Attractions and Sightseeings in Beijing

Tour One: The Great Wall
Without a doubt, the Great Wall is one of the most amazing structures ever built. Seen from a distance, the Wall is an awesome spectacle, snaking across the hills of northern China seemingly without end. It stretches from Shan Hai Guan Pass on the east coast of China to the Jia Yu Guan Pass in the Gobi Desert, far to the west. Originally built 2,000 years ago in the Qing Dynasty (221-207 BC), the Wall was designed to keep out foreign invaders—in which capacity it succeeded at times and failed dismally at others. Constructed with beacon towers, it also served as an enemy alert system by using smoke systems to warn of approaching enemies. In peacetime, the Wall has proved useful as a highway, transporting people and supplies over large distances. Most stretches of the Wall close to Beijing were rebuilt or re-fortified during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The Great Wall has now become a major tourist attraction, drawing thousands of visitors every day, and it was listed by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the world heritages. There are three sections near Beijing open to tourists: Ba Da Ling, Mu Tian Yu and Si Ma Tai.

The majority of visitors see Ba Da Ling, which is relatively close (70 kilometers) to the city. Restored in 1957, Ba Da Ling is the most commercial section of the Wall and comes with such modern conveniences as restaurants and a cinema. You can buy an "I climbed the Great Wall" T-shirt from hawkers, regardless of whether you made it under your own steam or took the cable car! Mu Tian Yu, 90 kilometres from Beijing, is the second site of the wall open to tourists and is also fairly commercial. For those who want to see the Great Wall in an unspoiled state, Si Mi Tai is the place to go. You can spend an enjoyable day hiking there and the site is quieter and less crowded than Ba Da Ling or Mu Tian Yu. Although both peaceful and beautiful, Si Ma Tai is also a physical challenge. Some parts of the wall are very steep and can be dangerous so it is best not to go alone. Wear sturdy shoes and take a knapsack to keep your hands free. Si Ma Tai is currently undergoing renovations, with a cable car installed to increase convenience.

Great Wall at Ba Da Ling:

Located 70 kilometers from the city proper, this is the main section of the Wall featured on all tour routes. It is the most heavily renovated, convenient, commercialized and crowded section. Centered at Wong Cheng, it extends southward to the highest point Haohanpo (heroes slope) and northward to Shierlou (twelve buildings), with a total length of approximately 5,700metres, of which 3,700 meters is open to the public and 2,000 meters for night viewing. There are cable cars to help visitors reach the top. The tourist area also includes a Great Wall Museum and a Cinerama cinema.

Great Wall at Mu Tian Yu:
To the east of the Great Wall at Ba Da Ling and 90 kilometers from the city is this restored section of the Great Wall. This three- kilometer stretch has 25 beacon towers, watch towers and lodging houses. Historically, the construction here required the largest number of laborers to construct and produced work of extremely high quality. It requires a more rigorous climb than Ba Da Ling, but the views are more striking and there are cable cars to take you to the top and even the option of an exhilarating toboggan ride back down.

Great Wall at Si Ma Tai:
The Simatai Great Wall, two hours drive from Beijing in northeastern Miyun County, is renowned for its precipitous topography. Built by the Ming Dynasty general Qi Ji Guang, it is one of the few stretches of the Wall that still preserve the original construction features of that period. It not only incorporates differing characteristics from other Wall sections, but also displays some features not found elsewhere. To the west 20 watchtowers look out over gently sloping hills. To the east are 15 watchtowers atop peaks up to 1,000 meters high. The views are unparalleled.

Tour Two—The Temple Tour: Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Lama Temple
It is unlikely you will have time to tackle all four of these attractions in one day. The Forbidden City alone takes at least half a day to cover thoroughly. Therefore, any two or three sites per day is a reasonable pace.

