摘要
For much of the past century,the Forbidden City has been the heart of Beijing.The 180-acre compound,where emperors and their advisers plotted China's course for centuries,was stripped of its purpose when the last emperor lost his power in 1912.Since then,the palace grounds have at times lain empty or been treated as a perfunctory museum,with most of the halls closed to the public and the few that were open crowded with tourists on package tours.
