Located in the heart of Beijing, the Palace Museum is approached from the south through the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tian'an men). Ten-meter-high walls and a fifty-two-meter -wide moat surround the palace. Measuring 961 meters from north to south and 753 meters from east to west, the expansive architectural complex covers an area of 1,110,000 square meters. Each of the four sides has one gate, namely, the Meridian Gate (Wu men) on the south, the Gate of Divine Prowess (Shenwu men) on the north, the Eastern and Western Prosperity Gates (Donghua men and Xihua men).

Immediately to the north of the Palace Museum is Prospect Hill (Jing shan, also called Coal Hill), while the Wangfujing and Zhongnanhai neighborhoods lie to the east and west, respectively. Visitors will be excited to find a wide variety of historic sites, scenic parks, shopping malls, museums, and theatres in the vicinity of the Forbidden City. Conveniently located bus stops and subway stations provide easy access to transportation.