Forbidden City (Gu Gong)
At the city center is the imperial palace complex of 24 Ming and Qing dynasty emperors. In imperial times it was called as the Purple Forbidden City from the association of the emperors with the color of the Pole Star. Surrounded by 10 meter (32 feet) high walls and gates and a 50m ( 164 ft .) wide moat, it was inaccessible to ordinary people, but well populated by imperial family members, their servants and staffs, officials, and guards.

The major ceremonial buildings of the palace are aligned on a north-south axis that extends beyond the walls toward the Temple of Heaven complex and Yongding Gate in the south. The main entrance to the palace complex is via the Meridian Gate ( Wumen ), from which the New Year was announced each year by the emperor, proclamations were read, and the fate of prisoners decided. Past five white marble bridges and the Gate of Supreme Harmony, a great courtyard could accommodate up to several thousand people for state ceremonies such as the imperial weddings.

The three most important ceremonial buildings are on the north-south axis, raised on a high white marble terrace, and accessed by ramps carved with ornate dragons over which the emperor was carried in a palanquin. The three main halls and associated side buildings formed the outer courtyard of the Forbidden City , devoted primarily to official and ceremonial functions, but including imperial libraries and studies. The inner chambers at the rear of the Forbidden City included private living and sleeping quarters of the imperial family, divided into three palaces and twelve courtyards. The Western Palaces were the residences of empresses, concubines, and princes. The Eastern Palace halls are now used as museum exhibition s paces, devoted to ritual bronze vessels, ceramics, craft objects, antique clocks, and paintings, including objects from the imperial collections and archaeological finds. The back precincts include the Palace of Aging Peacefully (Ningshou Gong) where the Qianlong Emperor of the late 18th century spent his retirement years.  

Summer Palace (Yi He Yuan)
The Summer Palace landscape, dominated mainly by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, covers an area of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is under water. Its 70,000 square meters of building space features a variety of palaces, gardens and other ancient-style architectural structures. Well known for its large and priceless collection of cultural relics, it was among the first group of historical and cultural heritage sites in China to be placed under special state protection.

The Summer Palace, originally named Qingyi Yuan or the Garden of Clear Ripples, was first constructed in 1750. It was razed to the ground by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860. The Government of the Qing Dynasty started to rebuild it in 1886 with funds that it had misappropriated from the Imperial Navy and other sources. Renamed two years later as Yihe Yuan or the Garden of Health and Harmony, it was supposed to serve as a summer resort for the Empress Dowager Cixi. Known also as the Summer Palace, it was ravaged by the Allied Forces of the Eight Powers that invaded China in 1900. The damage was repairedin 1902. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Summer Palace has undergone several major renovations. Its major attractions such as the Four Great Regions, Suzhou Street, the Pavilion of Bright Scenery, the Hall of Serenity, the Wenchang Galleries and the Plowing and Weaving Scenery Area have been successively restored.

The Summer Palace is a monument to classical Chinese architecture, in terms of both garden design and construction. Borrowing scenes from surrounding landscapes, it radiates not only the grandeur of an imperial garden but also the beauty of nature in a seamless combination that best illustrates the guiding principle of traditional Chinese garden design: “The works of men should match the works of Heaven”. In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List.

Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan)
Located in the southern part of the city, close to the main north-south axis leading to the Forbidden City, is the Temple of Heaven complex of ritual buildings. The halls and altars here are round, symbolic of heaven. A counterpart Earth Altar in the north of the city uses the square profile symbolic of earth; temples of the sun (in the east) and moon (west) complete a ceremonial surround for Beijing that made it not only a political capital but also a ritual center, shaped in the form of a cosmic diagram.

The emperor, as Son of Heaven, performed priestly as well as ruling functions. Each year on the day of the winter solstice, following three days of fasting and meditation, the emperor would offer sacrifices and pray for a good harvest at the Altar of Heaven, a three-tiered round white marble structure, built in 1530 and reconstructed in 1740. The round altar sits on a square base, symbolic of the meeting of heaven and earth, a theme carried through in the shape of the complex as a whole, a semicircle atop a square.

