Located in the heart of Beijing's Municipality, the Forbidden City is one of the world's best preserved historic palace complexes. As an imperial palace built during the Ming dynasty it continued as the home of the Chinese Emperor and the political and ceremonial seat of governance until the end of the Qing dynasty.

Zijin Cheng was the name given to the Forbidden City in Chinese, literally meaning the home of the Celestial Emperor. Since the palace was the abode of the Celestial Emperor's earthly counterpart no one was allowed to enter or leave the premises without permission, hence the term Forbidden City.

The large complex encompasses a total of 980 buildings, walled in by an 8 meter high city wall and a 6 meter deep, 50 meter wide moat. The wall has two gates on either side known as the Meridian Gate and the Gate of Divine Might which were the only entry-exit points into the palace complex. Inside the complex two separate sections known as the Outer Court and the Inner Court can be found. The Outer Court is home to a number of traditional Chinese buildings such as the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Preserving Harmony and the Hall of Central Harmony. These buildings were used for government meetings, coronations, investitures and royal weddings.

The Inner Court was the sanctum of the Emperor and his family; the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, the Palace of Heavenly Purity and the Hall Union can be seen here. These buildings were used for a variety of purposes such as holding important audiences and Shamanist worship while some buildings also served as the residence of the Emperor and his family.

Officially demarcated as a World Heritage Site in 1987, the complex exemplifies Chinese palatial architecture and also holds many priceless Chinese artifacts and artworks. The Palace Museum houses over a million different artifacts while the libraries are known to hold important documents and ancient writings. Among the collection are traditional Chinese ceramic items, more than 50,000 paintings, bronze ware that is almost 4000 years old and exquisite Jade sculpture.

The civic set up of Beijing is still centered on the Forbidden City, hotels and other important buildings in modern day China are located close to this imperial wonder. Being a Beijing hotel near Forbidden City, the Grand Millennium Beijing allows its visitors to experience one of the most important monuments of Ancient China.