From the early 1400s to 1911 this was the seat of China's government. Known as the Purple Forbidden Palace, the Forbidden City, and now officially as the Palace Museum in People's Republic of China descriptions, it is in many ways the greatest milestone of civic construction in architectural history.

It is also a living textbook of Chinese history that retains much of its power and grandeur to this day. (For example, the PRC leaders built their own homes in the shadow of the Palace's western wall. Maybe Freud would have had an opinion about why that might be.)



With the Imperial Palace being so large (720,000 square meters!) it is difficult to understand the scale from a description. The Palace Museum administration has an excellent Official Palace Museum Website that is a good place to start. Also good is viewing the film The Last Emperor, which was filmed there with favorable access and lighting opportinities. This Virtual Tour is also well done. Daily life in the Palace (in recent times) is described nicely in Princess der Ling's Two Years in the Forbidden City.





A map and a social commentary. Most of the important national treasures and muesums throughout the world have signs in the native language(s), and either or both of French and English. Look for a non-English sign some time in the U.S. for the aid of our foriegn visitors...



In a break from tradition, I am initially going to placemark the significant points within the Imperial Palace without detailed photos and descriptions, then edit those placemarks to add details at a later date. This is so the descriptions can reference other structures/placemarks, as in "The Veranda of Red Snow is between the Pavilion of Flowery Style and the Left Gate of Everlasting Health" Also, there is the chance that lunatech will recover from his deep jet lag and be able to share photos of these locations by replying to the postings.

Also, if you have photos of these places, please reply to the particular post with your photo and experiences. Thanks!

Update: Now up to 40% of the Imperial Palace postings with photos or panoramas. Asterisks in the title signify interesting content rather than empty Placemark.