CIIC:Today's featured article/April 2, 2016

From Wiki China org cn
The Forbidden City in central Beijing

The Forbidden City (紫禁城) was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, and now houses the Palace Museum.

The Forbidden City was included into the UNESCO's World Heritage site in 1987. Today it still abounds with the sense of grandeur and wealth, an aura of pomp and majesty that has passed down through the ages. This secret city was closed off from the world for about 500 years but now 720,000 sq m of courtyards, pavilions, great halls, flourishing gardens and nearly 10,000 rooms combine to form one of the best-preserved historical sites in China. Built by tens of thousands of people, it took over 14 years and 32 million bricks to complete. (More...)