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The Forbidden City, built between 1406 and 1420, served for 500 years (until the end of the imperial era in 1911) as the seat of all power in China, the throne of the Son of Heaven and the private residence of all the Ming and Qing dynasty emperors. The complex consists of 980 buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft).<br/><br/> The White Dagoba (Bai Ta) is a Tibetan Buddhist shrine built in 1651 to commemorate the first visit to Beijing by a Dalai Lama.
The Drum (Gǔlóu) and Bell (Zhōnglóu) towers were originally built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan (r.1260-1294). Emperor Yongle (r. 1402-1424) rebuilt the towers in 1420 and they were again renovated during the reign of Qing Emperor Jiaqing (r. 1796 - 1820).<br/><br/> Both the Drum and Bell towers were used as timekeepers during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.