The Imperial Palace, also known as "The Forbidden City", is located in the heart of downtown Beijing. From 1386 to 1911, the palace was home to 24 emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The Imperial Palace is rectangular in shape, 961 meters long from north to south, 753 meters wide from east to west. It occupies an area of over 720,000 square meters and consists of 9,999 and a half rooms. The palace grounds are divided into two major sections, the Outer Court and the Inner Court. The former was used for the emperor to deal with state affairs and for holding important ceremonies and events. In the center of the Outer Court stand the Hall of Supreme Harmony,Hall of Central Harmony and Hall of Preserving Harmony, flanked by the Hall of Literary Glory and Hall of Military Prowess. The Inner Court, where the emperor and the royal family actually lived, centers on three palaces at the rear, namely, the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Palace of Prosperity and Palace of Earthly Peace, which are flanked by the Six Eastern Palaces and the Six Western Palaces. Three grand Halls, three Palaces at the rear, and the Imperial Garden are all arranged on the north-south central axis which goes through the entire downtown area. The layout is well organized and the buildings on both sides are symmetrical, which displays one of the main features of ancient Chinese architecture. The walls surrounding the Imperial Palace are 10 meters in height and 3400 meters in length, each having a gate on all four sides: the Meridian Gate in the south, Gate of Military Prowess in the north, Eastern Flowery Gate in the east, and Western Flowery Gate in the west. A delicate turret is standing at each of the four corners. And outside the walls runs the 52-meter-wide moat.

The construction is the largest and most complete ancient palace complex extant in China today. Lofty and magnificent, it is acclaimed to be one of the world great palaces, together with Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in Britain, White House in the United States, and Kremlin Palace in Russia. The unparalleled masterpiece was recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Imperial Palace represented the imperial sovereignty and also served the center of feudal rule. Except Taizu (first emperor of the Ming dynasty) Zhu Yuanzhang and Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen, 14 emperors of the Ming dynasty and 10 emperors of the Qing dynasty were enthroned here and ruled China for the successive 491 years. The nearly five centuries of history left behind a number of aulic struggles deep in the Palace.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the National Palace Museum is set here. Some halls in the Palace Museum have developed into the Hall of Historical Arts, Hall of Paintings, categorized Halls of Ceramics, Hall of Bronze wares, Hall of Crafts and Arts in the Ming & Qing Dynasties, Hall of Inscriptions, Hall of Toys, Hall of Scholar’s Studio, Hall of Playing Pieces, Hall of Jewelry, Hall of Watches and Clocks, Exhibition Hall of Royal Cultural Relics in the Qing Dynasty and so on. The museum has a collection of 1,052,653 pieces of ancient art treasures, accounting for one sixth of the total cultural relics in China. It is the museum with the richest collection of cultural relics in China, and also a world-renowned museum of ancient cultural arts. Many cultural relics preserved in it are invaluable state treasures unique in the world.