Chairman Mao `faced south, just as any emperior of yore would, on declaring his dominion from the Gate of Heavenly
Peace in 1949. But supersition, it is said, stopped him from ever stepping foot inside the Forbidden city
itself. The Son of Heavens`s old digs really sparkle under a winter dusting of snow and are equally as impressive at night.
stroll around the ghostly moat the outer yard at the Wuman Gate. The walls of the `Purple Forbidden City`, as it is alternatively
known, are `pig`s liver red`. The bricks are of white lime and glutinous rice and there are egg white in the cement.