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Forbidden City
 The
Forbidden City is located at the center of Beijing.
First built in 1406 and completed in 1420, the city
served as the royal palace during the Ming and Qing
Dynasties. During that time, 24 emperors lived there.
Apart from the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of
Complete Harmony, the Hall of Preserving Harmony, and
the East and West Inner Palaces, tourists can also visit
the Exhibition Hall of Historical Relics, the Hall of
Treasure, the Hall of Paintings, the Hall of Arts and
Crafts, the Hall of Ceramics, the Hall of Bronze Ware
and the Hall of Clocks.
Temple of Heaven
The unique architectural features of the Temple of Heaven
delight numerologists, necromancers and the superstitious
- not to mention acoustic engineers and carpenters.
Shape, color and sound take on symbolic significance
there. The temples, seen from an aerial perspective,
are round, and the bases are square, derived from the
ancient Chinese belief that heaven is round and the
earth is square. Thus the north end of the park is semicircular
and the south end is square.
The Summer Palace
The largest and best-preserved imperial Chinese garden
is situated in the northwest part of Beijing. The grounds
are demarcated by Longevity Hill to the north and Kunming
Lake to the south. The lake occupies three-quarters
of the entire park. Longevity Hill is the focal point
of the Summer Palace. The panoramic view from the Hill
is well worth the climb. You can see the 17-Arch Bridge,
the Jade Belt Bridge, and a lovely stone pagoda on a
distant hill. The glazed golden tiles of the palace
roofs have inspired many traditional Chinese landscape
paintings.
The Site of the Ruins of Yuanmingyuan
Yuanmingyuan is the general name of the three gardens
that surround the Lake of Happiness, namely, Yuanming
Garden, Wanchun Garden and Changchun Garden. The construction
of the garden began in 1707 and took 150 years to complete.
During the Second Opium War in 1860, British and French
troops destroyed the Old Summer Palace and looted much
of its treasures.
Lama Temple
This Lama Temple was built as a mansion for Emperor
Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty when he was a prince.
In 1744, the temple was converted into a lamasery and
the home of a large number of monks from Mongolia and
Tibet. The lamasery has five halls. The prayer halls
contain many superb statues including the 23-meter-high
Maitreya, carved from a white sandalwood tree brought
from Tibet, as well as Tibetan sculptures and a great
copper cauldron.
Great Wall
"He Who Has Not Climbed the Great Wall Is Not a
Real Man" is a popular Chinese saying. The Wall
extends for 3,000 kilometers from the seaside in Shanhaiguan
in northeast China to Jiayu Pass in Gansu Province,
crossing five provinces and two autonomous regions.
The most imposing sections of the Great Wall today are
located at Badaling, Mutianyu and Jinshanling.
Zhoukoudian - Home of Peking Man
The famous home of Peking Man is located in Longgushan,
Zhoukoudian, 50 km southwest of Beijing. At the beginning
of the 19th century, a cave was found while diggers
were mining. Scientists and geologists began excavations
in 1921 and 1922. In 1972, large-scale excavations began
and large amounts of animal bones were unearthed. On
December 10th, 1972, the first complete cranium was
excavated. The relic site is now open to the public.
Beijing World Park
This is China's largest theme park containing mini replicas
of 106 renowned scenic spots from 30 countries, including
the Pyramids, the Eiffel Tower and the White House.
Tian'anmen Square
Tian'anmen Square is one of the largest city squares in
the world. It is situated in the heart of Beijing. The
square was built in 1417 and was the entrance gate to
the Forbidden City. Now the square stretches 880 meters
from north to south and 500 meters from east to west.
The total area is 440,000 square meters. That's about
the size of 60 soccer fields, spacious enough to accommodate
half a million people.
Chinese Ethnic Culture Museum
China is home to 55 minority ethnic groups, each with
a diverse cultural heritage, different customs and dress
as well as unique arts and crafts. The Chinese Ethnic
Culture Museum is located in the northwest of Beijing.
Jingshan Park
Jingshan Park, or Coal Hill is located north of the Forbidden
City. It is said that Ming emperors kept emergency supplies
of coal hidden in the hill.
On the summit is the Ten Thousand Springs Pavilion, which
used to be the highest point in the old city. On a clear
day, you can see the former imperial palace, Beihai Park
and the Drum and Bell Towers.
The Miaoguan Pavilion is best known as the place where
the last Ming Emperor hung himself from a locust tree
when the city fell into the hands of the peasant army
led by Li Zicheng.
Grand View Garden
Grand View Garden is located in the southeast of Beijing.
It was created in 1986 and modeled on the garden described
in the classic novel The Dream of Red Mansion, an 18th
century novel written by Cao Xueqin (1715-1763).
It contains a landscaped lake surrounded by forests
and rockery, and pavilions made of wood according to
traditional gardening layouts of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
All the buildings are named after buildings in the novel
such as "Bamboo Lodge," "Warm Scented
Arbor," "Studio of Autumn Freshness"
and "Lotus Fragrance Pavilion."
China Art Gallery
China Art Gallery was established in 1962 to exhibit
outstanding works of modern Chinese artists. The gallery
is divided into 14 exhibition halls housing 10,000 paintings.
From 1962 to 1995, the Gallery organized over 1,000
exhibitions ranging from photography, calligraphy to
stamp collections.
Beijing Art Museum of Stone Carving
Beijing Art Museum of Stone Carving is the first museum
in China specializing in the collection and exhibition
of stone carvings. The museum is located in Zhenjue
Temple (Five Pagodas Temple), built some 600 years ago.
The Diamond Seat pagoda in the temple was built in the
1470s. It is built with stone and bricks and decorated
with carved slabs of blue and white granites.
The Museum has a collection of more than 1,200 artifacts,
with 600 items on display. There is also an exhibition
titled "Man and Stone Carvings Throughout Chinese
History," displaying 69 rare stone carvings dated
from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.
Beijing Aviation Museum
Beijing Aviation Museum was founded in 1986. The Museum
has two exhibition halls and a 7,200-square-meter airfield.
Dozens of aircrafts from countries around the globe
are on display, including the P-61 "Black Widow,"
P-47 "Thunderbolt," "Harrier" and
"Beijing No.1." Exhibits include engines,
instruments and weapons. There are also numerous models,
pictures, movies and TV presentations.
Capital Museum
The Capital Museum, located in the Confucius Temple
in Guozijian Street, Dongcheng District, is a state-run
Museum which houses nearly 200,000 valuable historical
relics unearthed in Beijing, including stoneware, bronzes,
ceramics, steles, calligraphy works, paintings, jade
ware and ancient coins.
The museum has hosted hundreds of exhibitions in China
and many foreign countries such as Japan, the United
States, Malaysia and Singapore.
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