Beijing’s Forbidden City Virtual Tour, Bring You Back to 364 Year Ago

Posted by Jerry Ong |

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Oct 19

The Virtual Forbidden City: Beyond Space and Time is a partnership between the Palace Museum and IBM. The goal of the project is to provide the means for a world-wide audience to celebrate and explore aspects of Chinese culture and history.

The Second Life alike virtual social networking will let you learn more about China Qing’s Dynasty history without travel to The Forbidden City located at Beijing, China.

Introduction of Forbidden City Virtual Tour

The Virtual Forbidden City is a 3-dimensional virtual world where visitors from around the world can experience the Forbidden City in Beijing. You can explore the magnificent palace as it was during the Qing dynasty, which ruled from 1644 until 1912, the end of the Imperial period in China.

The Forbidden City was created to embody the idea of the emperor as the center of the universe, and to evoke a visceral sense of his power. This huge palace complex was completed in 1420 and covers more than 72 hectares (178 acres). It contains hundreds and hundreds of exquisite buildings and historic artifacts. Now, using virtual world technology, you can experience the awe inspired by this vast and amazing space. And rather than experiencing its wonders in isolation, the Virtual Forbidden City allows you to see and interact with other users and a range of helpful automated characters. As you explore the Virtual Forbidden City, you can choose to simply observe the buzz of activity, or you can take tours and participate in activities that provide insights into important aspects of Qing culture.

Explore Forbidden City

The Virtual Forbidden City provides several tools to aid in your exploration, although your own sense of curiosity will always serve you best. During your visit you will be represented within the Virtual Forbidden City by a figure known as an avatar. Your avatar can take the form of any of several people dressed in Qing era clothing. Registered users can select any of the available avatars and your choice will be saved for future visits.

Learn Forbidden City

As you explore, there are many ways to gain a deeper understanding of the things that you encounter. Many of the most impressive artifacts and buildings have additional information and even photos available to provide a deeper understanding of their purpose and construction - when available, the information is only a mouse-click away. To get an even closer look at the intricate details of select items, you can virtually hold a copy of them in your hands.

Save and Share

While exploring a place as large as the Virtual Forbidden City, you’re likely to encounter more wonderful things than you can remember. Just as you record memories of any place that you visit, registered users of the Virtual Forbidden City can save photos, places and items that they’ve enjoyed. Once saved, they can be revisited as often as you like and even shared with friends. There’s a thriving online community featuring a photo gallery where, if you choose, your pictures taken within the Virtual Forbidden City will be available for all to see.

Free Register and Download

You can register free account with select desire avatar and download the virtual Forbidden City Software to start become a citizen of Forbidden City.

via [The Forbidden City]

Share and Enjoy:

Ervin Ter on October 20th, 2008 10:56 am

Kind of lively, second life but in chinese version focusing on China old days. Nice stuff!
Jerry Ong on October 20th, 2008 6:41 pm

Ya, it also help potential tourist to learn more about Forbidden City before they travel