6 Things You Didn’t Know about the Forbidden City

Once only accessible to reigning emperors and their concubines, this living relic of the Ming and Qing Dynasties now sees millions of visitors pass through its gates each year. Discover all there is to know about this famous landmark with Park Plaza Beijing Wangfujing’s Forbidden City factsheet.

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1. It’s Beijing’s Biggest Tourist Attraction

While the Great Wall of China remains the country’s most prominent tourist attraction, the Forbidden City is Beijing’s biggest draw card when it comes to regional and international visitors, welcoming more than 10 million tourists each year.

2. It’s One of the Largest Museums in the World

Also known as The Palace Museum, Beijing’s Forbidden City represents the world’s largest collection of wooden structures and houses more than one million artefacts from China’s imperial past, including priceless paintings, bronzeware, ceramics and jade.

3. It’s Steeped in Symbolism

True to the country’s cultural traditions, every detail of the Forbidden City has a significant meaning, from the use of specific colours throughout the palace complex to the incorporation of lucky numbers in the building’s structures. Take in the yellow-tiled rooftops, which are painted in the official colour of the emperors, whilst passing through one of the many doorways, which all have exactly nine rows of nine nails to stimulate good Feng Shui.

4. Its Statues Serve as a Ranking System

Known for having statues adorn each of its 980 buildings, it’s a little known fact that the number of figurines per edifice is directly proportional to the building’s importance, with a maximum of 10 statues signifying the greatest status.

5. It’s Perfectly Symmetrical

In line with the ancient Chinese belief that balance and harmony is derived from symmetry, the Forbidden City was built on a north-south axis, with each side mirroring a perfect copy of the other.

6. Its Soldiers are all the Same Size

In addition to the perfect symmetry of the palace itself, the Forbidden City also carefully selects the soldiers that guard its mighty walls to be identical in stature, taking into account everything from their height to the width of their shoulders.

Visiting the Forbidden City

Want to visit the Forbidden City while in Beijing? Plan a stay at the Park Plaza Beijing Wangfujing and discover this world famous landmark on your doorstep. Conveniently situated just 2.5 kilometres away, guests of our luxurious, 5-star accommodation can easily access the Forbidden City and all that it has to offer.
Keywords/Tags: China, Beijing, The Forbidden City, Travel.