The Gate of Heavenly Purity was the main portal between the outer and inner courts of the Forbidden City. Note the pair of gilded bronze lions guarding the entrance. The building jutting out from the front east side of the gate was home to a Starbucks, briefly, until protests saw it closed down. (You can still get a latte inside, ironically.)
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
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Enclosed by 3.5km of citadel walls at the very heart of Beijing, the Unesco-listed Forbidden City is China’s largest and best-preserved collection of…
2.81 MILES
An oasis of methodical Confucian design, the 267-hectare Temple of Heaven Park is unique. It originally served as a vast stage for solemn rites performed…
8.51 MILES
A marvel of Chinese garden design and one of Beijing's must-see attractions, the Summer Palace was the royal retreat for emperors fleeing the suffocating…
1.06 MILES
Flanked by triumphalist Soviet-style buildings, Tian'anmen Sq is an immense void of paved stone (440,000 sq metres, to be precise) at the symbolic centre…
0.76 MILES
Beihai Park, inside the old Imperial City, looks much as it would have done in the 18th century when it served as Emperor Qianlong's private gardens. The…
2.39 MILES
This immense fortress, part of the Ming City Wall Ruins Park, guarded the southeast corner of Beijing's city walls. Originally built in 1439 but repaired…
0.72 MILES
Instantly recognisable by its giant framed portrait of Mao, and guarded by two pairs of Ming dynasty stone lions, the double-eaved Gate of Heavenly Peace …
6.68 MILES
Contemporary art meets communist history at this thrilling enclave of international galleries installed within China's model factory complex of the 1950s…
Nearby attractions
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Enclosed by 3.5km of citadel walls at the very heart of Beijing, the Unesco-listed Forbidden City is China’s largest and best-preserved collection of…
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The third of the Great Halls is the Hall of Preserving Harmony, used for banquets and later for imperial examinations. Descending from the rear of the…
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This hall was the principal residence of the emperor in the Ming and early Qing dynasties, where the son of heaven slept and worked. Later in the Qing…
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In the late Qing dynasty, the Hall of Mental Cultivation was where empress dowagers Cixi and Cian took charge of the state affairs behind a screen, when…
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The middle of the three outer halls, the Hall of Union was the place for the empress to receive greetings from her high-ranking subjects during major…
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Behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the Hall of Central Harmony, which was used as the emperor’s transit lounge. Here he would make last-minute…
7. Palace of Eternal Longevity
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One of the six western palaces in the Forbidden City, this was the residence of various empresses and imperial concubines. The Chongzhen Emperor (1628…
8. Palace of Great Benevolence
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One of the six eastern palaces in the Forbidden City, this was a residence of imperial concubines. Emperor Kangxi, most exalted of the Qing emperors (or…