The Palace Museum

China's most important museum, established in 1925 in the buildings of the former imperial palace - the Forbidden City. The complex was built 1406-1420 under the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty and served as residence to 24 emperors until Puyi's abdication in 1912. After the founding of the Republic the inner court was sealed off until the palace opened to the public as a museum in 1925. During the Japanese invasion and civil war, curators evacuated tens of thousands of artworks - part of which reached Taiwan in 1949 and formed the core of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Today the Beijing institution shows imperial painting, calligraphy, bronzes, jade, porcelain and court furnishings. Visitors enter through the Meridian Gate and traverse the south-north axis past the three great audience halls.