The Forbidden City was the imperial palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties, known as the Palace Museum. To many, many people, Beijing is an ancient capital city in the east world. Forbidden City is the right place for you to start your Beijing tour by unveiling its mysterious face.

The Forbidden City located in the centre of Beijing, covering an area of 72 hectares. It is rectangular in shape, 961 meters long from north to south and 753 meters wide from east to west. There are total 9999.5 rooms in the whole clmplex. The Forbidden City is the largest piece of ancient Chinese architecture still standing. Some of the buildings were damaged by lightning and rebuilt in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It had beed expanded several times, but the original layout was preserved.

Wear comfortable shoes as you have to walk a lot! We highly recommend going with a guide. It really is helpful to have a guide explain the stories behind the site and tell you about the important historical parts in the forbidden city. Or if you are non-group tourists, I suggest you rent multi lingual guide recorder either at Meridian Gate (southern gate of Forbidden city) or the Gate of Divine Prowess (northern gate of Forbidden City) and return it when you finish your tour of Forbidden City.