Forbidden City offers rare night tour

The night visitors will climb up to the Meridian Gate on the south side and walk through the southern and eastern sections of walls, which will be lighted by red lanterns. Hanging such lanterns is traditional during the festival, which falls on Tuesday, the 15th day of the first month in the lunar calendar.

Some areas near the walls will be illuminated to offer guests a better night view. A digital projection will re-create a scene from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) landscape painting A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains, on some of the palace's roofs. The painting is part of a key collection of the museum.

All visitors will leave the palace through the Gate of Divine Prowess in the north.