Yay, The Forbidden City Is Now Free for Kids!

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Great news! On Nov 29, the Forbidden City announced that minors can now visit for free, including children under the age of 6 and/or 1.2 meters, as well as primary and secondary school students who book appointments on Tuesdays.

Tickets are available starting today via the Palace Museum’s website. During the trial period, this venerable institution will be working to improve their ticketing management service, which seemed to have experienced some difficulties this past week when it was announced that they would be selling a limited number of annual passes.

So what’s there for kids to do at the Forbidden City besides getting their step count in?

How about learning a slice of history, courtesy of Tell Me China? We distilled the top Forbidden City fun facts just for you!

Forbidden City was the palace of the Chinese emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is located in the heart of Beijing, the beloved capital city of China. What's more, it's the largest ancient palace in the world!

The Forbidden City was built under the orders of the powerful Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty between the years 1406 and 1420.

More than 1 million people worked on the construction of the palatial grounds.

The Forbidden City is enormous. It covers an area of 178 acres and includes 90 palaces with courtyards, 980 buildings, and at least 8,700 rooms.

When the palace was completed, the Yongle Emperor moved the capital of the empire to Beijing City.

The Forbidden City also served as a fortress to protect the Emperor and his family, as it is surrounded by a 26-foot high wall and a 170-foot wide moat.

24 different Chinese emperors lived in the palace over the course of nearly 500 years.

The last emperor of China continued to live in the Forbidden City for 12 years after he abdicated the throne in 1912.

So what are you waiting for?! Get out there and explore this monument to human ingenuity and China's fascinating history! Then pop over to our comments section and tell us what you and your family discovered!

Images: Pexels

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