A Chinese imperial palace in use by the Ming Dynasty all the way to the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Forbidden City is considered the world's largest palace complex. Built between 1406 and 1420, the complex includes 980 buildings, 8707 bays of rooms, and covers an area 720,000 square meters in size. Over 100,000 workers and artisans were involved in the construction of the site. The pillars of the important halls were made of whole logs, the grand terraces and stone carvings taken from quarries near Beijing, and the halls were paved with golden bricks - smooth clay bricks that ring with a metallic sound. The Forbidden City is enclosed in a larger walled area, called the Imperial City, as well as a 6 metre deep and 52 metre wide moat.

The palace is broken down into two parts - the southern section, which is the other courts where the emperor performed his ceremonial duties, and the northern section, known as the inner courts, where the royal family lived.

From the entranceway through Meridian Gate, you enter a large square bisected by the Inner Golden Water River, which can be crossed by 5 bridges. beyond that, is the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which is the largest of the halls, rising 30 metres in height. Other halls in the square include the Hall of Preserving Harmony, and the Hall of Central Harmony, as well as the halls of Military Eminence and Literal Glory.

The Inner Court also, features a number of three halls - the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union, and the Hall of Earthly Tranquility.

Overall, the city was designed to reflect philosophical and religious principles. Symbolic designs include the use of yellow to represent the colour of the Emperor, the use of groups of three, and the layout of the buildings in following with the Classic of Rites.

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Last edited on Mar 24, 10 1:43 PM.
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May K.

Nov 9, 2008

It's the biggest palace in the world. It was called Forbidden City because people weren't allowed to come near the Emperor. 1 million persons built this city in 60 years. It has 9,999 rooms. The bases are made of wood. Each basis is made of one tree. they didn't use nails to join them, they just used wood.
It is divided into two parts: The southern section, where the emperor exercised his power; the northern section, or the Inner Court where the royal family lived.
An Emperor used to have 2000 concubines. In front of the concubines' palace there's a lion sculpture with bended ears, for women weren't supposed to hear or know anything about politics.
In front of the palaces there are carved stones, one of them weighs 200 tons and it took 2 years to drag it (8 km) to the city.

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Brian G.

Jan 15, 2012

Impressive place!! The palace is huge. Seen nothing like it. It's a must see for anyone coming to Beijing.

Make sure you allow several hours. Got lost a few times in the alleyways though - which was fine because that meant I spent an entire day wandering around. 8)

However avoid visiting during the public holidays - unless you like very large crowds and very long queues. Also the pickpockets tend to be more active in large crowds.

Also if you are going alone or if no one in your group reads Chinese, then make sure you take an English commentary (guidebook or audio) - as lot of the exhibits are titled in Chinese and you won't know as much of story behind the buildings & displays.

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Nath M.

Feb 27, 2010

C'était en 1985,au tout début de l'ouverture de la Chine.
Nous avions un guide:l'œil de Moscou !!!!!!!!
J'y suis restée un mois,du Sud au Nord et du Nord au Sud.
Pays fantastique?
C'était en plein hiver et nous avions jusqu'à 640 sur la grande Muraille.
Je me souviens aussi d'avoir patiné sur le lac gelé du palais d'été.
Je me souviens de notre remontée sur le Nord en minibus,bloquée par la neige,et "débloquée"par les militaires.Le train local jusqu'à"à Beejing,la cité interdite(peu de touristes encore à cette époque),l'opéra,la ville en elle-même,ses habitants d'une gentillesse extrême.........

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Richard K.

Jun 3, 2008

I was most excited about seeing the Great Wall, but where I went it was very touristy and crowded. Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City absolutely exceeded my expectations. The grandness of scale, the delicate ornation of design... color me impressed. I had not seen a great cityscape like I envisioned Paris, Rome or Cairo before, but the view from the highest point in the middle of the Forbidden City sent me back in time 1,000 years. See "The Last Emperor" when the child emperor comes out from beneath these huge drapes...

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Alma A.

Aug 11, 2010

It was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the political center of the Chinese government. The Forbidden City is the world's largest palace complex and covers more than 70 hectares. It was said that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans were driven into the long-term hard labor. Since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant color in the Forbidden City.

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