The Palace Museum

The Palace Museum is a national museum, housed in the former Chinese Imperial Palace, in the architectural complex, known as the Forbidden City, in Beijing. Listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is one of the most popular tourist attractions.

The Museum covers 74 hectares and since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant color in the Forbidden City. Roofs are yellow glazed tiles with decorations painted yellow; even the bricks on the ground are yellow. However, Wenyuange, the royal library, has a black roof, as it was believed black represented water then and could extinguish fire.

Established in 1925, the Palace Museum collections consists of numerous rare treasures, artwork and artifacts, most were in the possession of the imperial families of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Museum holds 340,000 pieces of ceramics and porcelain, with nearly 50,000 paintings. Added to the collections were, ancient paintings, scrolls, and calligraphy.

Its treasured collection later included: pottery, bronze, gold and silver wares; embroidery and sculptures, jade and lacquer wares, jewelry and accessories; clocks and medicines; furniture and furnishings; historical documents and court articles.