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The Great Wall

Great Wall, symbolizing China's ancient civilization, is one of the world's most renowned projects. Starting from Shanghaiguan in the east and ending at Jiayuguan in the west,The Great Wall has an approximate length of 6700 kilometers. The section of the Great Wall at Badaling is 75 Kilometers from Beijing. The earliest part of the Wall was built during the Warring State Period (476 - 211 B.C) and subsequent dynasties continued the project. The Great Wall averages 7.8 meters in height and is 6.5 meters wide at the base and 5.8 meters wide at the top. A watch tower built every hundred meters.

The Palace Museum, formerly known as the Forbidden City, is located at the heart of Beijing.It is the largest and most well preserved imperial residence in China today. Under Ming Emperor Yongle, construction began in 1406. The project spread over 15 years and was not completed until 1420. It used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing, the last two dynasties of China. The one housed the courts of a succession of 24 emperors. The whole palace complex was converted into a museum in 1925. The palace complex covers 74 hectares,960 meters long and 750 meters wide,having 9,999 buildings(with a floor space of 150000 square meters). It is surrounded by a 3 - kilometer - long wall 10 meters high and protected by a moat 52 meters wide. The Forbidden City has four imposing gates and at each corner is an exquisitely designed watch tower.

The entire architectural layout was designed to bring out the supreme authority of the emperor and the hierarchy of the feudal society. All the principal palaces lie on the axis of the old city of Beijing and group of buildings on both sides were laid out to achieve the symmetrical effect of perfect unity.

The symbol of New China, the gate was built in 1417 and was the entrance gate to the Forbidden City in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is one of the largest city squares in the world. Now the square stretches 880 meters from north to south and 500 meters from east to west. It occupies an area of 49 hectares (122 acres), big enough to hold half a million people.It is situated in the heart of Beijing.

It is 33.7 meters high over the moat (Jinshui River, or Gold Water River) to each of the gate ways. There are two pairs of vigorous stone lions and cloud pillars (marble pillars). All of these make Tian'anmen magnificent and beautiful. It is indeed a perfect masterpiece in its architectural design and artistic from.

The Temple of Heaven is situated in the southern part of the city in Chongwen district.Tian Tan (the Temple of Heaven) covers an area of 273 hectares, or three times that of the Palace Museum. It was built for the emperors in ancient China to worship Heaven.

There are two layers of walls arrounding the Temple, dividing it into two parts: the inner enclosure and the outer enclosure. Of both walls the northern part is semi - circular and the southern part square. The circles is symbolic of the heaven and the square the earth. Even the major buildings in the Temple, seen from above, are also round at the top with square bases underneath. The style derived form the ancient conception that the heaven is round and the earth square.

The main buildings on the north-south axis are The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest with the Pavilion of Double Ring Longevity on the left clustered at the northern end are the Imperial Vaulted Heaven and the Circular Altar at the southern.

Yihe Yuan (the Garden of Peaceful Easy Life) on the northwestern outskirts of Beijing was an imperial summer resort of the Qing Dynasty,the construction of which first started in 1750 and was completed in 15 years.

Mainly consists of Longevity Hill (which can be divided into Front Hill and Rear Hill) and Kunming Lake, this present Summer Palace covers a vast area of 294 hectares, three quarters of which are water. With its perfect layout, magnificent buildings and enchanting landscape, the Summer Palace is the most splendid classical garden in China.

The Summer Palace has two entrances, one is the East Palace Gate and the other is North Palace Gate. Most visitors enter the garden from the East Palace Gate.

The Great Hall of the People flanks the western side of Tian'anmen Square (If you stand with your back to Tian'anmen Gate it is on the right-hand side of the square.). Constructed in 1959, it's over 40 meters high, with a floor space of 171800 square meters, when it is in session. The Great Hall has numerous conference rooms, banquet halls, and reception areas, many of vast size: the major conference hall accommodates 10000 people and the huge banquet hall can seat 5000.

