The Shenyang Imperial Palace — known in Manchu as the Mukden Palace — is the only imperial palace complex in China outside Beijing, and predates the expansion of the Forbidden City by several decades. Nurhaci began construction in 1625, and his son and successor Huang Taiji completed the main halls in 1636, the year he proclaimed the Qing dynasty. When the Qing armies took Beijing in 1644, Shenyang became a secondary capital, and the palace was maintained and periodically expanded for another century.
The complex covers 60,000 square metres and contains over 300 buildings and 20 courtyards. The layout reflects Manchu and Shamanist symbolism rather than Han Chinese tradition — notably the Great Hall of State (Dazheng Dian), an octagonal pavilion used for major ceremonies, flanked by ten subsidiary pavilions for the eight Manchu banner commands plus two more. The contrast with the axial symmetry of the Forbidden City is striking. The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 2004, extended 2015) and houses a rich museum of imperial artefacts. Allow at least two to three hours.