Editing Forbidden City (section)

=== Surroundings ===
{{See also|Imperial City (Beijing)}}

[[File:Beijing city wall map vectorized.svg|thumb|left|Location of the Forbidden City in the historic center of Beijing]]

The palace complex is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the {{cvt|54|acre|adj=on|disp=flip}} [[Zhongshan Park (Beijing)|Zhongshan Park]], the sacrificial [[Imperial Ancestral Temple]], the {{cvt|171|acre|adj=on|disp=flip}} [[Beihai Park]], and the {{cvt|57|acre|adj=on|disp=flip}} [[Jingshan Park]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Symbolism in the Forbidden City: The Magnificent Design, Distinct Colors, and Lucky Numbers of China's Imperial Palace|last1=Gao|first1=Jie|url=http://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/symbolism-in-the-forbidden-city-the-magnificent-design-distinct-colors-and-lucky-numbers-of-chinas-imperial-palace/ |access-date=2021-11-18 |website=Association for Asian Studies |language=en-US |archive-date=18 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118074554/https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/symbolism-in-the-forbidden-city-the-magnificent-design-distinct-colors-and-lucky-numbers-of-chinas-imperial-palace/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Forbidden City is surrounded on three sides by imperial gardens. To the north is [[Jingshan Park]], also known as Prospect Hill, an artificial hill created from the soil excavated to build the moat and from nearby lakes.<ref name="Yu 20">p. 20, Yu (1984)</ref>

To the west lies [[Zhongnanhai]], a former royal garden centred on two connected lakes, which now serves as the central headquarters for the [[Chinese Communist Party]] and the [[State Council of the People's Republic of China]]. To the north-west lies [[Beihai Park]], also centred on a lake connected to the southern two, and a popular royal park.

To the south of the Forbidden City were two important shrines – the Imperial Shrine of Family or the [[Imperial Ancestral Temple]] ({{zh|c={{linktext|太|廟}}|p=Tàimiào}}) and the Imperial Shrine of State or [[Beijing Shejitan]] ({{zh|c={{linktext|社|稷|壇|}}|p=Shèjìtán}}), where the Emperor would venerate the spirits of his ancestors and the spirit of the nation, respectively. Today, these are the Beijing Labouring People's Cultural Hall<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.china.org.cn/english/features/beijing/31019.htm |title=Working People's Cultural Palace |access-date=2007-07-29 |publisher=China.org.cn |archive-date=11 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011195047/http://china.org.cn/english/features/beijing/31019.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Zhongshan Park (Beijing)|Zhongshan Park]] (commemorating [[Sun Yat-sen]]) respectively.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.china.org.cn/english/features/beijing/31020.htm |title=Zhongshan Park |access-date=2007-07-29 |publisher=China.org.cn |archive-date=19 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819102242/http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/beijing/31020.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

To the south, two nearly identical gatehouses stand along the main axis. They are the [[Duanmen|Upright Gate]] ({{zh|c={{linktext|端|门}}|p=Duānmén}}) and the more famous [[Tiananmen Gate]], which is decorated with a portrait of [[Mao Zedong]] in the centre and two placards to the left and right: "Long Live the People's Republic of China" ({{zh|c=中华人民共和国万岁|p=zhōnghuá rénmín gònghéguó wànsuì}}) and "Long live the Great Unity of the World's Peoples" ({{zh|c=世界人民大团结万岁|p=shìjiè rénmín dàtuánjié wànsuì}}). The Tiananmen Gate connects the Forbidden City precinct with the modern, symbolic centre of the Chinese state, Tiananmen Square.

While development is now tightly controlled in the vicinity of the Forbidden City, throughout the past century uncontrolled and sometimes politically motivated demolition and reconstruction has changed the character of the areas surrounding the Forbidden City. Since 2000, the Beijing municipal government has worked to evict governmental and military institutions occupying some historical buildings, and has established a park around the remaining parts of the Imperial City wall. In 2004, an ordinance relating to building height and planning restriction was renewed to establish the Imperial City area and the northern city area as a buffer zone for the Forbidden City.<ref>{{cite news |title=Forbidden City Buffer Zone Plan submitted to World Heritage conference |url=https://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2005-07/16/content_3225720.htm |publisher=Xinhua Net |date=2005-07-16 |access-date=2007-04-13 |language=zh |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207165716/https://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2005-07/16/content_3225720.htm |archive-date=7 December 2008}}</ref> In 2005, the Imperial City and [[Beihai Park|Beihai]] (as an extension item to the [[Summer Palace]]) were included in the shortlist for the next [[World Heritage Site]] in Beijing.<ref>{{cite news |first=Yang |last=Li |title=Beijing confirms 7 World Heritage alternate items; Large scale reconstruction of Imperial City halted |url=https://www.bj.xinhuanet.com/bjpd_sdzx/2005-06/04/content_4374144.htm |publisher=Xinhua Net |date=2005-06-04 |access-date=2007-04-13 |language=zh |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206151702/https://www.bj.xinhuanet.com/bjpd_sdzx/2005-06/04/content_4374144.htm |archive-date=6 February 2007}}</ref>