Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Forbidden City - World's Largest Palace Complex in China

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is situated in the center of China’s capital city, Beijing. The Forbidden City was the center of State power in late feudal China from the 15th to 20th century. The Forbidden City is now home to the Palace Museum and is one of the most famous tourist attractions in China.


The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing known as the Forbidden City was constructed between 1406 and 1420 during the Ming Dynasty. It was constructed by the Ming emperor Zhu Di. The construction took an estimated one million workers 14 years to build hundreds of perfect and beautiful buildings. This supreme model in the development of ancient Chinese palaces witnessed the enthronement of 14 Ming and 10 Qing emperors over the following 505 years.


The Forbidden City remained an example of ancient architectural hierarchy, construction techniques and architectural art and influenced official buildings of the subsequent Qing dynasty over a span of 300 years. The Forbidden City is encased by walls that are 26 feet high.  However, anyone throughout history who has wished to see the formidable buildings in the City must first cross the 171 foot wide moat. There are 800 buildings that have in total about 9,000 rooms in the Forbidden City.


The Forbidden City is the world's largest palace complex. It has been the Palace Museum to the public since 1950. The Forbidden City is one of the largest and best-preserved palace complexes in the world. There are over a million rare and valuable objects in the Museum. The Palace Museum offers a feast of 5,000 years of traditional Chinese art, with a rich concentration of architecture and artifacts from the Ming and Qing imperial courts. Millions of people visit this incredible place each year and gaze in awe. 

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