Just north of the Altar of Heaven is the octagonal Imperial Vault of Heaven building, which contained tablets of the imperial ancestors and astronomical plaques of the constellations and meteorological occurrences. The outer wall of the Vault of Heaven Hall is known as the Echo Wall, from its ability to transmit even whispered voices around its length. Farther north is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, originally built in 1420, remodeled in 1545, destroyed by lightning in 1889, and rebuilt in the following year, in part using Oregon fir wood for the supporting pillars.
 
West of these buildings is the Altar of Farming, where each year in spring the emperor personally ploughed eight furrows to symbolically assure a good harvest. The Hall of the Year Gods (now housing the Museum of Chinese Architecture) was where the emperor sacrificed to the gods of the year and asked for a good harvest. it was listed by UNESCO in 1998 as one of the world heritages.

Lama Temple (Yong He Gong)
The most significant Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet itself, the Lama Temple is a beautiful structure containing a massive statue of Buddha carved from sandalwood (the largest such statue in the world). Situated in the northeast part of Beijing city, it is a renowned lama temple of the Yellow Hat Sect of Lamaism.

Lama Temple features five large halls and five courtyards with beautifully decorative archways, upturned eaves and carved details. It houses a treasury of Buddhist art, including sculptured images of gods, demons and Buddhas, as well as Tibetan-style murals.

After Yongzheng's death in 1735, his coffin was placed in the temple. Emperor Qianlong, his successor, upgraded Yonghegong to an imperial palace with its turquoise tiles replaced by yellow tiles (yellow was the imperial color in the Qing Dynasty). During the 9th year of Emperor Qian Long's reign (1744), it was converted into a lamasery and became a residence for large numbers of monks from Mongolia and Tibet.This is a kind of friendly policy that the Qing dynasty deal with the relation with Mongolia and Tibet. That is the reason why the Great Wall was not massive constructed during the Qing dynasty.

Other Scenic Attractions:

Tiananmen Square
The Tiananmen Square, known as the largest central city square in the world, is located in the center of Beijing. It is 880 meters from north to south, and 500 meters from east to west, occupies a total area of 440,000 square meters and can hold one million people for public gathering. The grandeur Tiananmen Gate Tower, the national symbol, sites to the north tip of the square; the Five-Star Red Flag flies high on the square; the Monument to the People's Heroes dominates the center; the Great Hall of the People and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History site to the east and west of it; while in the south of the square are Chairman Mao Memorial Hall and the Qianmen gate,. Over several hundred years, the square viewed and experienced many democracy meetings and demonstrations. The Square is listed among the top Beijing's 16 scenic spots and tens of thousands of people visit daily.

Huabiao
Right beside a pair of marble lions in front of the Tian'anmen Gate stand obelisk of marble engraved with entwisting dragons and clouds - an ornamental architecture called Huabiao. Its history can be traced back to the Yao and Shun, legendary kings in remote antiquity. To solicit public criticism, it is said that wooden crosses were erected at marketplaces for people to write down complaints. Later during the Han (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.) wooden posts were replaced by stone pillars, which gradually became the sumptuous columns to palace gates. Huabiao can be usually found in imperial gardens and mausoleums.

On the top is a plate-shape flat called Chenglupan (dew-collecting) on which squats an animal called kong (a legendary animal for watch-keeping) facing to the south. They were called "Wangjungui" or "looking forward to the emperor's return," who watched over the emperor's excursions and called him back. The couple inside the gate facing north, called Wangjunchu or "looking forward to the emperor's progress," were considered to supervise the emperor's behavior in the court when he neglect court affairs.

Great Hall of the People
This is the venue of the legislature, the National People's Congress. Summit meetings are often held in the 10,000-seat auditorium with the familiar red star embedded in a galaxy of lights in the ceiling. Also you can visit the 5000 seat banquet room where US president Richard Nixon dined in 1972.

The Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao
The memorial hall is shaped like a square with coverage of 20,000 square meters and a height of 33.6 meters. Currently there are 10 halls open to the public.

The north hall to the main gate can accommodate over 700 people. It is the place where the memorial activities are held. In the center of the hall erects Chairman Mao's three-meter-high sitting statue made of white marbles. Chairman Mao wears smiles with grand manner. Behind the statue is a large-scale floss embroidery entitled Throughout China. Revolutionary achievements of Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De are on display in the west and the east halls. Inside the halls, visitors can found many cultural relics, historical documents, letters and pictures.

The core of the memorial hall is the Respecting Hall, in the middle of which is the crystal coffin that contains the remains of Chairman Mao in grey sun yat sen's uniform and covered with the red banner of the Chinese Communist Party. Made of black granite, the coffin platform is surrounded by flowers. On the white-marble wall of the hall, gold-plating characters are beset: Eternal glory to our great leader and teacher Chairman Mao!

The National Museum
These two museums are located on the eastern side of Tian'anmen Square, opposite the Great Hall of the People.The building that houses the museums was one of ten famous structures built in 1959 to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.

The Museum of Chinese History is in the South Wing while the North Wing houses the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. They were both opened to the public in 1961. The complex has a total floor space of 65,000 square meters filled with interesting exhibits.

The Museum of Chinese History displays three main periods of Chinese history. The first, Primitive Society, ranges from 500,000 B.C. to 4,000 B.C. The exhibits in the Slave Society section cover the time from 2,100 B.C. to 475 B.C. The Feudal Society exhibits focus on the period from 221 B. C to 1911.

The Museum of the Chinese Revolution emphasizes the history of the past 150 years, in particular the history of the Communist Party of China. It is divided into three sections.

The exhibits in the Old Democratic Revolution section cover the period from 1840-1911. Events between 1911 and 1949 fall into the New Democratic Revolution section. The third section is entitled "The Triumph of the Revolution and the Establishment of Socialism" and covers events after 1949.

Monument to the People's Heroes
Monument to the People's Heroes is in the center of Tiananmen Square. Construction began in August 1951 and the monument was finally erected in April 1958 and it was the first large scale memorial built in socialist China. The marble and granite column rises close to 38 meters (125ft) and has gilded calligraphy by Chairman Mao that reads "Eternal glory to the people’s heroes" on its northern fa?ade. The base of the structure is decorated with bas-relief carvings depicting major revolutionary events and the monument also has calligraphy by Zhou Enlai.

Ming Tombs
The Ming Tombs were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in August 2003 along with other tombs under the 'Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties' designation. Locating in Northern China, the Royal Mausoleum of Ming and Qing dynasty is the biggest and most completed among the mausoleums that still exist today in China for emperor and empress built in ancient time.

The Ming Tombs are located about 48 km (31 miles) northwest of Beijing at a carefully selected site, a small basin on the foot of Tianshou Mountain in Changping district. The Ming Tombs site was chosen by the third Ming Dynasty emperor YongLe (1402 - 1424), who moved the capital city of China from Nanjing to the present location of Beijing. He is credited with envisioning the layout of the ancient city of Beijing as well as a number of landmarks and monuments located therein. After the construction of the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) in 1420, YongLe selected his burial site and created his own mausoleum.

From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried in the area now known as the Ming Tombs. The tombs of the first two Ming Emperors are located near Nanjing (the capital city during their reigns). Emperor ChongZhen, who hung himself in April 1644, was the last to be buried here, but on a smaller scale than his predecessors.

