LadiesandGentlemen:

　　Iampleasedtoserveasyourguidetoday.

　　Thisisthepalacemuseum;alsoknowasthePurpleForbiddenCity.ItisthelargestandmostwellreservedimperialresidenceinChinatoday.UnderMingEmperorYongle,constructionbeganin1406.Ittook14yearstobuildtheForbiddenCity.ThefirstrulerwhoactuallylivedherewasMingEmperorZhudi.Forfivecenturiesthereafter,itcontinuedtobetheresidenceof23successiveemperorsuntil1911whenQingEmperorPuyiwasforcedtoabdicatethethrone.In1987,theUnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganizationrecognizedtheForbiddenCitywasaworldculturallegacy.

　　ItisbelievedthatthePalaceMuseum,orZiJinCheng(PurpleForbiddenCity),gotitsnamefromastronomyfolklore,TheancientastronomersdividedtheconstellationsintogroupsandcenteredthemaroundtheZiweiYuan(NorthStar).TheconstellationcontainingtheNorthStarwascalledtheConstellationofHeavenlyGodandstaritselfwascalledthepurplepalace.Becausetheemperorwassupposedlythesonoftheheavenlygods,hiscentralanddominantpositionwouldbefurtherhighlightedtheuseofthewordpurpleinthenameofhisresidence.Infolklore,theterm“aneasternpurplecloudisdrifting”becameametaphorforauspiciouseventsafterapurplecloudwasseendriftingeastwardimmediatelybeforethearrivalofanancientphilosopher,LaoZi,totheHanghuPass.Here,purpleisassociatedwithauspiciousdevelopments.Thewordjin(forbidden)isself-explanatoryastheimperialpalacewasheavilyguardedandoff-explanatoryastheimperialpalacewasheavilyguardedandoff-limitstoordinarypeople.

　　Theredandyellowusedonthepalacewallsandroofsarealsosymbolic.Redrepresentshappiness,goodfortuneandwealth.YellowisthecoloroftheearthontheLoessPlateau,theoriginalhomeoftheChinesepeople.YellowbecameanimperialcolorduringtheTangdynasty,whenonlymembersoftheroyalfamilywereallowedtowearitanduseitintheirarchitecture.

　　TheForbiddenCityisrectangularinshape.Itis960meterslongfromnorthtosouthand750meterwidefromeastwest.Ithas9,900roomsunderatotalroofarea150,000squaremeters.

　　抱歉没有结束语