Standing on the city walls of Yuan Dynasty Dadu,Marco Polo was lost in admiration and wonder. Within the high walls and deep courtyards of the princely residences, many conspiracies were hatched. The lanes of the city might be stepped on by the imperial wedding procession. And then there were the hap-penings within that famous imperial palace - the For-bidden City - where emperors and concubines lived lives of luxury, where crises hid under splendor, am-bition couched beneath respect, where much evil happened, but where everlasting love was also born.
This city and its buildings - its palaces, gardens,temples and imperial tombs - silently tell a host of tales of emperors and their empresses.