Brief Introduction:
The Forbidden City, also called Gugong in Chinese, is the largest palace building in which exists numbers of Chinese traditional buildings that presents Chinese ancient styles of architecture and history and culture.

The Forbidden City is situated in the center of Beijing City and near the Tiannamen Square. The whole city covers the area of 74 hectares. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall are 9,999 rooms. The wall has a gate on each side. To the north is the Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen), which faces Jingshan Park. The distance between these two gates is 960 meters, while the distance between the gates in the east and west walls is 750 meters. The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family.

As the imperial palace, there were once fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here. Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries, The Forbidden City has houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities. Ans it was listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987.

This remarkable architectural edifice offers important historical testimony to the history of the Qing Dynasty and to the cultural traditions of the Manchu and other tribes in the north of China. This is truly the spot to appreciate the might and grandeur of the Imperial Chinese court during the height of its power in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Features
Masterpiece of ancient Chinese architecture
Forbidden City is the largest and well-preserved ancient architectures in China. The palace was built on the eight-kilometer south-north axis of Beijing city. Its southern gate, Tiananmen, faced directly toward the old city gates of Yongding, Zhengyang and Daming. Inside the Tiananmen were the palace gates of Duan and Wu.

The central axis passed through the palace´s outer and inner courts. Just outside the northern palace gate it is Jingshan (Coa.l Hill). Farther on are the Drum and Bell Towers in the far north of the city. Symmetrically arranged in the four corners of Beijing four temples were located¡ªthe Temple of Heaven in the south, of the Earth in the north, of the Sun in the east, and of the Moon in the west, the imperial palace was in the center of the four temples.

Precious collections of cultural and art objects
The largest museum in China, the palace Museum houses over a million paintings, objects, art made of jade, gold and silver, and other cultural and art treasures. Today the grand halls in the Outer Court, the Inner Court, the Yangxindian and the Six Western palaces contain objects from the different centuries of imperial ruler. Baohedian and the rooms on the two wings display artistic pieces.

There are nine other exhibition halls featuring bronzes, porcelains, hand-crafts and paintings of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Some of them are the only one collection all over the world.

Why it is must-see sight?
If you want to earn Chinese history and culture,or you want to experience the ancient life of emperors in Chinese history, here is the best place where concentrates most and typical historical knowledge.
The Fobidden City is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.