The world has so many extraordinary buildings that would blow your mind but there’s one in China that would leave you speechless.
Dating back all the way to 1406, this place is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world and rightfully so.
The Forbidden City in Beijing is an imperial palace complex in the centre of Imperial City and for over 500 years, between 1420 to 1924, the palace served as the ceremonial and political centre of the Chinese government.
Today, the palace still holds significance as the most famous palace in all of Chinese history as well as the largest preserved royal complex still standing in the world.
In 1987 the Forbidden City was officially made a World Heritage Site and today welcomes millions of visitors from all corners of the earth.
What makes this palace different to others is just how massive it is. The complex covers an area of 728,000 square metres which has 980 buildings.
The combined floor space of the buildings is 150,001 square metres and they contain a staggering number of rooms – 9,999 it is claimed, though experts have shown it actually has just under 9,000.
Despite the disparity, it can be agreed that this palace is out of this world and of course with how influencial and colossal it is, it’s expected that this would be reflected in its monetary worth.
The Forbidden City’s most recent market value estimation which was in 2018, was noted as $70 billion (approximately £50 billion) making it not only the world’s most valuable palace but also the most valuable piece of real estate anywhere in the world.
Today, it is administered by the Palace Museum which inherited the royal palaces from the Ming and Qing dynasties of China.
The national museum complex opened to the public in 1925 and it currently features over 1.8 million pieces of art inlcuding painting, ceramics, seals, sculptures and bronze wares.
The Palace museum has a high season (April 1 to October 31) where it is open Tuesday to Sunday between 8:30 am and 5:00pm and a low season (November 1 to March 31) where it is also open Tuesday to Sunday but from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
During the high season, the admission fee is 60 CNY (£6.63) and visiting during the low season is slightly cheaper at 40 CNY (£4.42).