The Ming Tombs form the most extensive burial complex of any Chinese dynasty and are one of the finest preserved pieces of 15th century Chinese art and architecture. Construction of the tombs started in 1409 and ended with the fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644. In over 200 years tombs were built over an area of 40 square kilometres, which is surrounded by walls totalling 40 kilometres. It consists of 13 tombs of Ming dynasty, such as Chang Ling, Xianling, Jingling, Yuling, Maoling, Tailing, Kangling, Yongling, Zhaoling, Dingling, Qingling, Deling, Siling, etc, which are generally known as "Ming Thirteen Mausoleum". Each tomb is located at the foot of a separate hill and is linked with the other tombs by a road called the Sacred Way. The stone archway at the southern end of the Sacred Way, built in 1540, is 14 metres high and 19 metres wide, and is decorated with designs of clouds, waves and divine animals.

Inside the big cemetery, there were ever 7 tombs for imperial concubines, one for court eunuch, one temporary imperial palace, and some other auxiliary construction such as enclosed breeding ground. Here is where 13 emperors and 23 empress of Ming dynasty were buried, together with many imperial concubines, princes, princesses, and many maids. There were big walls on all the four sides of the mausoleum, with the main gate opened towards south; on the two sides of the place, are two high mountains, Boa Mountain and Tiger Mountain, just like one tiger and one dragon guarding the gate. It had been appointed as forbidden area ever since Yongge 7th, Ming dynasty (1409), and was guarded by many soldiers.

Chang Ling
Chang Ling is the center of all the cemeteries, and there is a holy path started from the south gate up to Chang Ling. On the two sides of the 7000-meter long holy path, constructed stone tablets, shrines, stele pavilions, ornamental columns, stone figures, dragon wind gate, etc, these are not only the symbol of high authority, but also a essential atmosphere necessary for the mausoleum.

Chang Ling is the largest and best preserved of the 13 Ming Tombs near Beijing. Chang Ling, 4km (2 1/2 miles) from the entrance, is the tomb of Emperor YongLe (reign 1403-1424) and empress XuShi. In total, the structures at Chang Ling occupy an area of 120,000 square meters. The most striking point is Ling'En Dian, an immense hall in which the interior columns and brackets have been left unpainted, creating an eye-catching contrast with the green ceiling panels, which was constructed in 1427. It is built on the 3-floor stone platform, indeed grand and elegant, 9 houses in width and 5 houses in depth, occupying 1956 m2; there are 32 pillars inside the palace, among which the biggest one has a 1.17-meter diameter, and 14.3 meters high. All the supporting material, such as the ridge, pillar, rafter, etc, are made of precious wood, although having experienced more than 500 years, they are still as strong and fragrant as before. This is the biggest wood palace in the country.

Ding Ling
Dingling was built in 1590. Emperor Shen Zong and the empress were buried there in 1620. It is the only one that has been excavated for archeological purpose. So it always appears as a must tourist place for people both home and abroad. The most attractive part of Dingling is the underground palace.

The underground palace consists of five spacious halls: an antechamber, central hall, rear hall and left and right annexes. The vaulted halls are built of stone. A stone door stands between the antechamber and central hall. At the end of the central hall is the rear hall. On both sides of the central hall are tomb passages and stone doors opening to the left and right annexes.
The underground palace occupies a total of 1,195 square meters. The vaulted halls are built of stone, without a single beam or column. To avoid damaging the marble floor, the surface from the antechamber to the rear hall was covered with thick planks for the hearse to roll on when it entered the underground palace, thick planks that can still be seen today.

In the central hall are three white marble thrones, arranged with one in front and the other two on each side and slightly behind the first. In front of each throne is a set of five glazed pottery altar-pieces (consisting of two pricket candlesticks, two beakers and an incense burner), a blue-and-white porcelain jar of oil, and an "everlasting lamp," a bronze bowl with a wick, floating on its surface. The lamp was lit when the emperor was buried, but once the tomb was closed, the flame soon died from shortage of oxygen.

The two annexes are similar to the antechamber and central hall. Each contains a white marble dais evidently intended for a coffin. The rear hall, the largest of the five chambers is the main part of the underground palace. At the center is a dais on which is placed the coffin of Emperor Shen Zong (Zhu Yijun), with the coffins containing the First Empress on his left and the Second Empress on his right. Each coffin was surrounded by pieces of jade, porcelain vases and twenty-six red lacquered wooden boxes filled with precious funeral objects.

