Here are some more of the beautiful details from the Shenyang palace. I love the intricate carvings -- all done by hand, long before electric jigsaws!
Unfortunately, the entire place is exposed to the elements -- as well as tourists' fingers (as we saw a few posts back), flash bulbs, and other destructive substances. Amazingly, flash photography is not prohibited anywhere that I'm aware of inside the Palace Museum.
Still, some lovely painted woodwork has survived. These scenes are painted on the beams under the eaves outside two of the buildings. The first one was near the front gate, so I presume it may represent a visiting dignitary being greeted.
These birds were painted under a kind of pagoda in the far back of the palace, in what might have been some sort of flower garden.
As I'm enjoying the palace scenery, I have to realize that the standards of authenticity are maybe not the same as they might be in the States. Looking in the window of an ancient storage room, I saw the following spare parts. They look authentic enough, and they probably are patterned after the original decorative elements, but I'm sure they are quite recently minted.
As I post more pics from the Shenyang palace, I'll try to include only photos of parts that seem authentic.
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