Roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, at the Forbidden City, Beijing.

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Roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, at the Forbidden City, Beijing. Many Imperial buildings have roof figures such as these, but only a few have as many as this. The number confirms that this was a building of the highest importance. At the rear of the procession is the Imperial Dragon, representing the power of the Chinese state. Immediately in front of the dragon is an immortal guardian, a human figure which only appears on buildings of high importance. At the head of the procession is a man riding a phoenix. He is said to be a minion of the emperor and the nine mythical beasts following him are all ensuring that he does his job properly and fairly

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Size: 4000px × 2649px
Location: Beijing, China
Photo credit: © Paul Martin / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

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