The Forbidden City
Beijing China
2014

Hall of Preserving Harmony Dragons at Forbidden City in Beijing, China

Leading up to the Hall of Preserving Harmony is a dual staircase. In the center are elaborate carvings of dragons frolicking with pearl, a symbol of good luck and protector of the throne. Pairs of dragons also represent God and the emperor. This 250 ton slab measures over 54 feet long. The marble-like stone used throughout the Forbidden City was from a quarry at Mount Fang (Fang Shan) over 40 miles away. Each slab was arduously carried to the site by laborers using work animals and then carved by hundreds of artisans.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City

The Forbidden City is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing.

https://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/forbidden-city/

To represent the supreme power of the emperor, given from Heaven, and the place where he lived being the center of the world, all the important gates and halls of the Forbidden City were arranged symmetrically on the north-south central axis of old Beijing.

Heaven was thought to be Polaris (the North Star), the only seemingly stationary star in the northern sky, and the Forbidden City's layout points its visitors straight at "Heaven".

The Forbidden City is the largest and most complete complex of ancient wooden structures in the world.