As known as the former Forbidden City, built between 1406 and 1420 in the center of Beijing city proper. It had been the imperial residence of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing (1368-1911 AD dynasties. One of the largest and best-preserved palace complexes in the world, it has become the Palace Museum since the 1950s. Here are collected around a million rare and valuable objects. Covering an area of 720,000 square meters, the Palace has a total floor space of some 150,000 square meters with 9,999 room units. The Throne Hall--Hall of Supreme Harmony --is China's tallest ancient palace building of timber, where during the reign of the Ming and Qing emperors all the important national ceremonies took place. With yellow tiles over red walls, gilded doors behind vermilion colonnades, and carved white marble balustrades around, the palace halls in symmetrical array represent the acme of China's ancient architectural art. About one million pieces of rare cultural relics and art works are housed in the museum.