Badaling Great Wall (Badaling)

Located 75km (47 miles) northwest of Beijing, the Badaling Great Wall is typical of the wall during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 AD). This section of the Great Wall attracts the most tourists as they enjoy walking along the stretches of the wall and also because the gigantic feat of construction is most impressive at this point. Guard rails and cable cars make Badaling a safe and easy way to see the Great Wall.

The government has restored this part of the wall so that every tower and turret stands just as it did when the Mongols overran the country 700 years ago. Observation lookouts are available on the upper part of the battlements. Badaling is also the outer gate to Juyoung pass, a strategic defense post for Beijing during the Ming dynasty.

This section of the wall also houses a museum of Chinese history, which includes a photo gallery and the Great Wall Circle Vision Theater, a 360-degree amphitheater which shows a 15-minute film on the history and legends of the Wall.

Forbidden City (Zijin Cheng/Gu Gong)

During the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911 AD), 24 emperors ruled China from within the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is so named as commoners were barred from entering the palace grounds. The palace was an elusive "city within a city" for the emperor, his royal family, concubines, eunuchs and servants. The privacy of the imperial family was guarded by a 10 meter (33ft) wall and 52 meter (170ft) moat which enclosed the complex.

The palace was initially constructed by 200,000 workmen under the order of the third Ming emperor, Emperor Yongle, in 1420. This former imperial residence covers an area of 72 hectares, has a total floor space of some 160,000 sq meters and houses 800 buildings and 9,000 chambers. It is a maze of halls, pavilions, courtyards and walls and is an architectural masterpiece.

The Throne Hall or the Hall of Supreme Harmony is China's tallest ancient palace building and is where, during the reign of the Ming and Qing emperors, all important national ceremonies took place. With yellow tiles over red walls, gilded doors behind vermilion colonnades and carved white marble balustrades, the palace is the ultimate example of fine imperial architecture.

After being the center of the Chinese world for nearly 500 years, the Forbidden City is now one of the largest and best preserved palace complexes in the world. The Palace Museum has been opened to the public since the 1950s and around a million rare and valuable objects are housed there. Visitors should plan on spending at least 1/2 a day here.

Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)

Located 10km (6 miles) northwest of Beijing City, the Summer Palace is one of China's largest and best preserved imperial gardens. Originally, the palace was a summer residence where the imperials would go to escape from the stifling heat of the Forbidden City and was only open to the public in 1924. Most of the park is taken up by the beautiful Kunming Lake where visitors can boat or swim in the summer and ice-skate in the winter.

This immense park is a classic example of Qing architecture and was considerably enlarged and embellished by emperor Qianlong in the 18th century. But of the imperial family, it is empress dowager Cixi who is most associated with the Summer Palace. She was extremely fond of the Summer Palace and went to great lengths to improve it - in 1888 at the height of political instability, she used all the money that was supposedly reserved for construction of the navy to improve the palace.

Places of interest in the garden include but are certainly not limited to - the Long Corridor which is over 700 meters (2,300ft) long and is decorated with mythical scenes, the Marble Boat that is permanently anchored by the lakeshore, the Pavilion of Buddha Fragrance on top of Longevity Hill, the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity where emperors handled state affairs and received envoys, the Pavilion of Precious Clouds with elaborate bronzes and the Temple of the Sea of Wisdom with magnificent views.

Temple of Heaven (Tiantan)

China's largest temple and altar complex, the Temple of Heaven in the southern part of Beijing covers an area of 270 hectares. The Temple of Heaven is an exquisite and extraordinary example of Chinese religious architecture. Construction of the temple began in 1420 and at the temple emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties worshipped heaven and prayed for abundant harvests. In imperial times, twice a year a magnificent ceremony was conducted when over 1,000 eunuchs, ministers and courtiers would leave the Forbidden City for the Temple of Heaven. The emperor would fast and remain celibate and sleep overnight in the Palace of Abstinence (Zhaigong) before carrying out traditional ceremonies and sacrificial rites in the morning.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (Qiniandian) built in 1420 and rebuilt in 1889 shows Ming engineering at its best - the 38 meter (125ft) high circular hall was built entirely without the use of nails, cement or beams and is held together by an elaborate network of pillars. The roof with its blue, yellow and green tiles represents heaven, earth and the mortal world. To the south lies the Echo Wall, where supposedly a murmur to the wall will travel with perfect clarity to the other side and the Imperial Vault of Heaven that contains imperial tablets.

Tiananmen Gate

Tiananmen Gate, or the Gate of Heavenly Peace, borders the northern end of Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing.
The gate stands 34 meters (112ft) high, has red stone walls, a wooden roof and contains five arched passages leading through its white marble base. The gate is surrounded by a moat, the Golden Water River, which was formed to guard the Imperial Palace. Five white marble bridges cross the river and lead to the passages of the gate. Ornamental marble and columns and stone lions decorate the front of the gate.

In imperial times the gate and Tiananmen Square were not accessible to the public. Often religious and military ceremonies were held and imperial edicts were announced from Tiananmen. It was also from the rostrum of the gate that Mao Zedong announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

Yonghe Lamasery (Yonghegong)

In the northeastern part of Beijing stands Yonghe Lamasery, a Yellow Hat Tibetan lamasary and one of the city’s finest and most celebrated temples. Its 5 main halls and many galleries are filled with exquisitely detailed tanka paintings and beautifully carved or cast Buddha images.

The buildings encompass the Han, Mongol, Manchu and Tibetan architectural styles and the brilliance of the blue, green and gold detail on the sharp red pagodas is simply stunning. The intricacy of the decoration is impressive, but the temple is renown for its "3 matchless treasures". These include an 18 meter (60ft) sandalwood Maitreya Buddha statue sculpted from a single tree, a niche of Buddha carved from the nanmu tree and the "mountain of 500 arhats" made from precious stones and metal.

Originally a palace for Prince Yongzheng, following tradition, it was transformed into a temple after he became the Qing’s third emperor in 1725. The temple was enlarged under emperor Qianlong, and at one point housed more than 1,500 resident monks.

Zhongnanhai

Just west of the Forbidden City is China's new power enclave, Zhongnanhai. Although foreign visitors cannot enter the complex, they can examine it from the exterior. Zhongnanhai means "the central and south seas" and it refers to the two large lakes in the compound. The compound was built between the 10th and 13th centuries as a getaway spot for the emperor, but most of the buildings date from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

After the overthrow of the imperial government and the establishment of the republic in 1911, it served as the presidential palace. Since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Zhongnanhai has been home to the highest ranking members of the Communist Party including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi.

Offices of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, the State Council, the Central People's Government and the Military Commission of the Party Central Committee are located here.