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5 Star Shanxi Grand Hotel
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5 Star Shanxi Grand Hotel is a 5 star hotel which is located between South 2nd ring road and...
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China: Search for areas
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Palaces Ming/Qing Dynasties Beijing & Shenyang
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The Forbidden City (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjinchéng) was the Chinese imperial palace during the mid-Ming and the Qing Dynasties. The Forbidden City is located in the middle of Beijing, China.
The Palace Museum in the Forbidden City should not be confused with the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. Both museums derive from the same institution, but they were split after the Chinese Civil War.
The Forbidden City is known by many names. The name by which the site is most commonly known in English, "The Forbidden City," is a translation of the Chinese name Zijin Cheng (紫禁城), which literally means "Purple Forbidden City." It is also known as the "Forbidden Palace" in English.
Today, the site is most commonly known as Gugong (故宫) in Chinese, which means the "Former Palace."
In the Manchu language it is called Dabkūri dorgi hoton, which literally means the "Layered Inner City."
The Imperial Palace Grounds are located directly to the north of Tiananmen Square and are accessible from the square via Tiananmen Gate. It is surrounded by a large area called the Imperial City.
Rectangular in shape, the Forbidden City is the world's largest palace complex and covers 720,000 square meters. It is surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall. The Forbidden City includes five halls, seventeen palaces, and numerous other buildings with more than 8,000 rooms.
The Forbidden City is divided into two parts:
The Outer Court, which includes the southern and central sections, centres on three halls which were used for ceremonial purposes, such as coronations, investitures, and imperial weddings. The three halls include the magnificent Hall of Supreme Harmony (太和殿), itself fronted by the Gate of Supreme Harmony (太和門). Apart from ceremony, the Outer Court also houses the Imperial Library, archives, and lantern storage.
The Inner Court includes the northern, eastern, and western parts of the Forbidden City, and centres on another three halls which were used for the day-to-day affairs of state. The most important among these is the Palace of Heavenly Purity (乾清宫).
The Inner Court was where the Emperor worked and lived with his family, eunuchs and maid-servants.
The wall around the Forbidden City has a gate on each side. At the southern end is the Meridian Gate To the north is the Gate of Divine Might, which faces Jingshan Park. The distance between these two gates is 960 meters, while the distance between the gates in the east and west walls is 750 meters. The walls are thick and squat and were specifically designed to withstand attacks by cannons.
There are unique and delicately structured towers on each of the four corners of the surrounding wall. These towers afford views over both the palace and the city outside.
The Forbidden City is surrounded by royal gardens. To the west lies Zhongnanhai, the complex of buildings centred on two lakes which serves as the central headquarters for the Communist Party of China. To the north-west lies Beihai Park, which is a popular park. To the north lies Jingshan Park, also known as Jing Shan or Coal Hill, where the last Ming emperor hanged himself as the rebel army overran his palace.
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