The granite Monument to the People's Heroes,or Renmin Yinxiong Jinian Bei,is just at the center of the Tiananmen Square.The late Chairman Mao Zedong laid the cornerstone (foundation stone) himself on September 30, 1949. Built in 1952, it is the largest monument in China's history. Completed in 1958, more than 10,000 tons of stone were used for the 40 meter high obelisk.The gilded inscription on the north face is in Chairman Mao's calligraphy and reads:" The People's Heroes Are Immortal." The base of the obelisk is decorated with bar-relief carvings depicting major events of the revolution.

Yonghegong, also known as the Lamasery or palace of Eternal Harmony, lies on the eastern side of Yonghegong Street. It was first constructed in 1649 as the palace of an emperor's son. Later in 1744 it was rebuilt and converted into a temple devoted to the cult of the living Lam. Wanfuge (Ten Thousand Happiness Tower) is the largest building in the temple. Tin the tower there is a noted enormous standing figure of Maitreya in sandalwood, which is 26 meters high (18 meters above ground level). It is the largest preserved lamasery in Beijing.

Ming Tombs, a group of mausoleums of thirteen Ming emperors, are located at the southern slopes of the Jundu Mountains on the Northern outskirts of Beijing. The mausoleums have been perfectly preserved, as has the necropolis of each of the many emperors.

The shapes of the buildings of all the tombs are almost the same. It was originally built only as Changling, the tomb of Emperor Zhuli and his empresses. This is the most magnificent of the tombs with a history of more than 500 years. A 7 - kilometer - long passageway, also called the Sacred Way, leads to the tombs. Along the passage way, there are Dahong Men (the Great Red Gate), Stela Pavilion, a group of stone statues, and Dragon and Phoenix Gate. In front of the Great Red Gate, there stands an elegant marble monument. The succeeding twelve emperors had their tombs built around Changling.

Chang Ling has a group of palatial buildings, including tomb gate, Ling's en Men (the Gate of Eminent Favour), Ling'en Dain (the Hall of Eminent Favour), Inner Red Gate, Soul Tower and the Precious Summit. Ling'en Dian, similar to Taihe Dian of the Palace Museum, covers a floor space of nearly 2000 square meters. It is supported by 60 huge columns (32 of them are open), each made of a single Nanmu tree. The four in the center are 1.17 maters in diameter and two persons can hardly embrace them. Smooth and straight, they look most marvelous.

Unlike Changling, Dingling is under ground and about 27 meters deep. Ding Ling is the tomb of Emperor Zhu Yi Jun of the Ming Dynasty. The secrets of the Underground Palace of the tomb were finally revealed in May, 1957, after one year's excavation. The Underground Palace, Neat and dry, is entirely made of solid blocks of marble and granite. It is composed of 5 halls. (the front, the middle, the rear, the east and the west wing halls). In the central hall, there are three carved marble thrones. In the rear hall, there are three coffins, one for the emperor and two his empresses. Some 3000 articles unearthed are now on show. The Underground Palace has 7 pairs of two - leafed doors made of white marble stone, each pair weighing 9 tons. They are easy to open. and close. When the doors are closed, they are propped up by stone bars inside and cannot be pushed open from outside.

Located on the northwest of Beijing, the pass has a long history. The site had been the only means of access to the interior since the 3th century B.C. (the Qin and Han Dynasties) and a pass was built. "The Verdant Ranges of Juyong" was listed as one of the "Eight Scenes of Yanjing" in the 12th century. Strategically situated, the Juyong Pass served as the north gate of Beijing in ancient times and was one of the important passes of the Great Wall. In the center of the town, there remains the base of the Terrace of Clouds which was built in 1345.

There is a military reviewing ground outside the north gate of the Pass. 9 kilometers north of the Juyong Pass is the Qinglongqiao Railway Station, in front of which is erected a bronze statue in memory of the outstanding railway engineer Zhan Tianyou who made great contributions to the construction of the railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou.

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.

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.

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.