One passes through a series of gates when progressing north through the Forbidden City. To the non Chinese scholar, they "Gates" tend to look the same. This is the Duanman Gate which leads one to the various temples. This space between Duanman Gate and Tiananmen Gate was filled with hawkers peddling everything souvenirs. Little did we know this was going to be the norm at the various sites we visited.

© E. Shatara, 2005