Located in the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City is 960 meters from north to south and 750 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of 72 hectares and a total floor space of 15,000 square meters. It was designated by the State Council as one of China's foremost protected monuments in 1961, and then listed by UNESCO as one of World Cultural Heritage in 1987.
In the Forbidden City, fourteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty 
and ten emperors of the Qing Dynasty lived and ruled China here for as long as 490 years from 1421 to 1911. When the 1911 Revolution broke out to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, the last emperor Pu Yi was driven out of the palace in 1924. Afterwards, the Forbidden City was converted into the Palace Museum and has been open to the public Now the Forbidden City is not forbidden any more, but welcomes visitors from all over the world.
The Forbidden City was surrounded by a ten-meter-high city wall and enclosed by a moat of 52 meters wide. At each corner of the city wall, there is a magnificent watchtower. Once inside, visitors will see a succession of halls and palaces spreading out on either side of an invisible central axis. It is a magnificent sight, the buildings' glowing yellow roofs against vermilion walls, not to mention their painted ridges and carved beams, all contributing to the sumptuous effect. Known as the Outer Court, the southern portion of the Forbidden City centers on the halls of Supreme Harmony, Central Harmony, and Preserving Harmony. These are flanked by the halls of Literary Glory and Military Eminence. It was here that the emperor held court and conducted his grand audiences. Mirroring this arrangement is the Inner Court at the northern end of the Forbidden City, with the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union, and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility straddling the central axis, surrounded by the Six Palaces of the East and West and the Imperial Garden to the north. Other major buildings include the halls for Worshipping Ancestors and of Imperial Splendor on the east, and the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the Pavilion of the Rain Flowers and the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility on the west. These contain not only the residences of the emperor and his empress, consorts and concubines but also the venues for religious rites and administrative activities. These buildings were arranged precisely in accordance with a code of architectural hierarchy, which designated specific features to reflect the paramount authority and status of the emperor.
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