Last year while in Beijing we took a day to visit the Forbidden City. The first time I visited was actually back in 1987, when I was an undergraduate and I spent a summer in Beijing participating in a research project by my advisor. We visited the No. 1 Historical Archives on a regular basis, and at the time it was actually located on the grounds of the Forbidden City, in the west gate. We toured the Forbidden City then, and I made occasional visits on later occasions. I am happy to see that much more of the Forbidden City is now open for viewing than in the past, and in general it is much more interesting experience now than in the past.
Needless to say I brought along my camera and took pictures. Luckily it was a very nice day, with blue skies. It reminded me of my time in Beijing in winter 1990, when the skies were blue nearly every day. There is a slideshow below, and if you want you can visit the original Forbidden City gallery here.