Imperial City, Beijing

In 1368, the Ming armies conquered Dadu, and changed its name to "Beiping" (the two characters meaning "north" and "peace" or "pacified"), with the capital moved to Nanjing.

In 1370, the Hongwu Emperor's fourth son Zhu Di was created Prince of Yan, with seat in Beiping.

To the west of the Forbidden City are the Zhongnanhai and Beihai, which were surrounded by imperial gardens and collectively known as the Western Park or Xiyuan.

Further to the south was the "Corridor of a Thousand Steps" outside Chengtianmen Gate, to either side of which are the offices of the various government ministries.

Apart from a narrow area surrounding the lakes of Zhongnanhai and Beihai, the western parts of the Imperial City were given to princes and members of the Eight Banners as residential land.

Likewise, apart from a small number of warehouses, the eastern parts of the Imperial City were also given to members of the Eight Banners as residential land.

To the collection of temples in the Imperial City was added a Catholic church on the western shore of Zhongnanhai.

In 1914, the Corridor of a Thousand Steps was demolished to make way for Zhongshan Park, named after Sun Yat-sen.

Zhongnanhai became the presidential palace of the new government, housing the central headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council of the People's Republic of China.

In recent decade, the Beijing municipal government has restored several of these temples, and established a park around the remaining sections of the Imperial City wall.