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Beijing which
is located on the northern part of China has become the most famous
travel destination in China because the tourist attractions in
Beijing are simply incredible. Beijing is the capital city of China
and will be the host city for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Although
Beijing has undergone major modernization but all the historical
attractions in Beijing and cultural attractions in Beijing has been
very well preserved to give travelers a great China vacations. There
are many national buildings in Beijing and monuments in Beijing that
are worth visiting. Beijing which was once called Peking is
currently the second largest city in China. Tourists who are on
their Beijing holidays will be glad to know that Beijing is a major
transportation hub with many railroads, roads and motorways passing
through Beijing which will make your Beijing tour very convenient.
Since Beijing is the main point of many international flights to
China, you can travel to Beijing from any part of the world. With so
many famous places of interest in Beijing to visit, your Beijing
trip will surely be one satisfying journey.
 The most
famous tourist attraction in Beijing is the Palace Museum (Palace
Museum is commonly being referred to as the Forbidden City). The
Palace Museum in Beijing is the largest imperial palace complex and
this part of Beijing was off limits to the ordinary folks for five
hundred years and this cluster of ancient buildings is the home to
the emperors from the Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty. You can
even rent a cassette tape for a self-guided tour of the Palace
Museum. One of the top attractions in Beijing is the huge Tiananmen
Photo: Forbidden City
Square which is the biggest central square in China and also the
heart of Beijing and surrounding and famous monuments in Beijing such as the
Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (also known as the Mao Mausoleum), the
Front Gate (Qianmen), the Great Hall of the People, the Monument
to the People’s Heroes, the National Museum of China and the
Tiananmen Tower (Gate of Heavenly Peace). Mao Zedong Mausoleum
is the final resting place of Mao Zedong while the Front Gate is
actually made up of two gates which are the Arrow Tower and
Zhengyang Men. The Great Hall of the People is the venue of
the National People’s Congress while the Monument to the
People’s Heroes displays spectacular bas-relief carvings of key
revolutionary events. The National Museum of China is made up of the
Museum of the Chinese Revolution and the National Museum of Chinese
History while the dominating feature of Tiananmen Tower is the huge portrait
of Chairman Mao and the two lion statues located in the front of the
gate.
One of the
main Beijing attractions is the Summer Palace (Yihe Yuan)
which houses incredible palace temples, bridges, pagodas, beautiful
corridors, classic imperial gardens, lakes and pavilions that was
once a playground for the imperial court. Royalties travel to the
Summer Palace to escape the heat at Forbidden City and the Summer
Palace is dominated by Kunming Lake (Kunming Hu) and Longevity Hill
(Wanshou Shan). Some of the main attractions in the Summer Palace
seen in the Court Area include the Benevolence and Longevity Hall,
the East Palace Gate, Garden of Virtue and Harmony, Hall of Jade
Billows and Hall of Joyful Longevity while attractions in the
Longevity Hill Area include the Back Lake, Cloud Dispelling Hall,
Harmonious Interest Garden (Hequ Yuan), Long Corridor, Longevity
Hill, Sea of Wisdom Temple (Huihai Si), Suzhou Market Street and
Tower of Buddhist Incense. Some famous sights seen at the Kunming
Lake Area include the Bronze Ox, Jade Belt Bridge, Marble Boat,
Nanhu Island (South Lake Island) and Seventeen-Arch Bridge. Visitors
can also visit the Wenchang Gallery which showcases a jade gallery,
a porcelain exhibition and a good selection of Qing artifacts. The
Old Summer Palace which was the original Summer Palace is also a top
attraction in Beijing and this place of interest in Beijing is
commonly known as the Ruins of Yuanmingyuan.
Your Beijing
travel will not be fulfilling is you miss out on the Great Wall of
China (Chang Cheng). There are many tourist areas at Great Wall
that you can visit but the most visited part of the Great Wall is
Badaling. The Badaling Great Wall which is located in Yanqing County
is a famous section of the Great Wall built during the Ming Dynasty.
Tourists in Beijing can also visit the Juyongguan Pass which is
located in Changping County and this top tourist area in Beijing is
the closest section of the great wall to Beijing. The Mutianyu Great
Wall in Huairou County connects the Juyongguan Pass in the west and
Gubeikou Great Wall in the east while the Mutianyu Great Wall was
first built in Northern Qi Dynasty. The Simatai Great Wall in Miyun
County is known for its steep plunges, scrambling ascents and
watchtowers. Another part of Great Wall that is worth visiting is
the Great Wall at Jinshanling because this is the best preserved
part of the Great Wall of China. The Huanghuacheng section of Great
Wall in Huairou District depicts a classic example of Ming defense
with high and wide ramparts with solid beacon towers.