The Dingling tomb contained a very large number of precious objects buffed with the emperor. About three thousand burial objects have been excavated, including cloth woven in beautiful patterns, clothes, small and exquisite gold jewelry, and exquisite gold, jade and porcelain articles. All these are art treasures contributing to an understanding of the technology of the Ming Dynasty.

Beijing's Hutong and Courtyard
People say that the real culture of Beijing is the 'culture of the Hutong' and the 'culture of the courtyard'. How true that is. Often, it is Beijing's winding Hutongs that attract tourists from home and abroad rather than the high-rise buildings and large mansions.

Hutong
A hutong is an ancient city alley or lane typical in Beijing, where hutongs run into the several thousand. Surrounding the Forbidden City, many were built during the Yuan (1206-1341), Ming(1368-1628) and Qing(1644-1908) dynasties. In the prime of these dynasties the emperors, in order to establish supreme power for themselves, planned the city and arranged the residential areas according to the etiquette systems of the Zhou Dynasty. The center of the city of Beijing was the royal palace -- the Forbidden City.

One kind of hutongs, usually referred to as the regular hutong, was near the palace to the east and west and arranged in orderly fashion along the streets. Most of the residents of these hutongs were imperial kinsmen and aristocrats. Another kind, the simple and crude hutong, was mostly located far to the north and south of the palace. The residents were merchants and other ordinary people.

The main buildings in the hutong were almost all quadrangles--a building complex formed by four houses around a quadrangular courtyard. The quadrangles varied in size and design according to the social status of the residents.

The hutong today is fading into the shade for both tourists and inhabitants. However, in the urban district of Beijing houses along hutongs still occupy one third of the total area, providing housing for half the population, so many hutongs have survived. In this respect, we see the old in the new in Beijing as an ancient yet modern city.

A new pastime -- roaming through Beijing's old, narrow streets, hutongs, by old-fashioned pedicab to visit siheyuan, the old quadrangles, and learn about the daily life of ordinary Beijing citizens-- has attracted more and more overseas visitors.

Existed as early as hundreds of years ago, narrow lanes, or hutongs were common in ancient Beijing. In the past, several thousand lanes, alleys and quadrangles formed residential areas for ordinary people living in the capital. Today, as the city develops into an international metropolis, its lanes and alleyways, occupying one third of the city proper, still serve as dwellings for half the total urban population.

If sightseeing at the Imperial Palace, Ming Tombs and the Summer Palace is helpful in learning about the lives of China's emperors, the hutongs of Beijing reflect in turn the history of Beijing as a whole.

Courtyard
The Courtyard, a traditional unique folk house in the hutongs, has a long history in Chinese architecture. It is called 'Siheyuan' in Chinese, 'Si' means 'Four', which here refers to the four sides: east, west, north and south. 'He' refers to the surrounding, meaning the four sides circle into a square. Due to its special layout, it is compared to a box with a garden in the center. There is only one gate leading to a hutong, so when the gate is closed the courtyard loses touch with the outside world. Therefore family members can fully enjoy tranquility and share the happiness of a peaceful family union.

Most of the existing courtyards are relics of the Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644 - 1911) Dynasties. They are the shadow of old China. The ancient furniture, fish pond, wooden doors and windows, and cane chairs remind you of their flourishing past. Those flashed bricks, Chinese eaves and cornices, fine brick designs, and wood carvings, reveal a strong classical tone of old Beijing. Hidden in the forest of armored concrete, it presents an aching beauty of decadence, waiting eagerly for you to explore its past. You cannot fully understand Beijing until you live in the courtyards.

