How to Visit the Forbidden City - An Insider’s Guide

As you know, the Forbidden City is the largest imperial palace worldwide and contains thousands of buildings. A visit inside can be both eye-opening and challenging. When planning a Forbidden City trip, consider your schedule and physical strength and skip some less-important spots if necessary. Here is an insider's Forbidden City travel guide for you to arrange a tour with different lengths.
 

The six most popular halls line along the central axis from south to north, respectively:

 Hall of Supreme Harmony - The place where the emperor ascended his throne and granted audience to visiting officials and where other important ceremonies were celebrated.

 

Click to enlarge it; More Forbidden City Maps

 Hall of Central Harmony - The place where the emperor rested on his way to the Hall of Supreme Harmony and interviewed ministers or officials from the Ministry of Rites; rehearsals for ceremonies were also held here.

 Hall of Preserved Harmony - Imperial banquets were often held here to entertain high officials. Emperors presided the final national examinations to select officials from intellectuals all over the country in this hall.

 Palace of Heavenly Purity - The bedroom and office of emperors. They also gave banquets here.

 Hall of Celestial and Terrestrial Union - Empresses received greetings from other concubines here. It was used to store the emperor and empress's imperial seals.

 Palace of Earthly Tranquility - The empress' bedroom.

 Besides the halls, the Treasure Gallery in the Palace of Tranquil Longevity and the Clock and Watch Gallery in the Hall for Ancestry Worship should not be missed. 

Inside Hall of Central Harmony

Forbidden City

 Below is a list of more exhibistions which may arouse your interest:
Painting and Calligraphy Gallery: Hall of Literary Glory
Ceramics Gallery: Hall of Martial Valor
Stone Drum Gallery: Eastern Corridor Rooms of the Hall of Imperial Supremacy
Gold and Silver Gallery: Palace of Great Brilliance
Jade Gallery: Palace of Accumulated Purity
Bronze Gallery: Palace of Celestial Favor, Palace of Eternal Harmony
Opera Gallery: Belvedere of Pleasant Sounds, Hall for Viewing Opera

Now, with the help of Forbidden City map, start your tour from the Meridian Gate - the only entrance to the Forbidden City! 
 

Meridian Gate → Gate of Supreme Harmony → Hall of Spreading Righteousness → Hall of Supreme Harmony → Hall of Central Harmony → Hall of Preserved Harmony → Gate of Heavenly Purity → Palace of Heavenly Purity → Hall of Celestial and Terrestrial Union → Palace of Earthly Tranquility → Imperial Garden → Gate of Divine Prowess

For tourists with a tight schedule, this is the most ideal visiting itinerary as it assembles the most magnificent imperial buildings in the Forbidden City.

Gate of Heavenly Purity

Imperial Garden

Meridian Gate → Hall of Literary Glory (Painting Gallery) → Gate of Supreme Harmony → Hall of Supreme Harmony → Hall of Central Harmony → Hall of Preserved Harmony → Hall for Ancestry Worship (Clock and Watch Gallery) → Palace of Heavenly Purity → Hall of Celestial and Terrestrial Union → Palace of Earthly Tranquility → Hall of Mental Cultivation → Six Western Palaces → Imperial Garden → Gate of Divine Prowess
 

Meridian Gate → Hall of Martial Valor (Pottery Gallery) → Gate of Supreme Harmony → Hall of Supreme Harmony → Hall of Central Harmony → Hall of Preserved Harmony → Palace of Heavenly Purity → Hall of Celestial and Terrestrial Union → Palace of Earthly Tranquility → Six Eastern Palaces → Hall of Abstinence → Palace of Tranquil Longevity (Treasure Gallery & Opera Museum) → Gate of Divine Prowess

The two half-day routes are similar, with slight differences in the selected galleries. Tourists can choose either according to personal interest.

Gate of Divine Prowess

Chengguang Gate

Meridian Gate → Hall of Martial Valor (Pottery Gallery) → Hall of Literary Glory (Painting Gallery) → Gate of Supreme Harmony → Hall of Supreme Harmony → Hall of Central Harmony → Hall of Preserved Harmony → Palace of Heavenly Purity → Hall of Celestial and Terrestrial Union → Palace of Earthly Tranquility → Hall of Mental Cultivation → Six Western Palaces → Imperial Garden → Six Eastern Palaces → Hall for Ancestry Worship (Clock and Watch Gallery) → Palace of Tranquil Longevity (Treasure Gallery) → Gate of Divine Prowess

This itinerary gathers all highlights in the Forbidden City. It requires physical strength as you need to take a long walk. You need to take some food for the one-day visit because there are few restaurants inside the Forbidden City and the food is costly.
 

