THE FORBIDDEN City has played host to emperors, concubines, Mao Zedong and marauding gangs of Red Guards.
But yesterday it was Enda Kenny’s turn to take a tour of China’s legendary and mysterious complex of palaces. He seemed extremely interested in this leg of his maiden Chinese voyage, asking all the right questions.
“This is all timber?” “What period is that?” “Tell me about the axis,” he asked as he passed through the Gate of Supreme Harmony to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. For a man whose political life has been spent in the hall of supreme discord, Dáil Éireann, such inquiry was second nature.
Beijing played its part. There was barely a lungful of pollution in the sky and spring had arrived as if by imperial decree. The Western Hills were visible from the centre of the Forbidden City, a notable good luck sign in the capital.
The Forbidden City is thus called because commoners were not allowed to enter. It was the epicentre of the Celestial Empire for five centuries where only the political elite, servants and a select group of eunuchs were permitted.
In recent years it has been largely renovated and opened to the masses who visit in their millions. Starbucks had a concession here for a while but it was removed in 2007, deemed insufficiently Chinese.
The masses were kept back, temporarily, as Kenny’s retinue of diplomats and journalists made its way through the elegant palaces.
He refrained from touching the door of the concubines’ quarters, a temptation many visitors find irresistible as it is said to boost fertility. The Taoiseach is clearly happier putting his trust in Chinese cash and Irish ingenuity to help lift the Irish economy.
The audio tour guide to the city, with its 10,000 rooms, used to be Roger Moore but, unfortunately, those days are gone. However, Kenny could rely on some of the great experts on the city to fill him in.
The real artistry was laid on by emperor Qianlong, who ruled China from 1736 until 1795 during the Qing dynasty which ended in 1911.
The last Qing emperor was Puyi, who was made famous in Bernardo Bertolucci’s film, The Last Emperor. The palatial halls have always symbolised power, and what happens when it is taken away. Such was Puyi’s fate – once beloved by his country and supporters, but abandoned before being shunned by the new regime.
After raising a few eyebrows with his comparison between the urban renewal programme in Shanghai – population 23 million and that of Ballymun, population about 22,000 – the Taoiseach, thankfully, didn’t try to draw any comparisons between the Forbidden City and that most welcoming of towns, Castlebar.
Although what would the concubines have made of the cute hoors who are so common in Irish political circles?
