The Chinese emperors built enormous imperial palaces in ancient China. The most famous palace still standing today is the Forbidden City in Beijing. But there are, of course, lesser known palaces around the country such as the Shenyang Imperial Palace, as above, built by the Manchurian emperors in 1625. In ancient China, the palace was a huge imperial complex in which the court, civil government, royal garden and defensive fortress were located. It contained many buildings with large halls for ceremonies and official business, temples, towers, residences, galleries, courtyards and gardens and was surrounded by walls and moats.
