1. Meridian Gate (Wu Men)

Meridian Gate is the southern gate and the only entrance now to the Forbidden City. Restored in the 17th century, the Meridian Gate is a massive portal that in former times was reserved for the use of the emperor. It has five arches; the three arches are close together while the other two flanking arches are farther apart from the three central arches. Above the arches are five buildings, where the emperor of China reviewed his troops during Ming and Qing dynasties. Its superstructure is also called the “Five Phoenix Turrets”.

3. Hall of Supreme Harmony

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest hall within the Forbidden City. It is located at its central axis, behind the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Built above three levels of marble stone base, and surrounded by bronze incense burners. It was the location where Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty Emperors hosted their enthronement and wedding ceremonies.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony rises some 30 meters above the level of the surround square. The numbers nine and five are symbolically connected to the majesty of the Emperor. So there are cases to show this symbolism such as the hall is nine bays wide and five bays deep; the imperial Dragon Throne has five dragons coiled around the back and hand-rests; the screen behind it features sets of nine dragons.

The original hall was built by the Ming Dynasty in 1406 and was destroyed seven times by fires during the Qing Dynasty and last re-built in 1695 and completed in 1697. Together with the Hall of Central Harmony and Hall of Preserving Harmony, the three halls constitute the heart of the Outer Court of the Forbidden City.

5. Hall of Preserving Harmony

The third hall, which has no support pillars, is the Hall of Preserving Harmony, used for banquets and later for imperial examinations. To the rear descends a 250-tonne marble imperial carriageway carved with dragons and clouds, dragged into Beijing along an ice path. The emperor was conveyed over the carriageway in his sedan chair as he ascended or descended the terrace. The wing rooms on both eastern and western flanks now are explored as the exhibitions rooms. There are exhibitions exploring the emperor’s Tibetan Buddhist beliefs, ancestor worship, the imperial harem and the lives of the imperial concubines on the eastern flank. While on the west, three Great Halls exhibit treasures from the palace.

7. The Palace of Heavenly Purity

The Palace of Heavenly Purity, located at the northern end of the Forbidden City, is the largest of the three halls of the Inner Court. It is the residence of Ming and early Qing emperors, and later an audience hall for receiving foreign envoys and high officials.

The Palace of Heavenly Purity is a double-eave building, and set on a single-level white marble platform. It is connected to the Gate of Heavenly Purity to its south by a raised walkway. At the center of the Palace, set atop an elaborate platform, is a throne and a desk. A caisson is set into the roof, featuring a coiled dragon. Above the throne hangs a tablet with a right to left script of Chinese Idiom meaning “To be decent, honest and magnanimous”.

9. Clock Exhibition

The mesmerizing Clock Exhibition Hall is one of the highlights of the Forbidden City. Located in the Hall of Ancestral Worship, the exhibition contains a fascinating array of elaborate timepieces, many of which were gifts to the Qing emperors from overseas. Many of the 18th-century examples were imported through Guangdong from England; others are from Switzerland, America and Japan. Exquisitely wrought, fashioned with magnificently designed elephants and other creatures, they all display an astonishing artfulness and attention to detail.

(CNY 10; 8:30am-4:00pm in summer, to 3:30pm in winter)

11. Hall of Celestial & Terrestrial Union

The Hall of Union stands between the Palace of Heavenly Purity and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. These three halls together constitute the centre of the Inner Court of the palace complex. Originally built in 1655, was fired in 1797 and rebuilt in the same year. It is the living place for the emperors and concubines. The hall is square in shape with a pyramidal roof. Stored here are the twenty-five Imperial Seals of the Qing Dynasty, as well as other ceremonial items, including the clocks that set the official time in the palace (first a water clock, later a mechanical clock, both still displayed in the hall).

13. Treasure Gallery

The Hall of Mental Cultivation is a particularly significant building in the inner courtyard of the Forbidden City. Built originally in the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt during the Qing Dynasty, it was here that from the time of Yongzheng Emperor in the 18th century the Qing Emperors lived and ruled the Chinese Empire. Three emperors died in the Hall. The building itself has a front and a rear hall, which served as the emperor’s bedroom. In the front hall the Emperor discussed court business with his mandarins. From behind a screen in the hall the Dowager Empress Cixi made decisions on state business in the name of her son and her nephew in the late 19th century and into the early 20th century.

15. Gate of Divine Prowess

The structure looks like a rectangle with 31 meters in height, is the north gate of the Forbidden City. On its tower are bells and drums beaten in the morning and in the evening respectively to mark time in ancient times. The gate is the main exit for visitors now. As the back gate of Forbidden City, it was the important channel for entrance and exit. Both in Ming and Qing Dynasties, the empresses would come and go through this gate for official ceremony or rite. In 1924, Emperor Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China in feudalistic period, was expelled out of the Forbidden City through this gate.

Most of the buildings in the Forbidden City were rebuilt many times, although they maintained the original architectural style. Today, as the largest museum of cultural relics in China, the Forbidden City, also called the Palace Museum, collected and displayed some one million precious historical relics through dynasties. Listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions worldwide.