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The Forbidden City is also known as the Palace Museum. It is the largest and most well preserved imperial residence in China today. Located in the center of Beijing, The Forbidden City was built between 1406 and 1420 under Ming Emperor Yongle, and served as the imperial palace for the Ming and Qing dynasties. Ming Emperor Zhudi was the first emperor to live there. It is 3,150 feet long from north to south and 2,460 feet wide from east to west. It has 9,900 rooms and halls containing many precious relics. A 170-foot wide moat encircles the Forbidden City along with 32-foot high walls. There are four entrances, the Meridian Gate to the south, the Shenwu Gate (Gate of Military Prowess) to the north, the Xihua Gate (Western Flowery Gate) to the west, and the Donghua Gate (Eastern Flowery Gate) to the east.
The word "forbidden" is quite literal, as the imperial palace was heavily guarded and off-limits to ordinary people. As the residence for emperors and their families, most of the walls of the imperial palace were painted red and roofs were covered with yellow glazed tiles. The red and yellow combination forms a strong color contrast, representing the absolute authority, supremacy, and richness of feudal emperors. In 1987, UNESCO also listed the Forbidden City in the World Heritage List. It is the largest palace in the world.
Former Imperial Palace
 The 720,000-square-metre Palace Mueum was the imperial palace. It is the largest royal palatial complex in existence in China; ranging from the majestic to the exquisite, they bear witness to a nation in transition. Other tourist attractions on the premises include a huge stone ramp carved with intricate dragon and cloud patterns, Imperial Garden and Nine-Dragon Screen Wall. An immense trove of cultural artifacts and treasures of various dynasties, some of them on display in the Treasure Hall and the ceramics, painting, bronze ware galleries, are reason enough for UNESCO to adopt the Former Imperial Palace as a world cultural heritage site.
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 Construction of the Palace began in 1406. After the completion, it was used as the imperial palace in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368 -1911 AD). In history, a total of 24 emperors were enthroned here.
The buildings in the Palace constitute the largest and most complete existing ensemble of traditional Chinese architecture. The entire Palace area, rectangular in shape, is surrounded by walls ten meters high and a moat 52 meters wide. Each of the four corners of the wall has a tower with a multi-eaved, ridged roof covered with yellow glazed tiles. The Palace looks solemn and magnificent.
The Palace is now also a museum, which houses a great variety of rare cultural relics and works of art in history.
In December,1987 The Palace Museum in Beijing was listed in the Chronology of Recognition of World Heritages in China.
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