Despite occasional scaffolding, the central Forbidden City is still China's most important, and arguably spectacular, tourist sight. It's vast and today houses the Palace Museum. Visit the artefact-filled East and West Galleries and the Treasure Gallery, often missed by tourists.
So-called because the Ming and Qing dynasty emperors kept this pleasure dome off limits for 500 years, the Forbidden City or Imperial Palace is a massive network of restored buildings and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It contains a stately 9999.5 rooms - the half-a-room contains a stairway, and the room count couldn't go any higher, as 10,000 rooms would give it the same number as heaven.
Reopened to the public in 1949, the Forbidden City was once a hotbed of activity and intrigue as some 6000 eunuchs, concubines and members of the Royal Household tried to outmanoeuvre each other. Not surprisingly, China was governed rather haphazardly during this time.
Some of the frequent fires are said to have been started by court officials, but the Manchus did the most efficient job when they invaded in 1664, razing the place to the ground. The Japanese had a good try at looting the palace on their way home and then the Kuomintang finished off that task by taking remaining treasures as they fled the Communists (not a bad thing considering the damage that the Cultural Revolution wrought on the country's antiquities). So it is that the current buildings date from just the 18th to 19th centuries and many of the treasures have been imported from other parts of China.
The Forbidden Palace is no less impressive for this, and an audio tour can take you through the fascinating details.
Related Information
Website: UNESCO World Heritage Website