In 2003, Chiu Kwong-chiu selected the Forbidden City as the key research theme. Between 2003 and 2005, Chiu visited the public areas of the Palace Museum as a visitor alone for field trips and analysis. He studied the correlation between the layout of the palace buildings in the central axis of the Forbidden City and the significance of traditional culture. He also tried to appreciate the beauty of the palatial layout from the perspectives of modern design and esthetic theories. In 2005, he published the research results in his book The Grand Forbidden City: The Imperial Axis. The publication of the book attracted widespread interest in the Forbidden City and the Palace Museum from the readers and the media in Hong Kong and Taiwan.