The rear part of the Palace is known as the“internal”portion and is where the emperor carried out daily activities and where his concubines lived.The central buildings in this part of the Palace are the Qianqing Palace，the Jiaotai Hall，and the Kunning Palace.Six eastern and six western buildings flank these halls and palaces.The architectural style of the rear part of the Palace is the same as the front part，but the arrangement of buildings is different.The front half presents an appearancethatisimposing，majestic，powerful，appropriate to symbolizing an emperor who is highestand almighty.The rear half appears more residential，with each building having a courtyard of its own，with flowers and scholar’s studios and places to eat and to rest.Emperor Qianlong lived and conducted his affairs at the very southernmost part of the internal portion of the Palace.Emperor Yongzheng moved his residence to the Yangxin Hall but he continued to conduct affairs here as well，reading memorials，dispatching officials，meeting with ministers.The Jiaotai Hall is located between the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace，signifying the meeting point of heaven and earth and all happy and peaceful things.The Kunning Palace is in the very rear of the“internal portion.”This is where the Ming-dynasty empresses lived，although it was made into a site of offerings to the gods during the Qing Dynasty.One room in this Palace is where the Emperor had his bridal suite.To the north of the Kunning Palace is the imperial garden，in which pine and cypress grow and various rare plants are raised.A garden of“grotesque rocks”and pavilions of various styles ornament this rear section of the palace.
There are no trees in the entire southern half of thePalace，since they would block the line of sight andprovide hiding places for anyone scheming to do bad deeds.Only in the most northernmost of the imperial palace can one find trees and flowers.
The outstanding architectural structures of the Palace were accomplished almost exclusively in wood.Yellow-glazed tiles adorn the roofs，white marble is used for platforms.The north-south axis of the central Palace buildings continues a line that extends beyond the Palace area.To the south，the line extends to Yongding Gate;to the North it extends through and is marked by the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower.This conscious placing of the Palace in a central position but also in a continuum is one of the features that scholars of architecture point to as contributing to the harmony，majesty，and grandeur of theoverallformofthePalace.ThePalaceisan expression of the concept of the union of“heavenly will”and the Chinese people.It represents the ancient cultural traditions of the Chinese nation，and is an outstanding accomplishment of craftsmen who were working more than five hundred years ago.The Palace is a symbol and also a distillation of Chinese history and culture.It is a place that any visitor to China must plan to see.
In strolling through the Palace，the first thing to enjoy is the architecture.Secondly，one shoul dview the treasuresdisplayedinthe exhibitio nrooms to east and west.The Palace Museum holds morethan one million rare and precious objects，or around one-sixth of the total number of documented cultural artifacts in China.Among these are many unique national treasures.Various parts of the Palace display clocks and watches，gems and treasures，and paintings，ceramics，bronzes，and other kinds of art through all dynasties in Chinese history.Gazing at these incomparable works，manyvisitorsareloathtoleave.Itisadvisablefor the visitor to allow enough time to enjoy the several thousand years of human creativity exhibited in this Museum.After Qing Dynasty ended，the Forbidden City was turned into a museum in October 1925.
