The Forbidden City
The world's largest palace complex, 9,999 rooms of Ming and Qing emperors.
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- 08:30-17:00, closed Mon
- Ticket
- 60 CNY (Apr-Oct) / 40 CNY
- Suggested visit
- 3-4 hours
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
Why it's worth it
The world's largest palace complex — 980 buildings and 8,700 rooms across 72 hectares, home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties from 1420 to 1912. Walking the two-kilometre south-north axis through the Meridian Gate to the Imperial Garden is the closest you get to standing inside imperial China.
Don't miss
- Hall of Supreme Harmony — the throne room, raised on a three-tier marble terrace
- The clock and treasure galleries (extra 10 CNY each, worth both)
- Jingshan Park hill just north of the exit — the classic panorama over the golden roofs
Getting there
Metro Line 1 to Tiananmen East (Exit A or B); you enter via the Meridian Gate on the south side and exit through the north gate into Jingshan.
Tips
- Book timed entry on the Palace Museum website or WeChat up to 7 days ahead — passport needed at both booking and gate
- Closed Mondays (except summer holidays). Allow 3-4 hours minimum; morning light is best for photos
- No large bags; bring water — drinks inside are overpriced
Photos
More in Beijing
- Summer Palace
Kunming Lake, the Long Corridor and Marble Boat of the imperial resort.
- Mutianyu Great Wall
The restored, less-crowded Great Wall section with a toboggan descent.
- Temple of Heaven
Where emperors prayed for harvest; morning tai chi in the cypress park.
- Tiananmen Square
One of the world's largest city squares, about 880 m long north to south and able to hold a million people—the core space of Beijing's Central Axis: the founding ceremony of the PRC was held here on October 1, 1949; the Monument to the People's Heroes stands at the center, the Great Hall of the People on the west, and on the east the China...
- The Palace Museum (Forbidden City)
Completed in the 18th year of Ming Yongle (1420), the imperial palace where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived and ruled, formerly the Forbidden City: covering 720,000 sq m with over 8,700 rooms, the world's largest and best-preserved wooden palace complex
- Jingshan Park
A small hill park directly facing the Forbidden City's Shenwu Gate, built in the Ming Wanli era from moat-digging earth and palace rubble, formerly Coal Hill: Wanchun Pavilion on the central peak is the high point of Beijing's Central Axis—the only vantage for a panorama of the Forbidden City's golden roofs, looking south to the palace and north to the Bell and Drum Towers