Owners of the courtyards often grow flowers and trees in the garden to decorate their happy life. Generally speaking, they love planting date trees, locust trees and cloves. The pomegranate tree is also their favorite because it has many seeds. In Chinese, the pronunciations of 'seed' and 'son' are the same, and old people believe that the more sons, the more blessings. This is the reason why we can see many pomegranate trees growing in the courtyards. Living in this elegant and harmonious environment, they must enjoy a peaceful and blissful life!

The Hutongs and the Courtyards reflect the ritualistic and traditional ideas of China, and contain rich cultural connotations. They are the archetypes of the royal architecture. It's a great pity that these traditional heritage sites are being replaced by high-rise buildings during the remodeling and new construction of the city. People from home and abroad are concerned that the historic and cultural value of Beijing will certainly be reduced if the Hutongs and Courtyards are destroyed and lost forever.

Beihai Park
Beihai Park is an extremely popular park among Beijingers and tourists alike. It is about 68.2 hectares, and almost two-thirds of it is a lake. The park sits in the center of Beijing and it used to be the royal garden of the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Emperors. It was completed in 1179. The park is rife with greenery and assorted pavilions, corridors and gardens abound.

Besides the lake, the main things to see in Beihai are the Round City, which contains a jade vase from the time of Kublai Khan; the Temple of Eternal Peace, the Nine Dragon Screen, which is really a 5-meter-high, 27-meter-long wall covered with glazed tiles carved into nine intertwining dragons; and the White Pagoda on Gem Island in the center of the lake.

In summer, Beihai is an ideal place to go to escape from the blazing summer heat. You can paddle around in a bizarre assortment of boats. There are odd, duck-shaped paddle boats, and tow types of motor boats; three-seater regular and one-person UFOs. In winter, the lake freezes over and Beihai turns into a large skating rink.

Within Beihai there is also a Fangshan Restaurant, the best Imperial Court style restaurants where you can enjoy the food served only for the emperor in the old days, with a little penny.

Jingshan Park
Jingshan Park, the highest point in Beijing City was built in 1179 during the Jin Dynasty and has a history of more than 800 years. This Park is located directly to the north of the Forbidden City's Shenwu Gate. Visitors will discover that Beihai Park is located directly to the west of Jingshan Park. Further north again from Jingshan Park, the Bell and Drum Towers are located at the top of Di An Men Da Jie.

Inside Jingshan Park, an area of approximately 57 acres, is Jingshan Hill which rises to a height of 48 metres, and from its top visitors can oversight the entire city of Beijing. Jingshan Hill was built in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty and was initially called 'Long Live Hill' and then later was named 'Zhen Hill'. In later periods coal was piled at the foot of the hill and it became known as 'Mei Shan' (Coal Hill). However in 1655 during the Qing Dynasty the name was changed to Jingshan Hill, the name by which it is known today.

Jingshan Park is a beautiful imperial park and in former times belonged only to the emperors in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties (1271-1911). For their enjoyment they used to climb the hill, admire the scenery and eat and drink in the park.

On the summit of Jingshan Hill five scenery viewing pavilions were built, and from these the visitor can clearly see the layout of the Forbidden City. The highest pavilion is called Wanchun Pavilion (Ten thousand springs pavilion), and there are four other pavilions, two each on the east and west sides respectively of Jingshan Hill. Each of these pavilions contained a copper Buddha symbolizing the five kinds of tastes: acid, spicy, bitter, sweet and salty. However, in 1900 the Allied Forces of the Eight Powers looted four of these five Buddhas, and the fifth one was destroyed. The replacement Buddhas now seen in each pavilion were made in 1999.

