The Forbidden City is the most famous ancient palace complex in my country and even the world. It was also the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is still well preserved. Almost every open day is full of tourists. Almost every tourist who goes to Beijing chooses to visit the Forbidden City. After all, this is the place where the emperor used to live. Here is a detailed guide to share with you.

Preparation for making an appointment: Follow the official account on WeChat - Palace Museum Audience Service. Make an appointment about a week in advance for the visit. You cannot enter without making an appointment. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Ticket price: The price to enter the Forbidden City is 60 yuan in peak season and 40 yuan in off-season. You can enter directly with your ID card. It is strongly recommended to buy tickets for the Treasure Museum and Clock Museum, which are 20 yuan. These two museums are on the east side of Kunning Palace.

The exhibits are all very exquisite and gorgeous and worth seeing.

Where is the entrance to the Forbidden City?

The only entrance to the Forbidden City is the Meridian Gate. There are three ways to enter. You can reach it from Tiananmen through Duanmen (there are many people). From Donghuamen/Xihuamen, go along East/West Tongzihe Road to reach the Meridian Gate side.

The entrance (which can protect the scenery of the city and river) is from Nanchang Street to Zhongshan Park. The ticket is 3 yuan per person. Go out from the east gate of the park and arrive at the Meridian Gate side entrance. Tips for skipping the queue: If you don’t want to squeeze in with the tour group from Tiananmen Square, you can take the subway

Get off at "Tiananmen West", then navigate to the west gate of Zhongshan Park, pass through Zhongshan Park, and walk to the east gate of Zhongshan Park. As soon as you come out, you will see the ticket gate of the Forbidden City.

But the park entrance fee is 3 yuan.

It takes about 10 minutes.

It is recommended that the three main halls on the central axis of the tour route - the East Treasure Hall - the Watch and Clock Hall - the East Sixth Palace - the Imperial Garden - the West Sixth Palace - the central axis of the Qianqing Palace, the Jiaotai Palace and the Kunning Palace.

As soon as you enter, you can take pictures at the Gate of Supreme Harmony and the Jinshui Bridge, because there are always a lot of people here. Take advantage of the sunshine and take pictures first, and then take a look at the Hall of Harmony in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Hall of Baohe.

Treasure Hall, Clock Hall: In front of the Clock Hall is a restaurant where you can buy ice cream (10 yuan).

The East Sixth Palace includes Yanxi Palace, Yonghe Palace, etc. Yanxi Palace is actually an unfinished Western-style building. You can learn about it.

Then you can see the Chuxiu Palace and Yikun Palace in the West Sixth Palace. The Chuxiu Palace is the residence of the Empress Dowager Cixi and is considered the most luxurious. The other palaces are similar and you don’t need to stay too much time.

Finally, when the people are almost dispersed, you can look at the Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Palace, and Kunning Palace in the middle. The Kunning Palace is decorated in the style of an emperor's wedding.

The recommended duration of the visit is 4-6 hours. Remember to bring dry food and water. There are restaurants and cafes in the Forbidden City. You can purchase them according to your needs.

After coming out, there was a corner coffee shop, and many people checked in.

Those who still have the strength to walk can continue to Jingshan Park to take panoramic photos, but I don’t.

Where is the best place to take pictures? As long as it is on the central axis of the building, there will be a lot of people, so give up decisively.

The Wuying Hall and Wenhua Hall on both sides of Taihe Gate are less crowded, so you can also go back and take pictures of the Meridian Gate.

There are some remote places in East Sixth Palace where there are not many people, which is suitable for taking pictures of the red walls and tiles on the corridor.