Attractions

To learn more about these attractions or see direct pictures, click on the link below and search any of the main attractions: Other wise view the pictures on the side of the page!
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/


1. Tian'anmen Square, "the heart of Beijing City"~
The Tiananmen Square is right in the middle of Beijing and features Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, and Mao Zedong Memorial Hall. In the middle of Tiananmen Square there is the Monument to the People’s Heroes which is the biggest monument that has ever been built in China. Marble railings enclose this beautiful monument and there are 8 statues showing China’s progression. Engraved on the Monument to the People’s Heroes is, “The People's Heroes are Immortal.” The Tiananmen Tower is the door to the Forbidden City and was used after built around 1417 in the Ming Dynasty to announce in ceremonies the new emperor or empress. Built in 1959, the Great Hall of the People is where China’s National People’s Congress is. This building has three areas, the Central Hall, the Great Auditorium and a Banqueting Hall. These are decorated elaborately for some floors are carved of marble and delicate glass chandeliers hang from the ceiling. The mass of the Great Auditorium seats 10,000 and The Banqueting Hall holds 5,000 seats. Mao Zedong Memorial Hall is a memorial where Mao Zedong’s tomb lays and is decorated with exquisite flowers. There is also the Chinese National Museum which is combination of Chinese History Museum and Chinese Revolutionary Museum. This is a great place to go to get your facts right and the Tiananmen Square is a great place to get to know Beijing and will have your day packed with activities.

2. Forbidden City~
The Forbidden City is also known as the Imperial Palace or today called the Palace Museum. There is 9, 999 rooms which is one room away from the Chinese perfect number. Built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) it was also home to 24 emperors. It is divided up into parts separated by a Qianqingmen (the Gate of Celestial Purity).There is an Outer Court which centers TaiheDian (Hall of Supreme Harmony), ZhongheDian (Hall of Central Harmony), and BaoheDian (Hall of Preserving Harmony). It is also the world’s largest palace complex making it 74 hectares. It is told that one million workers and one thousand artisans were forced to build this palace and it took 14 years from 1407 to build it. This palace also shows that the ancient Chinese were very clever builders and another example of that is in the Grand Red City also located in the Forbidden City. The Grand Red City was built at an angle that was no match for man to climb! The materials it was made from was a brick of white lime and glutinous rice. The cement was also made of glutinous rice and egg whites making it incredibly strong and stable. The main color of the forbidden City is yellow because it the symbol of the royal family. The palace library roof is painted black for it was believed that black represented water so it could put out fire. This palace is a main tourist attraction and I think it is incredible that hundreds of years ago, emperors sat in the throne room of the Forbidden City and lived there in the northern half and the southern half would entertain and hold ceremonies and take care of political subjects.

3. Imperial Gardens & Mausoleums~
Because Beijing City is the capital of several dynasties, it is also home to some of the most peaceful and amazing Royal gardens. Beijing is where the 727 acres Summer Palace sits and is admired by all. Mausoleums are a stately and magnificent tomb. There are 13 Mausoleums that 13 emperors spectacularly built for themselves. These are known as the Ming Tombs.  Beihai Park was built in the Liao Dynasty (916 - 1125) but had to be rebuilt in these dynasties; Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing (1115 - 1911). The park was modeled after the Chinese Legend of the Magic Mountains and was opened to the public in 1925 and brought in thousands of people from all over the world. The Summer Palace was created to be Chinese Emperors, “Private Pleasure Garden.” It is made up of three parts and consists of many different exquisitely constructed chambers, earth and rock hills, rivers, with exotic flowers and plants originated from all over the country. This garden and palace is so pulchritudinous that it was known as the ‘Gardens of Gardens.’ Ritan Park was also constructed by an emperor and was used as an alter to their sun god and Yuetan Park was used as an alter to their moon god. People are attracted to this because of its beauty.  The Eastern and Western Tombs of China is a memorial to the Emperors and Empresses of China and are amazingly beautiful to look at but fits in with all of China. These Imperial Gardens and Mausoleums bring much pride to inhabitants of China and show off much beauty while demonstrate more moral art in China.

4. The Great Wall of China~

The Great Wall of China is one of the most magnificent structures in the world. It was constructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), is about  5,500 miles long, has about 827 city wall platforms, 71 passes and countless towers. This wall is so huge that it is divided into sections that include the Badaling, Huanghuacheng, Mutianyu, Jiankou, Gubeikou, Jinshanling, and Simatai great wall. This is one of the most impressive defense systems as it was built to keep out invaders. While being built, China’s military men were building it as many common Chinese people were also forced into building this structure. Sometimes the Great Wall of China is known as the world’s largest cemetery because so many people died building it. This great wall was made out of many different materials according to the location of an area of the wall and the time period it was created in. The Chinese used mostly earth, stones and wood.  Wall that was built over the mountain ranges was made out of stones from the mountain as they were local and easy to get. Another example is the materials in the wall when built in the plains was earth that was put together into hard blocks. In the desert reeds and juniper tamarisks were used in the Great Wall. All in all The Great Wall of China proves that China’s determination to keep out foreign invaders was vast and shows the cleverness and builders at heart in the Chinese people.

5. Temples~ 

With more than seventeen main temples, China was once considered the focus of religious life. Beijing has the largest group of structures dedicated to rituals. Temples can be seen beautiful in anyone’s eyes and some like the Temple of Confucius you can see carefully crafted pictures like “two flying dragons playing a pearl among clouds, which are believed to be used only in the imperial palaces because dragon stands for emperor in ancient China.” The Temple of Heaven is even bigger than the Forbidden City as the emperors of China called themselves a son of heaven and they dared not to create a dwelling place in the Forbidden City larger than a dwelling place for Heaven. This temple was built in the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifices to Heaven. Another example of how the Chinese honored heaven is shown in the structure of the temple. In the northern area of the temple is semicircular symbolizing the heavens while the southern area is square symbolizing the earth. The northern area of the temple is also higher than the southern area. This structure demonstrates that heaven is higher than the earth and the design reflects an ancient Chinese thought that states 'The heaven is round and the earth is square'. Another temple, Yonghe Lamasery (also known as Harmony and Peace Palace Lamasery) proves the biggest and considerably the most preserved lamasery in modern day China. This temple was built during the Qing Dynasty and was the residence of Emperor Yongzheng when he was a prince. In the Devaraja Hall you may find an ancient copper cooking vessel made in 1747 during the Qing Dynasty. This is black with white marble stone and is known as among the three rarest things in Beijing! “You can find with two dragons playing with a ball cast on the doors, and there are three lions playing with a ball engraved on the seat. On the northern side of the vessel is the Great Stele Pavilion with the doors open on each of its four sides.” These temples are just another perfect example of how the Chinese use their creative talents in building and keep religion close to their heart.