Inside the Dazheng Hall 大政殿

Throne Room in the Dazheng Hall 大政殿

Throne Room in the Dazheng Hall 大政殿

I was quite fortunate that the imperial Palace in Shenyang doesn’t have the hordes of tourists which its more famous brother, the Forbidden City, has. As a result, I can take my time to explore the palace grounds without worrying about chasing tour groups or a lot of people getting in the way. If only all Chinese sights were like this. The Imperial Palace in Sheyang lost its spot as the imperial palace when the Qing moved their capital to Beijing where most of the palace development continued. Although Emperors Huang Taiji and Qianlong continued to develop the palace, it is nowhere near as grand and as elaborate as its Beijing counterpart.

Blurry Photo of the Ceiling of the Dazheng Hall 大政殿

Blurry Photo of the Ceiling of the Dazheng Hall 大政殿

The Dazheng Hall served as the palace of Nurhachi when the imperial palace was still here in Shenyang. Shenyang itself had undergone several name changes from Mukden, its original Manchurian name, to Shengjing 盛京 to Shenyang. This is why the Shenyang Imperial Palace is also called the Mukden Palace. The interiors of the Dazheng Hall reminded me of the interiors of the much larger Temple of Heaven in Beijing. In this case, the Dzheng Hall has a throne for the emperor. It was quite dark inside and difficult to make out the details in the roof.

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