Forbidden city

Related tour: Beijing city private tours

Forbidden City is located in the center of Beijing ,It used to be the former Imperial Palace for the Ming and Qing emperors. It is the best-preserved imperial palace in China and the largest ancient palatial structure in the world .It covers an area of 72 hectares (178 acres) with a total floor space of about 163,000 square meters .It is rectangular in shape ,surrounded with a 10-meter high city wall and encircled by a 52-meter wide moat . At each corner of the surrounding wall ,there is a magnificent watchtower ,which was heavily guarded in the old days .Altogether 24 emperors lived and conducted state affairs in the Forbidden City for a total of 491 years.Fourteen of them were Ming emperors and ten were Qing emperors.

The Forbidden City can be divided into two parts :the Outer Court and the Inner Palace .The Outer Court consists of three main building ,This is the place where the emperors attended the grand ceremonies and conducted state affairs ; while the Inner Palace is composed of the rear three main buildings and the six eastern palaces and six western palaces ,and was the palace where the emperor used to handles daily affairs and it was the living quarters for the emperor ,empress and imperial concubines.

After 1911 Revolution led by Dr.sun-Yat-Sen , according to the 19 articles of the preferential treatment for the Qing court ,the last emperor Pu Yi and his royal family were still allowed to live in the inner court of the Forbidden City.They spent another 13 years in the Forbidden City ,until 1924, when they were driven out of the Palace.One year later, the whole complex was converted into a museum and opened to the public.

Now,the Forbidden city holds a great number of historical and clutural relics as well as precious works of art.It has already become a famous tourist attraction ,and every day there are thousands and thousands of tourists coming to visit the Forbidden City.

 Entrance fee and opening hours

Entrance ticket : RMB 40 from Nov. 1th to the next Mar. 31th

RMB 60 from Apr. 1th to Oct. 31th

Opening Hours : 8:30 am to 16:30 pm from Nov. 1th to the next Mar. 31th

8:30 am to 17:00 pm from Apr. 1th to Oct.31th

Recommended Time for a Visit: 2 hours