The Story of the REAL Yanxi Palace: A Cold Palace of the Forbidden City

Unlike its glamorous portrayal in dramas, the real Yanxi Palace was a marginalized \"cold palace\" for unfavored consorts. Plagued by frequent, unexplained fires and a peripheral location, it was a site of stagnation and misfortune until its attempted transformation into a Western-style \"Crystal Palace\" and its eventual modern resurgence as a popular tourist destination.