The Forbidden Gardens was built in 1997 for Ira P. H. Poon. Mr. Poon was a real estate mogul who wanted people of Asian descent to be educated on Asian culture aside from knowing about firecrackers and kung-fu. Although he lived in Seattle, he wanted the exhibit to be outdoors. He also wanted it to be accessible to a lot of Asians. Houston, then, had the 3rd largest Asian population in the country.

Today, the Forbidden Gardens is visited by people from around the world, especially those from China. The site, covering 40 acres of property, was built with an estimated cost of $20 million. It houses scale models of the Forbidden City of Beijing as well as the Temple of Heaven, and the Calming of the Heart Lodge.