At the northern foot of Jingshan Hill is the Shouhuang Palace (Hall of Imperial Longevity), a special place to pay respects to the ancestors of the imperial family. To the east of the Shouhuang Palace are located the Yongsi and the Guande Palaces which were used to let the bodies of the dead emperors and empresses of the Qing Dynasty lie in state. Today the Shouhuang Palace is used as the Children's Palace of Beijing.On 17 March 1644 the last Ming Emperor Chongzhen was forced to flee to the eastern foot of Jingshan Hill where he hanged himself from a pagoda tree when the forces of Li Zi cheng captured the inner city of Peking (Beijing today). The original pagoda tree no longer exists, but the replacement tree has an historical storyboard attached to it to explain that era of Ming Dynasty history.

Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Government has built many structures for the providing of services, and has also repaired some of the ancient buildings. In addition, many tall trees have been planted inside the park to restore it to its former beauty.

In recent years many shows have been held in the Jingshan Park, where there have been exhibitions of fish and flowers, notably the beautiful peonies for which the Park is famous. The best time for viewing the more than 200 varieties of peonies inside the park is from late April to mid-May. Visitors will really enjoy these displays.

Beijing Capital Museum
Beijing Capital Museum is located in the Confucius Temple at Guozijian Street, Andingmen, Beijing. It was prepared to build up in 1953. In encountered the setbacks in the construction duration and was officially opened to the outside world in 1981.

Except for Qufu Confucius Temple, Beijing Confucius Temple is the second largest one in China, which was initially built up on Da De the Sixth Year in Yuan Dynasty (the year 1302). It is the place for the emperors in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties to sacrifice Confucius.

The Confucius Temple covers an area of 22,000 square meters with its construction acreage of more than 6,000 square meters. It has three courtyards that focused on Dacheng Palace. The two left and right Wu Palaces stands symmetrically and are divided by a middle axle line in the north and south direction. Xianshi Gate is now the entrance door of Beijing Capital Museum. Dacheng Gate, Dacheng Palace, Chongsheng Gate, and Chongsheng Memorial Temple are located northward in sequent.

The Confucius Temple preserved the world famous Jinshi (the title of successful candidate who passed through the highest imperial examination) nomination monument, the handwritings of Gongche (the title of successful candidate who passed through the imperial examination) and other celebrities' handwriting works. You can find the familiar names like Liu Yong, Ji Xiaolan and etc there. It also exhibits the vast Thirteen Inscriptions Monuments. They are excellent writing and engravings and brilliant articles. And it is the sole completed Thirteen Inscriptions Monuments in China. The ten stone drums imitated in Qian Long Period of Qing Dynasty and Han Yu's stone drums and song monument are also a series of treasure cultural relics that is preserved in good condition and has the clear handwriting on it. In the sacrifice main palace, it exhibits the sacrifice vessels and music instrument in accordance with its original arrangement. It revokes our memories to the solemn scene with the sound of bells and drums at past.

If the Confucius Temple were entitled as a glorious palace, then the cultural relics collected by Beijing Capital Museum is the rarity of this palace. There are lots of elaborate works in the palace such as the stoneware, bronze ware, ceramics, stone inscriptions, calligraphy and paintings, etc. The time duration of Beijing Historic Cultural Relic Exhibition can be traced back from hundreds thousand years to the year 1949. It elaborates the scenes of Beijing historic development in multiple profiles and levels through series of pictures, models and cultural relics.

Ever since the establishment of Beijing Capital Museum, it held hundreds exhibitions in different types concerning the history, cultural relics, revolutionary history and folk custom, etc. Moreover, it also held different types of exhibition in Japan, America, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries so that it carried forward Chinese culture and expanded international communication and received deep concern and warmly welcome by the foreign and domestic peoples.

Visiting Beijing Capital Museum, you may enjoy the elaborate works in the world, experiences artistic leisure, recognize the Chinese broad and deep culture and long history.

Interested in China travel? Have you planned what is your next destination? Consider start a fantastic travel soon? Customize your China travel, here we go! Show me your ideas; let us guide your travel now.

General Information of BeijingAttractions and SightseeingsFood and Cuisine in BeijingBeijing TransportationClimate in BeijingHistory of BeijingSuggested Itineraries

Our Trips: