than 100 room.each meal,she had more than 30 kinds of porridge,over 50 kinds of rice or noodles,a choice of 128 courses of her imperial kitchen was subdivided into five bureaus,each was in charge of something special,like the bureau of cakes or the bureau of vegetables etc.

The empress dowager had a fixed routine for meals:brekfast at 6:00am,luch at 12:00,dinner at 6:00pm,besides,she would also have some tea.Beijing Great Wall Tour

Forty-eight people in this hall alone waited on her,in the summer palace,more than 1000 people were always ready to satisfy her every wish.Beijing Tour Service

You can also see two Guangdong embroidery pieces on both sides:on your left is a phoenix among 100 birds while the one on your right is a peacock displaying its full plumage.the phoenix is considered to be the queen of all birds while the peacock is the most beautiful among all birds.the empress dowager want to get both:the power of a phoenix and the beauty of a peacock.

Speaking of embroidery,four famous places in china deserve special attention:guangdong,hunan,suzhou and sichuan.each one is specialized in some special subjects:flower and bird,mountain and river in guangdong,lion and tiger in hunan,cat and gold fish in suzhou and carp and panda in sichuan.