Forbidden City

The Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty (1420-1912). It served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government for almost 500 years.

Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,886 bays of rooms. The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere.

Today, the Forbidden City houses the Palace Museum with an extensive collection of artwork and artifacts from the imperial collections. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.