The Forbidden City

Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, and Gu Gong in Chinese,lies at the city  center of  Beijing, covering an area of  72 hectares. It isrectangular in shape, 960 meters long from north to south and 750 meterswide from east to west. Twenty-four emperors of the Ming and Qing dynastiesruled from the Forbidden City. The last dynasty fell in 1911, but Emperor Puyistill lived in the inner court. It was not until 1925that the complex wasconverted into a museum. Since then the palace has been opened to thepublic. Ancient Chinese Astronomers believed that the Purple Star (Polaris)was in the center of heaven and the Heavenly Emperor lived in the PurplePalace. The Palace for the emperor on earth was so called the Purple City. Itwas forbidden to enter without special permission of the emperor. Hence itsname 'The Purple Forbidden City', usually 'The Forbidden City'.