Warwick International Apartments Beijing

'PURPLE' FORBIDDEN CITY
In Chinese the Forbidden City is called Purple Forbidden City. 'Purple' doesn't refer to the color of the buildings or walls, but has a mythological origin. It is said that the Emperor of Heaven has his palaces in the region of the North Star, of which purple is the symbolic color. The abode of the temporal emperor, therefore, is supposed to have the same color. The Purple Forbidden City was inaccessible to the common people. Even the highest civil and military officers could not enter it without good reason.