The Forbidden City · Beijing
The Forbidden City: Beijing's 600-year imperial palace, the world's largest wooden complex. Tickets, the central axis and the halls, with private Beijing tours.
The short version
The place itself
The Forbidden City is the reason Beijing is laid out the way it is. Twenty-four emperors of the Ming and Qing ruled from behind these walls between 1420 and 1911, and the whole city — the temples to the south, the lakes to the north-west, the beltway built on the line of the old walls — still arranges itself around this rectangle at the centre.
Almost everything you have seen on screen is here: the Hall of Supreme Harmony with its marble terrace and gilded dragon throne, the private palaces of the inner court, the imperial garden. But the compound is far bigger than the postcards suggest, and the wrong way to see it is to charge down the central axis in an hour. The right way is to leave the axis for the quieter east and west palace courts, where the crowds thin and the courtyards breathe.
Plan around the mechanics, because they decide whether the day works. The museum caps daily numbers and sells only timed, real-name tickets released on a rolling seven-day window, so you cannot simply walk up; it is shut every Monday; and it is one-way, south in and north out. Get those three things right, come as early as you can stand, and the Forbidden City is one of the great half-days on earth.
Pins are plotted from real latitude and longitude on a 5° graticule. This is a schematic orientation diagram, not a political map — no boundaries are drawn.
The largest wooden hall in China and the ceremonial centre of the palace, standing on a three-tier marble terrace. Inside is the gilded dragon throne; on the terrace, the bronze guardian vessels and the water vats scarred by 1900 looting.
The emperor's private world behind the Gate of Heavenly Purity: the Palace of Heavenly Purity where he governed, the Hall of Union with its imperial seals, and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, once the empress's residence.
The northern garden at the end of the axis, with its pavilions, ancient cypresses and rockeries, and the central Qin'an Hall. Small, dense and a good place to slow down before the exit.
Two separate ¥10 exhibitions. The Halls of Treasures hold the imperial jades and gold; the Clock Gallery holds the Qing court's astonishing mechanical clocks. Both need their own ticket and both are worth it.
The Six Eastern and Six Western Palaces off the axis, where the consorts lived — including the dowager empress Cixi's Chuxiu Palace and the original state rooms of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. This is where the compound opens up.
The glazed Nine-Dragon Screen near the Halls of Treasures, and the four elegant corner towers on the walls and moat. Come back at dusk for the moat's reflection, which is the best photograph of the palace.
The essential first-time itinerary: imperial Beijing, the Terracotta Army in Xi'an and futuristic Shanghai, linked by high-speed rail.
From US$1,290 US$1,490/per person
Walk the restored battlements of Mutianyu, then camp overnight on a wild, unrestored stretch of the wall at Jinshanling.
From US$890/per person
View tourThe palace is in the dead centre of Beijing, so you arrive by metro. Line 1 stops at Tian'anmen East and Tian'anmen West, both a short walk from the Meridian Gate entrance in the south; allow a full 20 minutes for the walk, the security check and the approach across Tian'anmen Square if you come that way.
The exit at the north, the Gate of Divine Prowess, faces Jingshan Park across the street — a 15-minute climb to the Wanchun Pavilion there gives you the classic rooftop panorama looking back over the whole palace, and is the natural way to finish. Buses run along the north side of the moat for continuing onward.
You cannot drive to the entrance and there is no car park at the gates, so do not attempt a taxi to 'the Forbidden City ticket office'. Arrive at Meridian Gate as early as your ticket slot allows; by late morning the security queue at the south can run the length of the square.
| Month | Weather | Crowds | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C / -4°C · dry, cold | Quiet | Avoid |
| February | 6°C / -1°C · dry, cold | Very busy | Avoid |
| March | 14°C / 5°C · dry, cold | Moderate | Good |
| April | 21°C / 12°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| May | 27°C / 18°C · clear and mild | Busy | Best |
| June | 31°C / 23°C · hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| July | 32°C / 25°C · hot, humid | Busy | OK |
| August | 30°C / 24°C · hot, humid | Busy | OK |
| September | 26°C / 19°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| October | 20°C / 12°C · clear and mild | Very busy | Best |
| November | 12°C / 4°C · dry, cold | Quiet | Good |
| December | 5°C / -2°C · dry, cold | Quiet | Good |
Half a day is the honest unit. Two hours gets you the central axis; four lets you add the Six Palaces, the Halls of Treasures and the Halls of Clocks and still breathe. If you can, split it — a morning on the axis and an afternoon on the side courts — and finish with the view from Jingshan Park.
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Yes, and well in advance. The museum sells only timed, real-name tickets, released online on a rolling window seven days ahead, and caps daily numbers, so popular slots sell out fast. Book through the official Palace Museum channel with your passport details the moment the date opens; there is no reliable walk-up ticket.
No — it closes every Monday except on public holidays. If your only free day in Beijing is a Monday, plan the Great Wall or the Temple of Heaven instead and move the palace. The rest of the week it opens at 08:30, with last entry at 16:10 in peak season.
You enter only through the Meridian Gate in the south and exit through the Gate of Divine Prowess in the north. It is a one-way visit, so do not start from the north gate expecting to get in. Coming from Tian'anmen Square, walk north through the Gate of Heavenly Peace and Duanmen to reach Meridian Gate.
Two hours for the central axis alone — Meridian Gate, the three great halls, the three inner palaces, the imperial garden, out the north gate. Four hours if you add the Halls of Treasures, the Halls of Clocks and one set of the Six Palaces. It is a large site; walking it flat out is no fun.
First entry in the morning, or after 2pm. The gates open at 08:30 and the first hour is calm; early afternoon is the busiest, then it thins again after 14:00 until the 16:10 last entry. Weekdays outside the summer holidays and the October golden week are much quieter than weekends.
Jingshan Park directly north, for the rooftop view down over the palace, is the perfect finish and takes an hour. Tian'anmen Square and the National Museum sit to the south, on the approach. Wangfujing, five minutes east of the north gate, is the nearest place to eat after the visit.
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