故宫(gù gōng) - Forbidden City in Mandarin

故宫 (gù gōng) is the Forbidden City, the former imperial palace at the heart of Beijing. 故 (gù) means "former, old" and 宫 (gōng) means "palace", so together they say "former palace", the residence the emperors left behind once imperial rule ended in 1912.

Its full, formal name is 故宫博物院 (gù gōng bówùyuàn), "the Palace Museum", since the complex is now run as a museum, but 故宫 (gù gōng) alone is what everyone says and what appears on maps and metro signs. It sits behind Tiananmen Square, 天安门 (tiān'ānmén), and remains one of the most visited sites in China.

For learners, 故宫 (gù gōng) is a useful anchor for a small cluster of history and tourism vocabulary: 皇帝 (huángdì), "emperor", 宫殿 (gōngdiàn), "palace hall", and 历史 (lìshǐ), "history", all turn up naturally in any conversation or reading about the place.