Join me @ Facebook | Twitter | 500px | Instagram | YouTube
* * * * * *
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
Weather conditions in Beijing are not very pleasant for its strong polution and smog. This was one of those evenings and I thought I wont even go out to shoot, however I recalled that hazy poluted air can have special effect on photos with strong source of light such as this and I was right. The atmosphere around walls of Forbidden city was very mystical due to the low visibility, calm water and strong lights.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens: EF17-40mm f/4L USM; Focal length: 31.00 mm; Aperture: 11; Exposure time: 30.0 s; ISO: 100
All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova - www.luciedebelkova.com
All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Tags: China Chinese The People's Republic of China PRC Beijing Peking Capital city Central Asia Far East East Asia country world exploration trip vacation holiday place destination location journey tour touring tourism tourist travel traveling visit visiting sight sightseeing water waterscape wasser agua mare ancient monument ancient times ancient civilisation ancient civilization ancient culture archeological archeology architecture attraction building building exterior cultural cultural heritage culture cultured illuminate illuminated illumination night night time long exposure evening light lights dawn dusk twilight wonderful www.luciedebelkova.com lucie debelkova lucie debelkova photography
© All Rights Reserved
Join me @ Facebook | Twitter | 500px | Instagram | YouTube
* * * * * *
China - Beijing - Peking - 北京 - Metropolis & Capital of the People's Republic of China - Tiananmen - Tian'anmen - 天安门 - "Gate of Heavenly Peace" - Famous monument in Beijing
Tian'anmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate (literally, Gate of Heavenly Peace) located to its north, separating it from the Forbidden City. Since it was enlarged four times its original size in the 1950s, Tiananmen Square became the largest city square in the world (440,000 m² - 880m by 500m). It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history.
I know that this place must have been captured 100000000 times but this particular shot was near impossble to get as I got to Beijing during national October holiday when everybody has a week off and many people use this time to travel within China. I have to say that I've never seen so many people on the streets in my entire life. As I like to have places for myself, it was my living nightmare, especially when I got to Tiananmen Square and I didnt know why there were thousands people waiting for something to happen on the square and nobody was moving anywhere. Hardly anybody speaks english in China, therefore it took me long time to find out that I have to wait for the national flag to go down. It is event that happens everyday before sunset and so many people for whatever reason love to watch it even from very far distance. Luckily I still managed to push myself through those thousands of people to get in time in front of this gate just when the light was changing. No time for tripod with this shot.. but I'm still happy to have it as part of my portfolio.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens: EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM; Focal length: 35.00 mm; Aperture: 16; Exposure time: 5.0 s; ISO: 100
All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova - www.luciedebelkova.com
All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Tags: China Chinese The People's Republic of China PRC Central Asia Far East East Asia country Beijing Peking Tiananmen Square world exploration trip vacation holiday place destination location journey tour touring tourism tourist travel traveling visit visiting sight sightseeing illuminate illuminated illumination night night time long exposure evening light lights dawn dusk twilight wonderful fantastic awesome stunning beautiful breathtaking incredible lovely nice best perfect www.luciedebelkova.com lucie debelkova lucie debelkova photography
© All Rights Reserved
Join me @ Facebook | Twitter | 500px | Instagram | YouTube
* * * * * *
Asia - China - North China - Beijing - Peking - 北京 - Forbidden City - UNESCO World Heritage Site - Chinese imperial palace complex from Ming Dynasty up Qing Dynasty - Palace Museum - China’s largest & best-preserved collection of ancient buildings - Aerial View from Jingshan Imperial Park - Gate of Divine Prowess - 神武门 - Northernmost Palace Gate offering typical architecture with columns & 2 roofs
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
Less usual view of Forbidden Palace, I was waiting for the lights to come up over palaces of Forbidden City after sunset, however only the main gate was lit with not very strong light. I had to set much more sensitive setting to get more colors out of the Forbidden city.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM; Focal length: 127.00 mm; Aperture: 7.1; Exposure time: 30.0 s; ISO: 320
All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova - www.luciedebelkova.com
All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Tags: China Chinese The People's Republic of China PRC Beijing Peking Capital city Central Asia Far East East Asia country world exploration trip vacation holiday place destination location journey tour touring tourism tourist travel traveling visit visiting sight sightseeing water waterscape wasser agua mare ancient monument ancient times ancient civilisation ancient civilization ancient culture archaeological archaeology archeological archeology architecture attraction building building exterior cultural cultural heritage culture cultured illuminate illuminated illumination night night time long exposure evening light lights dawn dusk twilight wonderful www.luciedebelkova.com lucie debelkova lucie debelkova photography
© All Rights Reserved
Join me @ Facebook | Twitter | 500px | Instagram | YouTube
* * * * * *
Xi'an - 西安 - Xī'ān - the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. As one of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty. Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having held that position under several of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang. Xi'an is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army
The fortifications of Xi'an, an ancient capital of China, represent one of the oldest and best preserved Chinese city walls. Construction of the first city wall of Chang'an began in 194 BCE and lasted for four years. That wall measured 25.7 km in length, 12–16 m in thickness at the base. The area within the wall was ca. 36 km². The existing wall was started by the Ming Dynasty in 1370. It encircles a much smaller city of 14 km². The wall measures 13.7 km in circumference, 12 m in height, and 15–18 m in thickness at the base.
Since the ancient weapons did not have the power to break through a wall and the only way for an enemy to enter the city was by attacking the gate of the city wall. This is why complicated gate structures were built within the wall. In Xian, the city wall includes four gates and they are respectively named as Changle (meaning eternal joy) in the east, Anding (harmony peace) in the west, Yongning (eternal peace) in the south and Anyuan (forever harmony) in the north. The south gate, Yongning, is the most beautifully decorated one. It is very near to the Bell Tower, center of the city. Important greeting ceremonies organized by the Provincial Government are usually held in the south gate square.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens: EF17-40mm f/4L USM; Focal length: 17.00 mm; Aperture: 22; Exposure time: 25.0 s; ISO: 100
All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova - www.luciedebelkova.com
All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Tags: Xian China Chinese The People's Republic of China PRC Central Asia Far East East Asia world exploration trip vacation holiday place destination location journey tour touring tourism tourist travel traveling visit visiting sight sightseeing illuminate illuminated illumination night night time long exposure evening light lights wonderful fantastic awesome stunning beautiful breathtaking incredible lovely nice best perfect photography photo image shot foto
© All Rights Reserved
Join me @ Facebook | Twitter | 500px | Instagram | YouTube
* * * * * *
Asia - China - North China - Beijing - Peking - 北京 - Forbidden City - UNESCO World Heritage Site - Forbidden City Walls with Corner Tower - Palace defensive & retaining walls - 7.9 metres (26 ft) high city walls & 6 metres (20 ft) deep by 52 metres (171 ft) wide moat - Night
Beihai Park - 北海公園 is an imperial garden to the northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Built in the 10th century, it is amongst the largest of Chinese gardens, and contains numerous historically important structures, palaces and temples. Prior to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 this area was connected to the Forbidden City, but since 1925 it has been open to the public.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens: EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM; Focal length: 24.00 mm; Aperture: 5.6; Exposure time: 30.0 s; ISO: 160
All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova - www.luciedebelkova.com
All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Tags: Beijing China Chinese The People's Republic of China PRC Central Asia Far East East Asia world exploration trip vacation holiday place destination location journey tour touring tourism tourist travel traveling visit visiting sight sightseeing illuminate illuminated illumination night night time long exposure evening light lights wonderful fantastic awesome stunning beautiful breathtaking incredible lovely nice best perfect photography photo image shot foto
© All Rights Reserved