Beijing is one of the most important cities in the world, the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, serving as the country’s political center for the past eight centuries. For the Ming and Qing Dynasties, that political center was located in the Forbidden City, a complex of 980 buildings that housed the Chinese government.
Construction began in 1406 when Zhu Di inherited the throne as the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, moving the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. When in use, the Forbidden City was called home by 24 emperors, 14 from the Ming Dynasty and 10 from the Qing before the Puyi, the last Emperor of China, abdicated the throne.
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Much of the collection was evacuated during a turbulent 20th century with World War II, the Japanese invasion of China and the Chinese Civil War. After Mao Zedong took power in 1949, the Forbidden City’s artifacts were split between the People’s Republic of China’s Palace Museum and Taiwan’s National Palace Museum (many pieces were stolen as well).
More than 60 years later, the Palace Museum is the most visited museum in the world, holding 1.8 million artifacts from throughout Chinese history. The complex itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, containing the largest collection of ancient wooden structures in the world.
Visitors are limited to 80,000 a day, but you can buy tickets online by visiting the official website.
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