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 6o soccer fields, spacious enough to accommodate half a million people.

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is located at the center of Beijing. First built in X406 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.

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,ooo 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.

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 z3-meter-high Maitreya, carved from a white sandalwood tree brought from Tibet, as well as Tibetan sculptures and a great copper cauldron.

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 i86o, British and French troops destroyed the Old Summer Palace and looted much of its treasures.

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 l0th, 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.

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.