The Forbidden City

How can a place be so impressive yet so boring?

My first visit to Beijing meant a trip over to the Forbidden City across from Tiananmen Square. There is no questioning the imposing beauty of the structures, unfolding across vast courtyards one after the other in endless repetition. And yet, by the time you’re halfway through you can’t help but feel weary, de-sensitized to the majesty and wondering when it will all end. You want to venture inside to see the imperial splendor, but you’re afforded no access, left only to consider the massive palaces from an isolating remove. Soon you’re asking yourself: how can something so impressive, so awe-inspiring, in the end, feel so lifeless and dull?