Salt Rates Palace
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The Salt Rates Palace or Manchu Imperial Palace was a temporary official Manchu government residence, provided by Japanese authorities for the Kangde Emperor and his cabinet in Hsinking, while a Japanese engineering company built an official palace. (The Manchu authorities in the end did not use the new official palace.) It was an old local government establishment for the collection of taxes on cooking salt and mayoral administration.
This Russian-style edification is one of the oldest great brick mansions, with square pointed roofs and laid out as one great building surrounded by high walls. It contains two to three stories, each with many rooms. The principal and central room on the first floor is the Audience Room, which was the official meeting room. In this room the Kangde Emperor met with the native Manchu government and the official Japanese government, managing the state affairs, presenting official laws and agreements, and placing the Manchu Imperial Seal on all decrees.
Among the objects in this room are the Manchukuo Throne, various pieces of furniture, some Imperial Manchu crown jewels, Imperial and national flags, some dresses and uniforms, and other official items. Also in this room, up high behind the Manchu throne, there still exists one "vitral" representing the Manchu coat of arms, consisting of one great vitreous colored five point star, with different colors representing all the native "races" in the country: Manchu (red), Chinese (yellow), Mongol (blue), Japanese (white) and Korean (black). In a special display case is the Independence Declaration of Manchu and Mongol Peoples, the official "native" declaration of the independence of the country.
This building was the home of the Kangde Emperor, the court and the native government for 14 years, until August, 1945. In more recent times, the "Salt Rates Palace" was converted by the Chinese government to use as a geology school, leaving only the Audience Room, which was converted into a small historical museum.