1. Consider booking a guided tour for a better travel experience. It saves you the trouble of booking tickets online and queuing to collect tickets on the spot and helps to make your trip more organized. A knowledgeable Forbidden City guide can ensure you a fun trip even if you do not know much about Chinese history.

2. Jingshan Park opposite to the Gate of Divine Prowess is the best place to have a panoramic view of the imperial palace. Visitors are highly advised to combine your Forbidden City trip with Jingshan Park.

3. After getting out from Gate of Divine Prowess, you can go to the northwest or northeast Corner Towers to take some amazing photos. 

4. Wear comfortable shoes for the long walk. 

Gate of Heavenly Purity

Hall of Supreme Harmony

 

Tourists are suggested to bring their own food when visiting, for there are only few places inside the palace providing drinks and light meals. There is one restaurant next to the Archery Pavilion, west to the Treasure Gallery. It can be seen through the Gate of Great Fortune in the east side of Qianqingmen (Gate of Heavenly Purity) Square. Another place for food is in the west side of the Qianqingmen Square, besides The Office of Grand Council of State. Dong Chang Fang (East Long Room) is a row of houses about 200 meters east of the Gate of Divine Prowess. It was available for guardians to live in. Now, it is a service area with shops and restaurants for tourists. Additionally, there are shops at the Gate of Heavenly Purity, Hall of Mental Cultivation and the Imperial Garden. On the way from the Gate of Earthly Tranquility to the Imperial Garden, there are two cafes providing coffee and hot drinks.

 Read more: Imperial Icehouse: It is used as a restaurant now. 
 

 Quanjude Roast Duck (Qianmen) – Quanjude, almost the byword for Peking Roast Duck is a time-honored restaurant with more than one hundred years old. After leaving from Tiananmen Gate via the Meridian Gate, tourists can go through the Tiananmen Square to find the way leading to Qianmen Pedestrian Street.

 Donglaishun Muslim Restaurant (Qianmen) – Deriving from the cooking method of mutton when Kublai Khan went out for a battle, the sliced mutton rinsed in chafing dish served in Donglaishun is a feature food.

 Dasanyuan Restaurant (Jingshan) – Dasanyuan is a Cantonese restaurant originated in 1919. Its Jingshan branch restaurant is located in Jingshan Xijie, at the center of Jingshan Park, Beihai Park and the Gate of Divine Prowess. Roast Suckling Pig and Buddha Jumping over the Wall are the signature dishes.

 Donghuamen Snack Night Market - Compared with Wangfujing Snack Street, Donghuamen outside the East Flowery Gate (Donghuamen) has more snacks. Food price here is not cheap, like other well-known snack streets on this point. Donghuamen Snack Street is alive with people at night.  

 

Service Items	Note
Audio Guide Device	Available in several languages including Chinese, Cantonese, English, French, Japanese, German, Korean, Russian, Thai, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic and Italian. It can be rented from the tour guide service at the Meridian Gate (Wumen) and the Gate of Divine Prowess (Shenwumen). The cost for renting any version of the device is CNY 40 (Chinese and Cantonese are both CNY 20), along with a deposit of CNY 100.
Tour Guide Service	Chinese, English and Japanese-speaking tour guides are available. * For groups no more than 5 people: central axis: 1 hour, CNY 200; central axis and west route: 1.5 hours, CNY 300; central axis, west route, and treasure gallery: 2.5 hours, CNY 400 * For groups more than 5 people: an extra CNY 20 will be charged per person.
Commodity Service	Tourist souvenirs, books, food and drink as well as a post office are all available.
WiFi Service	It covers the core areas open to the public, including cultural relic exhibition halls, tourist resting areas, and dining areas. Visitors can search for the WiFi account “PalaceMuseum-WiFi” to access the WiFi service for free.
Broadcast	It is to the southwest of Jingyun Gate.
Bag Check Service	Bags can be deposited free of charge at the Meridian Gate and Gate of Divine Prowess from 8:30 to 18:00. If desired, bags can be carried free between the two gates after going through a security check.
Wheelchairs & Strollers	Available from the tour guide service at the Meridian Gate and Gate of Divine Prowess, free of charge.
Tourist Service Center	Located at the Gate of Supreme Harmony (Taihemen) and the Arrow Pavilion (Jianting).
Lounges	Located at the Left Gate of Inner Court (Neizuomen), west of the Meridian Gate, and the Gate of Loyal Obedience (Zhenshunmen)