Xi, Trump visit three main halls of Forbidden City

BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan invited President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump to the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, after the U.S. president started his state visit to China in Beijing Wednesday afternoon.

During the tour of the ancient palace, they visited Taihedian, Zhonghedian and Baohedian, the three main halls of the Forbidden City.

Taihedian, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, is one of the largest wooden structures in China and the largest hall in the Forbidden City. Emperors of Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties held their enthronements and wedding ceremonies in the hall.

Zhonghedian, the Hall of Central Harmony, is a square building with windows on all four sides. Officials would kowtow to the emperor from here before he presided over grand ceremonies in Taihedian. The emperor examined sacrificial writings in Zhonghedian before offering sacrifices to the ancestors, to heaven and to earth.

Baohedian, the Hall of Preserving Harmony, served as the wedding venue for Emperor Shunzhi of Qing Dynasty. At every Chinese New Year's Eve and on the fifteenth day of the first month on the lunar calendar, emperors held banquets here to entertain heads of state, imperial kinsmen and high-ranking ministers.