Forbidden City  -- General introduction

Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall are 9,999 rooms. The wall has a gate on each side. Opposite the Tiananmen Gate, to the north is the Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen), which faces Jingshan Park. The distance between these two gates is 960 meters, while the distance between the gates in the east and west walls is 750 meters. There are unique and delicately structured towers on each of the four corners of the curtain wall. These afford views over both the palace and the city outside. 

The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Until 1924 when the last emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here. Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries, it houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities. Listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions world-wide.

History

The Forbidden City, situated in the very heart of Beijing, was home to 24 emperors of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) Dynasties. The construction of the grand palace started in the fourth year of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1406), and ended in 1420. In ancient times, the emperor claimed to be the son of Heaven, and therefore Heaven’s supreme power was bestowed upon him. The emperors’ residence on earth was built as a replica of the Purple Palace where God was thought to live in Heaven. Such a divine place was certainly forbidden to ordinary people and that is why the Forbidden City is so named. Originally called Zijin Cheng ('Purple Forbidden City'), in China now it is usually called Gugong ,the 'Former/Old Palace'.

Features

The Forbidden City covers an area of about 72 hectares (178 acres) with a total floor space of approximately 150,000 square meters (1,600,000 square feet). It consists of 90 palaces and courtyards, 980 buildings and 8,704 rooms. To represent the supreme power of the emperor given from God, and the place where he lived being the center of the world, all the gates, palace and other structures of the Forbidden City were arranged about the south-north central axis of Beijing.

For security the Forbidden City is enclosed by a 10 meter high city wall, which has a circumference of 3, 430 meters. At each corner of the Forbidden City, there stands a magnificent watchtower, which was heavily guarded in the past. Around the city there is a moat as the first line of defense. See Forbidden City Map.

Forbidden City Guided Tour

Any tour of Beijing would be incomplete without a visit to the Forbidden City. See the range of tours offered at China Highlights.

Entrance

Most travelers enter the Forbidden City through Tian'anmen, the Gate of Heavenly Peace. Through the gate, across an expansive brick-paved square, you will reach the main entrance to the palace, Meridian Gate (Wumen in Chinese).  Meridian Gate was the place where the Emperor announced the new lunar calendar on the winter solstice.  Enter through Meridian Gate, and go across Golden Stream Bridge, then you will arrive at the outer court. The Forbidden City falls into two parts: the outer court and the inner palaces.

How to Get to there?

1) Take the subway Line one and get off at Tian An Men Xi or Tian An Men Dong 2) Take Tourist Bus No. 1 or No. 5 and get off at Qian Men 3) Other Buses that passes by are 特1,特2,特4、特7、1、2、4、5、7、8、9、10、11、17、20、22、31、34、37、44、48、52、53、54、59、110、120、205、329支、329、509、703、726、728、729、742、744、784、803、808、819、820、821、826支、826、848、859 and 922. One may take these buses and drop at Qianmen or Tiananmen