Forbidden City is located at the heart of Beijing. Forbidden City was the imperial palace of the consecutive dynasties, Ming and Qing from 1300s to the 1900s. Forbidden City is now known as the Palace Museum and contains many magnificent architectural complex, paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, and antiquities. It is one of the most prestigious museums in China and the world. Ancient China’s astronomers endowed this location with cosmic significance. They correlated the emperor’s abode, which they considered the pivot of the terrestrial world, with Ziwei yuan which is the Pole Star which is believed to be the center of the Heavens. This was why it was named the Forbidden City. It was built by the third emperor of the Ming dynasty, the Yongle Emperor. 200 years later, the Ming dynasty fell and was replaced by the Manchu Qing dynasty in 1644. In the six hundred years of imperial operation, the palace has served as the residence and court of twenty-four emperors.

The Forbidden City is surrounded by 10meter high walls and a 52meter wide moat. Measuring 961 meters from north to south and 753 meters from east to west, the complex covers an area of 1,120,000 square meters. Each side of the rectangular city has a gate.

Known as the Outer Court, the southern portion of the Forbidden City features three main halls – the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Central Harmony, and Hall of Preserving Harmony. The Outer Court was the venue for the emperor’s court and grand audiences.

Mirroring this arrangement is the Inner Court, which is the northern portion of the Forbidden City. The Palace of Heavenly Purity, Hall of Union, and Palace of Earthly Tranquility lie upon the central axis. The Six Eastern Palaces and the Six Western Palaces are private imperial residences found on their respective sides of the main axis. Other major buildings in the Inner Court include the Hall for Abstinence and Hall of Sincere Solemnity in the east and the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Belvedere of Raining Flowers, and Palace of Compassion and Tranquility in the west. The Inner Court is not only comprised of the residences of the emperor and his consorts but also venues for religious rituals and administrative activities.