Beijing's Forbidden City offers endless inspiration for documentation, home to Ming and Qing Dynasty royal families hundreds of years ago. Recently, a new series called "Forbidden City 100" on CCTV 9 Documentary Channel has received favorable acclaims for its unique perspective and production, attracting even more visitors to the historic site.

The documentary series is comprised of 100 mini-episodes, each 6 minutes long. Each tells a different story, explaining the history of various parts of the city, aspects which usually go ignored. The shows answer questions like, 'why are there six golden pillars in Taihe Palace?', or 'what's the meaning of the axis that the Forbidden City and all of Beijing have been built around?'

Wang Zilin, the researcher of Forbidden City, said:" It is a micro-record of the Forbidden City, focusing on the tiniest and most ignored details. And they keep track of that one after another."

The same team produced the documentary series "Palace Museum" in 2005. Their shows continue to boost tourism in the capital city.

One visitor said:" It is the TV show that brought us here from Guangzhou. There are seven of us. After watching the documentary we wanted to see what the Forbidden City was really like and experience it for ourselves. It’s really good."

The show sheds light on some areas of the Forbidden City never shown on TV before.

The first series began on January 1st, 2012. The second season starts airing on Saturday.

[source:CNTV]