Jing Shan, or Prospect Hill, is an artificial hill rising right above the Forbidden City. That place runs through the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Now the emperors are long gone, but the hill still stands, watching over the remnants of a lost empire.

When talked about Jiang Shan, an emperor's story must be told: Chong Zhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who hanged himself at one of the trees on the last day of his reign.

Chong Zhen should have been a good emperor on almost every account. Smart, kind and assiduous, he had the ambition to revive the empire. But the 260-year-old dynasty was already dying when he came to throne.

The rebellion overran the south, invaders slashed in north, while famine and floods across the country pulled the last trigger, leaving hundreds of thousands of people dead. In the end the rebels besieged the Forbidden City, he knew it was over and ended his life in dishonor.

Chong Zhen must have had a lot to say in the last moment, but said only one thing. Before he died, he wrote a line on his dragon gown: "Enemy, do anything you want onto me, but leave my people alone".

Walk anticlockwise at the foot of the hill for a short while, and you will stumble upon two stone tablets and a twisted locust tree among a heap of rocks - this is where Emperor Chong Zhen hanged himself.

On top of Jiang Shan, the Forbidden City extends colorfully right under my eyes: yellows for the roof tiles, reds for the walls. People around me were in awe at the panoramic view of the biggest palace complex in the world.