Bomb Shelter at the Puppet Emperor’s Palace 伪满洲皇宫

I was quite intruiged by the existence of a bomb shelter at the Puppet Emperor’s Palace in Changchun. The bomb shelter, as you may imagine, is for the emperor’s use whenever there is an air raid. This was a time of conflict and outright war so it was not surprising that a bomb shelter was built for such an important person like the emperor, not that the Japanese actually needed him. Anyway, the door to the bomb shelter was open and I wasn’t sure if people were allowed inside. My question was answered when three young Chinese entered the bomb shelter. Not wanting to explore the bomb shelter on my own, I followed them.

The bomb shelter goes down a flight of steps before terminating at a short hallway. The tunnel is lit up by a chain of yellow lights which gives the tunnel a kind of eerie glow. At the hallway, were several heavy doors which the emperor would be hiding in times of trouble. The doors looked like those used by banked and looked very heavy duty. No amount of gunfire will be able to penetrate that. As for the rooms themselves, it was too dark to see anything. And as my companions started to get out of the bomb shelter, I followed suit.

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