Here, let's have a visual tour of the famous Forbidden City by those gorgeous photos listed below. The pictures of Forbidden City beautifully illustrate every detail of this ancient imperial palace. Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called gugong, in Chinese, used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Having been the seat of imperial power for some five centuries, the Forbidden City houses numerous treasures and curiosities attracting tourists.