One Day Tour in Beijing
Welcome to Beijing!
As the capital of China, Beijing is one of the world's truly imposing cities, with a 3,000-year history and 15 million people. Covering 16,808 square kilometers in area, it is the political, cultural and economic center of the People's Republic of China.
Rich in history, Beijing has been China's primary capital for more than seven centuries. China's imperial past and political present meet at Tiananmen Square, where the Forbidden City palace of the emperors gives way to the Great Hall of the People Congress building and the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao Zedong. The old city walls have been replaced by ring roads, and many of the old residential districts of alleys and courtyard houses have been turned into high-rise hotels, office buildings, and department stores. Beijing, a dynamic city where the old and new intermingle, remains a magnet for visitors from inside and outside China.
Main Attractions in Beijing
Tian’anmen Square is the largest city-central square in the world. It has long been a gathering place for locals and visitors alike. On the north side of the square is Tian’anmen Gate (the Rostrum). It was from the balcony of the Rostrum on October 1,1949 that Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Communist Party, proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Mao gazes south from a huge portrait on the south side of the gate onto Tian’anmen Square. Behind the Rostrum lies the Forbidden City, also known as the Imperial Palace.
The Forbidden City, located at the exact center of the ancient city of Beijing, just behind the Tian An Men Square & Heavenly Peace Rostrum, was home to 24 emperors. It was begun with the overthrown of the Khan and the glorious Ming Dynasty establishment.
"The Purple Forbidden City", the culmination of all imperial power constructed over a period of 14 years (1406-1420), means the "cosmological power center of the Middle Kingdom”. Its extensive grounds cover 720,000 square meters, and at one time supposedly had 800 buildings and more than 8,000 rooms, though there are only 2,172 rooms that remain intact. It had been for almost 600 years a mysterious and magnificent manifestation of Chinese cultural tradition and impressive art galleries. Although no longer occupied by royalty, the Forbidden City remains a symbol of Chinese aristocracy and the image of Tiananmen, the entrance to the Imperial City, appears on the seal of the People's Republic of China. The Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.
From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried in this area. The tombs of the first two Ming Emperors are located near Nanjing (the capital city during their reigns). Emperor Jingtai was also not buried here as the Emperor Tianshun had denied Jingtai an imperial burial but was instead buried west of Beijing. The last Emperor Chongzhen who hung himself in April, 1644 was the last to be buried here, named Si Ling by the Qing emperor but on a much smaller scale than his predecessors.
The Summer Palace-The Delicate Beauty & Harmonious Pleasure was first built by the Mongolia Khubilakhan and then rebuilt By Emperor Qian Long in 1720 for Empress Dowagers, who loved the summer retreat. The Summer Palace or Yiheyuan (Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, pinyin: Yíhé Yuán; literally "Garden of Nurtured Harmony") is a palace in Beijing, China.The palace had been razed by a joint Anglo-Fresh attack in 1860 in the Second Opium War. Then the controversial Empress Dowager Ci Xi, who loved the palace and moved national budget that was originally allocated to reform the Imperial Chinese Navy to refurnish it again.
The Temple of Heaven, the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would worship the god of heaven and pray for good harvest, was first constructed in 1420, the reign of Ming Emperor Yongle. Covering an area of 273 hectares,it is the largest architectural complex in the world for rituals to pay homage to heaven.
The five architecture groups in the Temple are given respective features,while the magnificent Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is the major symbol.The temple is divided by two enclosed walls into inner altar and outer altar. To better symbolize heaven and earth, the northern part of the temple is circular while the southern part is square, which reflect the ancient Chinese belief that Heaven is round and Earth is square.
Lama Temple: A renowned Temple of Yong He Lamasery, also known as the "Palace of Peace and Harmony Lama Temple", the "Yonghe Lamasery", or - popularly - the "Lama Temple" is a temple and monastery of the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism located in the northeastern part of Beijing, China. It was built initially in 1694 for the resident of Emperor Yong Zheng when he was just a price before he ascended the throne. After his death in 1735, the dynasty formally changed the status of his dwelling to that of a lamasery and Yong He Lamasery became the national center of Lama administration, and lived with large number of monks from Tibet and Mongolia. It has many remarkable treasures but 3 ones should be visited: the Stone Tablet of Emperor Qianlong's Inscriptions, a 26 meters higher of huge Status of Buddha in Tibet religion feature, the Resident and Throne of Da-lai Lama while Dalai Lama were in Beijing. The inscriptions caved on the tablet with four languages are in intelligently talking on the reason of the importance and a must that whole nation & dynasty has to treat religions well in China.
Aristocrats lived to the east and west of the imperial palace. The large siheyuan of these high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants often featured beautifully carved and painted roof beams and pillars and carefully landscaped gardens. The hutongs they formed were orderly, lined by spacious homes and walled gardens. Farther from the palace, and to its north and south, were the commoners, merchants, artisans and laborers. Their siheyuan were far smaller in scale and simpler in design and decoration, and the hutongs were narrower.
Nearly all siheyuan had their main buildings and gates facing south for better lighting; thus a majority of hutongs run from east to west. Between the main hutongs, many tiny lanes ran north and south for convenient passage.
Other cities worth to visit:
XI'AN:
Main Attractions:
Terracotta Warriors and
Horses Museum
Shaanxi Provincial History Museum
the Forest of Steles Museum
City Wall, Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Daming Palace Site
HANGZHOU:
Main Attractions:
Lingying Temple
XIXI National Wetlands Park
Wuzhen
CHENGDU:
Main Attractions:
Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
Wenshu Monastery
Wuhou Shrine
Jinli Street
Kuanzhaixiangzi Alley
Mingyin.Xu
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