The Forbidden City

The physical, political and symbolic heart of Imperial China, the Forbidden City is a staggering feat of palace building. Towering perimeter walls (cemented together by glutinous rice) enclose symmetrically aligned halls and pavilions from which two dynasties of Emperors ruled ‘all under heaven’ for six centuries. These days it’s perennially packed with tourists, but before the end of the Qing in 1911, the palace would have been teeming with servants, including vast harems of hand-picked concubines guarded over by quarrelsome, scheming eunuchs.

With a reported 9,999 buildings across 74 acres, you’re likely to run into palace fatigue if you try to see it all. I usually enter via the quieter north gate where the most interesting buildings and gardens lie, and work my way south only as far as the Hall of Supreme Harmony. More than enough for one day.