Date with 20 cultural heritage sites at Cultural and Natural Heritage Day (10)

10. Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang

Items on display during the Treasures from the Al Thani Collection at the Meridian Gate (Wu Men) of the Palace Museum in Beijing, April 17, 2018. (Photo: China News Service/Du Yang)

The Forbidden City, located in the center of Beijing, used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Its construction started in 1406, and was completed in 1420.

The rectangular palace covers an area of some 720,000 sq km - 961 meters in length and 760 meters in width. It has a total of 9,999.5 room spaces (an area enclosed by four poles).

In 1924, the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty was removed from the Forbidden City, and in 1925 the Palace Museum was established here.

The Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang were added to the World Heritage List in 1987 and 2004.