Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming
dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty, the years 1420 to 1912. It is
located in the centre of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace
Museum. The Forbidden City (also called Zijin Cheng) is a 72-hectare (178 acres) palace complex in Beijing that was used by the emperors of China from A.D. 1420 to 1911.
Totally, 24 emperors occupied the Forbidden City, so named because it could only be accessed by the emperor, his immediate family, his women and thousands of eunuchs (castrated male servants) and officials. It was renovated constantly throughout its 600-year history.
The palace complex consists of about 980 buildings, mainly in yellow and red colors, surrounded by a wall 32 feet (10 meters) high and a moat 171 feet (52 meters) wide. The city is configured on a north-south axis that aligns with the pole star, emphasizing the emperor’s position as the son of heaven. “The whole palace context is built along a central axis, the axis of the world,” said University of Sydney professor Jeffrey Riegel in a 2008 BBC/History Channel documentary, “everything in the four directions suspend from this central point represented by these palaces. Forbidden City is, today, a major tourist destination attracting millions of visitors each year and become one of World Heritage destination in the world.
Forbidden City, Beijing, China
