• The Forbidden City served as the home of emperors and their households from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty for almost 500 years. The Forbidden City is now known as the Palace Museum and is open to visitors.
  • Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex is 960 meters long and 750 meters wide, it consists of 980 buildings and covers 720,000 square meters.
  • It open daily all year. April 1st – October 31 ( 8:30 – 17:00 ) Last Entry at 16:10; November 1st – March 31 (8:30 – 16:30), Last Entry at 15:40.
  • Avoid visiting the Forbidden City on weekends or public holidays. These days crowds of people will flock into it and you could hardly see anything at all.
  • The entrance ticket is RMB60 from Apr. 1 to Oct. 31; RMB40 from Nov. 1 to the next Mar. 31; RMB10 for the Treasure Gallery; RMB10 for the Clock and Watch Gallery.
  • You can take bus 101, 103, 109, 124, 202, 685 or 814 and get off at Gugong Station and enter the Forbidden City from the north gate. Or take bus 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 52, 120 or 802 and get off at Tiananmen Xi or Tiananmen Dong Station, visit the Tiananmen Square first and then walk north to the Forbidden City.
  • For subway you can take line 1 and get off at Tiananmen West or Tiananmen East Station, walk to the Tiananmen Square and then walk north through two grand gates, you’ll find the Meridian Gate (the south gate).
  • There are two entrances- the southern gate ( Meridian Gate or called Wumen) and northern gate (Gate of Divine or called Shenwu Men in Chinese). You can walk around Tiananmen Square for half an hour and then walk north to the Meridian Gate and exit from Gate of Divine.
  • You can not visit every corner of the Forbidden City in two hours. If you feel that walking along the Central Axis is simply not enough, you can further explore the palaces in the Western Route for one more hour.
  • The Forbidden City is huge. Usually speaking a two hour visit is a must. You visit it together with Tiananmen Square and Jinshan Park where you can have a bird view of the whole city.
  • Travelers can visit Forbidden City by yourself or join seat-in-coach tour to Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace at cost USD38/per person. Or Forbidden City half day tour at USD30