Forbidden City

Covering unbelievable 720,000 square metres of land, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is the largest ancient palace in the world, serving as a home for emperors for almost half a millennium.

The most visited place in China with over 14 million visitors annually, this place has a lot to boast about. 980 buildings with mythical 9999 rooms, which was the biggest number of rooms one emperor could have, anything more than that was reserved for the "palace in the sky". Unfortunately, this belief was debunked, as the palace has "only" 8707 rooms.

Over a million pieces of art are stored in this facility, mainly from the Ming and Qing dynasties. This collection includes rare ceramics, paintings, documents, bronzeware, jade instruments and artifacts used by the imperial family. There are various temporary exhibitions mainly featuring ceramics and other art pieces from the ancient times. Check the official website to see which exhibition is currently in progress.

The best times to visit this place are spring and autumn, as summers can get pretty hot and humid, which in combination with the vast number of tourists creates an unpleasant atmosphere. Wear comfortable shoes, because touring this place includes a lot of walking.