Which imperial palace complex in Beijing is a World Heritage Site?

The imperial palace complex in Beijing that is a World Heritage Site is the Forbidden City.

Built between 1406 and 1420 during the Ming dynasty, the Forbidden City became the residence and governing center of China’s emperors. It housed 24 emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties and remained the ceremonial and political heart of imperial China for roughly five centuries.

The walled complex is organized around grand courtyards, ceremonial halls, residential palaces, gardens, and service buildings. Its architecture expresses traditional Chinese ideas about hierarchy, symmetry, authority, and the emperor’s connection with heaven. The name reflects the historical restrictions that kept ordinary people from entering without official permission.

UNESCO inscribed it in 1987 as part of the “Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang.” After the last emperor’s departure, the complex became the Palace Museum in 1925. The Great Wall is a defensive network, the Temple of Heaven is a ritual complex, and the Summer Palace is a separate imperial retreat, so none is the palace complex identified by the question.