[6][7] Due to this increased pressure, the management has set a daily limit for visitors of 80,000 since 2015 to protect the structure and the experience.

For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the emperor and his household, and the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.

Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms[9] and covers 720,000 square metres (7,800,000 sq ft).

[12] The Palace Museum was then established in the Forbidden City on Double Ten Day (October 10), 1925.

[15] From 1933, the threat of Japanese invasion forced the evacuation of the most important parts of the museum's collection.

[18] Under the government of the People's Republic of China, the museum conducted a new audit as well as a thorough search of the Forbidden City, uncovering a number of important items.

[14] From 1933, the threat of Japanese invasion forced the evacuation of the most important parts of the museum's collection.

"[21] At the end of 2016, the Palace Museum held a press conference, announcing that 55,132 previously unlisted items had been discovered in an inventory check carried out from 2014 to 2016.

The personal interest of emperors such as Qianlong meant that one of the most important collections of paintings in Chinese history was held at the palace.

The pre-Yuan dynasty part of the collection includes several pieces famed throughout history, as well as artifacts from more recent archaeological discoveries.

[26] The Palace Museum has one of the largest collections of mechanical timepieces of the 18th and 19th centuries in the world, with more than 1,000 pieces.

Foreign pieces came from countries including Britain, France, Switzerland, the United States and Japan.

[28] In addition to works of art, a large proportion of the museum's collection consists of the artifacts of the imperial court.

This comprehensive collection preserves the daily life and ceremonial protocols of the imperial era.

There are eleven dedicated themed exhibitions halls: The Palace Museum operates several academic organizations.

The laboratories are: The studios are: The curator of the museum is Wang Xudong, formerly director of Dunhuang Research Academy.

However, its use for this purpose is strictly limited, due to the heavy impact of equipment and performance on the ancient structures.