Palace Museum

The Palace Museum occupies the Forbidden City in central Beijing, the imperial palace complex built for the Ming and Qing dynasties and completed in 1420. It is one of the world’s largest and best-preserved palace complexes and now functions as a national museum.

The site offers a sequence of large ceremonial buildings aligned on a central north-south axis, including the Meridian Gate, the three main halls of the Outer and Inner Courts and the Imperial Garden. Highlights for visitors include the vast courtyards and timber halls such as the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the richly decorated throne and audience chambers, and displays of imperial art and ceramics spread across multiple exhibition halls. Typical visits cover several hours; the complex covers about 720,000 square metres and contains roughly 980 surviving structures.

A second layer of museum displays and restored rooms presents imperial furnishings, paintings, bronzes and textiles drawn from a collection that numbers in the millions, with rotating special exhibitions in dedicated galleries. Guided routes and numbered halls help visitors navigate the dense layout; peak times are public holidays and summer weekends.

Construction of the palace complex began under the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty around 1406 and was largely completed by 1420. It served as the imperial residence and administrative centre through the Ming and Qing dynasties until the early 20th century; after the fall of the Qing it was converted into the Palace Museum, formally established in the 1920s.

The Palace Museum sits in the historic heart of Beijing immediately north of Tiananmen Square and south of Jingshan Park. Its southern gate opens onto the central axis of the city; it is within walking distance of central Beijing transport hubs and major tourist areas.

• Scale: The palace covers about 720,000 square metres and contains roughly 980 surviving buildings and 8,700 rooms, making it one of the largest palace complexes in the world.
• Collection size: The collection held by the museum numbers in the millions, with extensive ceramics, paintings, textiles and imperial artifacts not all on permanent display.

What to See #

• Meridian Gate (Wumen): The main southern entrance to the complex, dating from the Ming era, which leads onto successive courtyards of the palace.
• Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Hall): The largest ceremonial hall in the complex, used for imperial ceremonies and audiences and occupying the central axis of the inner court.
• Imperial Garden: A landscaped imperial garden in the northern section of the complex with small pavilions, pathways and older trees.