Jingshan hill

Behind this gate rises Jǐngshān, a hill that nature did not make. Behind you is Shenwumen, the north gate of the Forbidden City. Its name, “Gate of Divine Might”, dates from the reign of the Kangxi Emperor: the earlier name, Xuanwumen, was changed to avoid writing a character from his own name.

1A made-to-measure mountain

When the palace was built, earth dug out of the moat was used to enlarge a small rise that already stood here. According to Chinese geomancy, a palace needed a mountain to the north to shield it from winds and bad influences. Under the Ming it was called the “Mountain of Ten Thousand Years” and also “Coal Hill”. In 1655 it was given the name Jingshan.

2The end of a dynasty

On 25 April 1644, as Li Zicheng's rebels were entering Beijing, the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, climbed this hill and hanged himself from a tree on its eastern slope. The Qing, who took the city a few weeks later, put that tree in chains as “guilty”.

The tree pointed out today on the east slope is a replacement: the original disappeared in the 20th century.

In the mid-18th century the Qianlong Emperor had the five pavilions built along the ridge. From the central one, the Wanchun Pavilion, you can see the whole palace: a sea of yellow roofs, north to south, lined up with the city's axis.

3What to look for

• Shenwumen, behind you, with its plaque above the central arch.
• The five pavilions crowning the hill.
• The central pavilion, at the highest point of old Beijing.