The Palace Museum

The Palace Museum, also called the Forbidden City, is located in the center of Beijing। The imperial palace used by emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is the largest and most complete ancient wooden-strucure building complex in the world. Construction of the Forbidden City started in 1406 and lasted 14 years. Twenty-four emperors were enthroned there.

The Palace Museum, historically and artistically one of the most comprehensive Chinese museums, was established on the foundation of the palace that was the ritual center of two dynasties, the Ming and the Qing, and their collections of treasures. Designated by the State Council as one of China's foremost protected monuments in 1961, the Palace Museum was also made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

Situated at the heart of Beijing, the Palace Museum is approached through Tiananmen Gate. Immediately to the north of the Palace Museum is Prospect Hill (also called Coal Hill), while on the east and west are Wangfujing and Zhongnanhai neighborhoods. It is a location endowed with cosmic significance by ancient China's astronomers. Correlating the emperor's abode, which they considered the pivot of the terrestrial world, with the Pole Star (Ziweiyuan), which they believed to be at the center of the heavens, they called the palace The Purple Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was built from 1406 to 1420 by the third Ming emperor Yongle who, upon usurping the throne, determined to move his capital north from Nanjing to Beijing. In 1911 the Qing dynasty fell to the republican revolutionaries. The last emperor, Puyi, continued to live in the palace after his abdication until he was expelled in 1924. Twenty-four emperors lived and ruled from this palace during this 500-year span.Nowadays, it is open to tourists home and abroad as a palace museum where people can see the great traditional palace architecture, enjoy the treasures kept in the palace, and learn of the legends and anecdotes about the imperial family and the court. Splendid paintings on the royal architectures, grand and deluxe halls, and surprisingly magnificent treasures will certainly satisfy "modern civilians".