Shenyang is another traditional Chinese city that has embarked on a path of incredible technological progress and economic development. Although the city is located almost on the border, this distance from the center does not affect the popularity of Shenyang. Nowadays crowds of tourists come there. In the old days, there was the residence of the Emperor. The beautiful Mukden Palace was emptied after Beijing became the capital of the Middle Kingdom. The imperial family and all the subjects left the spacious halls and went to the Forbidden City.

The Mukden Palace is love at first sight. It combines both Chinese traditions and local sophistication, elegance, and a certain mystery. It is immediately clear that ordinary people did not live there – it was the place of the very first emperors of China, representatives of the Qing dynasty.

The exterior of the palace combines elements of Manchu, Tibetan, and Chinese architecture. It was built in 1625 and rebuilt a few years later. At first, the palace was not so rich, it was more like a group of yurts. However, now you can endlessly move from one courtyard to another, admire the masterfully made Imperial golden throne made of ebony, take photos with huge bronze turtles.

Not only the Imperial family lived in the palace. There was a separate wing for officials, representatives of the chancellery. Moreover, the building with golden roofs housed the Imperial library with the rarest books of that time. The work of the Emperor himself and all information about him was stored in a separate building.

From the throne room, you can follow the Emperor's footsteps to the tower called «Phoenix». You can see the huge city dotted with skyscrapers. To do this you just need to cross several courtyards and climb up.

After a few hours of walking around the territory of the Mukden Palace, having explored all the buildings, corridors, bas-reliefs, and wood carvings – you start to feel like a member of the Imperial family.