Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

The Forbidden City is the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing emperors in the centre of Beijing, directly north of Tiananmen Square, and today it houses the Palace Museum. It suits first-time visitors to China with three to four hours to spare, and entry needs an online reservation made in advance with a passport.

The palace lies at the centre of Beijing, directly north of Tiananmen Square and on the city's north-south axis. The Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty, who moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, ordered it built in 1406. Work lasted until 1420 and required more than a million workers, with timber of precious nanmu wood brought from the forests of southwest China.

Twenty-four emperors lived here, 14 of the Ming and 10 of the Qing. The palace was damaged by fire many times and largely rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries. Puyi, the last emperor, abdicated in 1912 but was allowed to stay in the inner court until he was expelled in 1924. The Palace Museum opened the following year. During the Chinese Civil War, much of the collection was moved to Taiwan, where it is now held by the National Palace Museum in Taipei. UNESCO inscribed the palace in 1987.

The complex is a rectangle about 961 by 753 metres, surrounded by a wall 7.9 metres high and a moat 52 metres wide, with a corner tower at each angle. Yellow glazed roof tiles, a colour reserved for the emperor, cover almost every building. The outer court, used for state ceremonies, holds three great halls on a marble terrace. The largest, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, was the setting for coronations and has the throne under a coiled dragon.

The inner court, north of the Gate of Heavenly Purity, was the home of the emperor and his family. It includes the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Mental Cultivation where the Qing emperors worked from the 18th century, the six eastern and six western palaces of the consorts, and the Imperial Garden with its rockeries and ancient cypresses. The museum's collection numbers about 1.86 million objects, including paintings, ceramics, bronzes and clocks.

Entry must be booked online in advance with a passport, and there are no tickets on the day. Visitors go in only through the Meridian Gate in the south and leave by the north gate. Arrive at opening time and head straight up the central axis before the groups catch up, then explore the quieter eastern side. Allow at least three to four hours, and climb Jingshan Park opposite the north gate afterwards for the view over the roofs.

Metro Line 1 to Tiananmen East or Tiananmen West is the usual approach, followed by a walk north through Tiananmen to the Meridian Gate; there is no visitor parking. The palace is closed on Mondays except on Chinese public holidays and opens at 8:30 on other days, with last entry at 16:00 from April to October and 15:30 from November to March. Ramps cover the central axis, and wheelchairs can be borrowed at the entrance.