Forbidden City (Chinese: 紫禁城 pinyin: Zǐjinchéng), also known as the Palace Museum, was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing Emperors. It served as a home for the emperors and their families, a ceremonial hall, and political hub for Chinese rule.
Located at the center of Beijing, China, the Forbidden City is definitely worth seeing when traveling to Beijing. This rectangular-shaped palace is 3,153 ft (961 meters) long and 2,470 ft (753 meters) wide. There are 980 buildings with 8,704 rooms in total here. It took over 230,000 artists and over 1 million civilians to build this palace.
The Forbidden City name in Chinese is Zǐjinchéng which means “Purple Forbidden City”. In ancient China, purple was the symbolic color of the North Star. This is where they …show more content…
The front court is where the emperor went to deal with state affairs and is by far the most impressive part of the palace. The Inner Court was the residential area of the royal family.
The palace is surrounded by 33 ft (10 meter) high walls. At each of the four corners of the palace stand a three-story watchtower. There are four gates to the palace: Meridian Gate (south), Gate of Divine Pride (north), East Flowery Gate (east), and the West Flowery Gate (west).
Best Places to see in the Outer Court
Meridian Gate
The Meridian Gate was completed along with the palace in 1420. It is the front gate of the Forbidden City. Large and magnificent ceremonies took place here, as well as public punishment of high officials.
Forbidden City Palace Museum 紫禁城 Meridian Gate Beijing China
The Meridian Gate has five openings; three in the middle, and one on each side. This design is called “visible three, hidden five”. The emperor was the only one who could enter through the middle (with a few exceptions), while the other middle openings were for high government officials and royal