Zhongnanhai

A walled compound of lakes and former imperial gardens immediately west of the Forbidden City, Zhongnanhai serves as the central headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council. Its name refers to the Central and Southern Seas, two of the linked lakes around which Ming and Qing pavilions and bridges were arranged. Closed to the public and heavily guarded, it is glimpsed only from beyond its red walls along Chang'an Avenue, one of the country's most symbolically charged addresses.