LatestCourtney DittmarSeptember 02, 2024Vincent ThianComment

Beijing’s imperial palace bustles with throngs of visitors in Qing dynasty costumes

LatestCourtney DittmarSeptember 02, 2024Vincent ThianComment

In Beijing’s Forbidden City, once the sprawling palace to China’s Ming and Qing emperors and their legions of guards and servants, steady streams of visitors wearing historical costumes pose for portraits, in a fashion of centuries gone by.

It’s a phenomenon seen around heritage sites across China, inspired by comic book conventions and the Japanese passion for cosplay, but with additional nationalistic and cultural dimensions.

Chinese dressed in Qing Dynasty attire stand at a business building that provides one stop service for the traditional look in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Chinese women dressed in Qing Dynasty attire stands for photographs near the Forbidden city in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A Chinese woman walks dressed in Qing Dynasty attire with Manchu platform shoes near the Forbidden city in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A Chinese woman dressed in Qing Dynasty attire wipes her sweat while posing for photographs near the Forbidden city in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Though the historical veracity of the frocks and cloaks may not be guaranteed, they draw their inspiration from Chinese painting, theater and art, especially that of the Qing, China’s last dynasty that was known for its relative prosperity and cultural advances through trade in silk and porcelain.

During this time, China expanded its empire and its art and paintings flourished, as did clothing and textiles. Men and women wore full length elaborately embroidered silk robes and women wore hairpieces encrusted with flowers, pearls and gemstones.

The Qing fell in 1911 and following decades of warfare, power was seized by the Communist Party, which sought to grind out all vestiges of China’s imperial past.

With the abandonment in recent years of hard-core Maoism and rising prosperity, it is now common to see whole families decked out in Qing Dynasty garb, some of which is homemade, others rented from vendors at photo shoots who will also provide help with hairstyles and makeup.

A Chinese girl gets her hair done up at a business building that provides one stop service for the Qing Dynasty traditional look, in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A Chinese woman dressed in Qing Dynasty attire with a fingernail guard takes photographs near the Forbidden city in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A Chinese woman dressed in Qing Dynasty attire and headdress stands for a photograph at Beihai park in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A Chinese girl dressed in Qing Dynasty attire stands for photographs near the Forbidden city in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Chinese children dressed in Qing Dynasty royal attire stands for photographs at Beihai park in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Chinese dressed in Qing Dynasty attire walk at Beihai park in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A Chinese girl dressed in Qing Dynasty attire stands for a photograph near the Forbidden city in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Chinese women dressed in Qing Dynasty attire at the Forbidden city in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Popular historical TV dramas and the rise of social media have fed the craze, and while they don’t involve battle reenactments like those popular in the U.S. and Europe, they reflect a growing respect for China’s history in the centuries before the communist takeover. Some participants base their looks on characters from novels, plays and poems going back centuries.

Throngs of people gather along the walls and a scenic moat surrounding the former palace — now a museum that is resplendent in weeping willows and turning colors during the late summer and early fall. Both professional and amateur photographers shop their samples to families and couples. Others in imperial dress take turns with their phone cameras. A group of students from the elite Tsinghua University celebrated their end of semester with a costume photo.

Despite the sweltering Beijing summer heat, families, friends and couples pose with a smile, sweat dripping down foreheads. It’s a serious affair, necessitating the right pose, the perfect prop and the ideal camera angle. And when everything is in place, they slip back in time — feeling like royalty and fulfilling a fantasy — however briefly with others like them living otherwise ordinary lives.