The Palace Museum, also called the Forbidden City, is located in the center of Beijing and used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1840). The Forbidden City is China's largest and most intact ancient building complex. The Forbidden City has four entrance gates. The Forbidden City is encompassed by a wall 3,400m long and surrounded by a moat 52 m wide and 41m deep. The Forbidden City appeared a castle in the capital. In 1987, it was put on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

Its construction started in 1406, and was completed in 1420. The rectangular palace covers an area of some 720,000 sq. km. It has a total of 9999.5 room spaces (an area enclosed by four poles). The palace is splendid and magnificent. It is an unparalleled architectural masterpiece in Chinese history of architecture.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Dian) housed the main imperial throne of the Ming and Qing emperors. Altogether 14 Ming and 10 Qing emperors were crowned there and the emperor would receive court officials, dispatch generals to distant battles, and celebrate festivals such as the Chinese New Year, the Winter Solstice, the emperor's birthday, and ascensions to the throne. Almost all of these ceremonies took place in Taihe Dian.