Forbidden City (Imperial Palace)

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42 Reviews | Add review

Address: 4 Jingshan Qianjie, Beijing
Hours: Open daily
Admission: Free

ATTRACTION Keywords:
Cultural Experience, Must-Do Experience, UNESCO Heritage Site, Palace

5:11 PM Saturday, May 18
Clear. Mild.
7 day forecast

Have you ever wondered what's so forbidden about the Forbidden City? It's called that because it was closed to the outside world for 500 years. This was the seat of the Ming and the Qing emperors, and no one could enter - or leave - the imperial domain without their permission. These days, the Chinese mainly call it Gu Gong, or Former Palace.

The Forbidden City, or Beijing Imperial Palace, is BIG - you'll need to allow at least one day for your visit. UNESCO have listed it as the largest collection of ancient wooden structures in the world. There are nearly 1,000 rooms in over 800 buildings. However, because it's been ransacked by invaders and gutted by fire several times (wooden buildings, lanterns, you do the math) most of the structures date from the 18th century on.

As you move around the gardens and palatial buildings, which have now been converted to museums, you'll start to get a feel for what it was like to live the imperial life - a highly ritualised existence of exquisite luxury. Here is the Dowager Empress's theatre, with its cunning trap doors; there is the hall of clocks, a collection of the palace's many sumptuous time pieces. Here are various pagodas for the writing and reading of poetry; there are pavilions for viewing opera.

The Inner Court was once reserved for the emperor, his family, and the royal concubines and eunuchs. Its elaborate halls are filled with symbols that evoke the presence of the 'Son of Heaven'. In the Inner Court is a marvelous garden with pavilions and ancient cedars.

Latest Reviews

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All Forbidden City (Imperial Palace) Reviews

Review by Anonymous, May 2013
Doing what: Private Tour: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Tea Ceremony in Beijing

I recently had some tours from some of your lovely guides around Beijing of the forbidden city, temple of heaven, Beijing opera and the night walking tour. The tour guides were wonderful; very knowledgeable of the areas, and fun people to spend time with. I was very impressed with their prompt and timely starts to the tours, which was especially important being in a new city as it was reassuring that I was meeting them in the correct place and there was no confusion. I have experienced poor timeliness in the past so I was really appreciative of the tour guides for this attribute. The tours were well structured, and very good value for money, and I was happy that I was neither rushed nor delayed with the time I spent at each location and with the guides. The mixture of private cars, local transportation, and planned meals was excellent and I feel that I had a well rounded and informative experience in Beijing learning about the history and culture of the intriguing city. I particularly appreciated the professional experience and coordination between the main office, the guides, the locations visited and the drivers. I have been very happy with the experience and I fully recommend that others use Viator for planning their own tours. In light of this I have copied into this email my friend Ester who would like to organise some tours for Beijing, and I hope you are able to organise some fun activities for her! She is particularly interested in going to the Great Wall of China. Thank you very much for the wonderful experiences which I will carry with me for a life time!

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Review by Wayne T, January 2013
Doing what: Private Tour: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Tea Ceremony in Beijing

We just completed out Forbidden City tour with Christina, and I must say that she was tremendous! We found the tour to be very informative, but just as important, Christina was helpful and has a terrific personality. Thanks, I would recommend this tour highly to others that I know.

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Review by Wayne T, January 2013
Doing what: Private Tour: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Tea Ceremony in Beijing

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Practical Info

The Forbidden City undergoes a fairly constant process of renovation, in addition to the more large-scale projects it is currently undergoing, so be prepared for some closures when you visit. Nevertheless, there's still plenty of Forbidden City to go around.

Take the Subway (line 1) to Tiananmen Dong, or catch one of the many buses going to Gugong. It's better to approach the Forbidden City by public transport, as taxis are, yes, forbidden to stop outside.

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