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The Forbidden City(Zijincheng)

The Forbidden City was the Chinese Imperial Palace of Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Emperor house and the Chinese government centre. The Forbidden City was declared as World Heritage Site in 1987 by UNESCO, because it exemplifies the Traditional Chinese Architecture.

The Forbidden City is in the middle of Beijing, in walled area called Imperial City. This is the world’s largest complex. It is a rectangle 961 meters from north to south and 753 meters from east to west. The Imperial Palace is surrounded by high walls that separate the Inner City from Outer City and it served as defensive and retaining walls. The walls are pierced by a gate on each side and each gate has a corner tower: the northern gate is the Gate of Divine Might; the east and west gates are called the East Glorious Gate and West Glorious Gate, and the main gate is the Meridian Gate.

The Forbidden City is divided in two parts and these places are separated by a courtyard:

Outer Court
This place was used for ceremonies and it has three main halls: The Hall of Supreme Harmony used for coronations, investitures and Imperial weddings; The Hall of Central Harmony used by the Emperor to prepare and rest before and during ceremonies and The Hall of Preserving Harmony used for rehearsing ceremonies.

Inner Court
The Inner Court was the Imperial Residence and it is divided in three halls: The Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Emperor’s audience hall; The Palace of Earthly Tranquility, the Empress residence and the Hall of Union, the Storage of Imperial Seals and ceremony items.

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