The Forbidden City

Now that's a Palace! During my 2 days stay in Beijing, I could only spare 3 hours to visit this incredible Palace. So it was a super quick visit of the Biggest remaining Palace in the world. If you want to enjoy this jewel correctly, you need at least a full day to visit it. So I will definitly come back!

It's definitly a must do in a lifetime, and it is much better to visit it with a guide. During the visit, the guide proposed us to go to one of the side buildings inside the Palace where one of the last emperor's descendants draws chinese caligraphy. We checked afterwards on the net to see if it's true or a classical tourist tricks. Nevertheless, the caligraphy is beautiful and drans in front of you.

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.

Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Legend of the Plan in the Pictures section:
A. Meridian Gate
B. Gate of Divine Might
C. West Glorious Gate
D. East Glorious Gate
E. Corner towers
F. Gate of Supreme Harmony
G. Hall of Supreme Harmony
H. Hall of Military Eminence
J. Hall of Literary Glory
K. Southern Three Places
L. Palace of Heavenly Purity
M. Imperial garden
N. Hall of Mental Cultivation
O. Palace of Tranquil Longevity

For more info, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_CityLess