You can find
many famous parks in Beijing and many famous gardens in Beijing. Top
tourist attractions in Beijing include the Fragrant Hills Botanical
Gardens (Xiangshan Zhiwuyuan) which is known for its rainforest
house and Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wofo Si), the Fragrant
Hills Park (Xiangshan Gongyuan) which is located in the Western
Hills (Xi Shan), the Honglingjin (Red Scarf) Park which is known for
its children theme park, the North Sea Park (Beihai Gongyuan or
Beihai Park) which is largely made up of North Sea Lake (Beihai Hu)
and is known for attractions such as the Five Dragon Pavilion, Jade
Islet, Nine Dragon Screen, Painted Gallery, White Dagoba and Xitian
Fanjing Temple, the Prospect Hill Park (Jingshan Gongyuan) which
gives a spectacular overview of the dark roofing of the Forbidden
City, the Ritan Park (Temple of Sun Park) is the venue where Ming
and Qing emperors worshipped the God of the Sun, the Temple of
Heaven Park (Tiantan Gongyuan) which houses the famous Temple of
Heaven which is one of the most famous temples in Beijing that was
built specifically for worship of heaven and prayers for good
harvests and important sections of the Temple of Heaven include the
Echo Wall, Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, Imperial Vault of Heaven
and Round Altar, the Tuanjie Lake Park which has attractions such as
the Deyue Corridor, Evening Clouds Pavilion, Jingxiang Pavilion and
Mingyi (stone) Boat and the Zhongshan Gongyuan which is a pleasant
park located near the Forbidden City.
Attractive
sights of Beijing that are important include the various museums in
Beijing such as the Military Museum, Chinese Ethnic Museum which is
known for its exhibitions on the history and culture of all the
ethnic groups in China, Natural History Museum, the Arthur M Sackler
Museum of Art and Anthropology which is located inside the Beijing
University, Former Residence of Madam Song and Former Residence of
Lao She. Famous art galleries in Beijing include the China Art
Gallery which has a good collection of modern Chinese art, the
Courtyard Gallery which has great avant-garde exhibits, the Kebab
Cafe Gallery, the Red Gate Gallery at the Dongbianmen Tower which
displays some very amazing inventive art works and the Wan Fung Art
Gallery which has a huge selection of colorful art. Since Beijing is
the capital city for many part dynasties, there are many excellent
royal mausoleums in Beijing such as the Ming Tombs (also called the
Thirteen Tombs) since this area lies the final resting place of 13
of the 16 Ming emperors and the Sacred Way which is the road leading
to Ming Tombs and tourist can visit the Chang Ling tomb, Ding Ling
tomb and Zhao Ling tomb which are open to public, the Eastern Qing
Tombs which houses the tombs of many emperors, empress and imperial
consorts and the Western Qing Tombs which was built by Emperor Yongzheng
who was the fourth emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
 There are
plenty of famous temples in Beijing and many famous mosques in
Beijing such as the Lama Temple (Yonghe Gong) which is known for its
amazing Buddhist architecture and it is the venue where emperors
conducted their religious activities with attractions such as the
Falun (Wheel of Law) Hall, the wooden figure of Maitreya and the On
Lama tablet, Confucius Temple (Kong Miao) and Imperial College,
Dongyue Temple (Dongyue Si) which is also called the Beijing Folk
Custom Museum, Great Bell Temple (Dazhong Si), Miaoying Temple White
Dagoba, Universal Rescue Temple (Guangji Si), Ox Street Mosque
Photo: Temple Of Heaven (Niujie
Libai Si), Source of Law Temple (Fayuan Si), Temple of Earth (Di
Tan), Temple of Longevity (Wanshou Temple), White Cloud Temple (Baiyun
Guan) and the Cudrania Pool Temple (Tanzhe Si) which displays
stunning dragon decorations and mythical animal sculptures. Some of
the highly recommended places to visit in Beijing and must see
attractions in Beijing include the Ancient Observatory, the Beijing
Crab Island Green Ecological Resort which is a famous tourist resort
that provides a terrific agricultural sightseeing area and a superb
hot spring bath center, the Beijing Zoo which has over 7,000 animals
displayed in over 50 animal houses, the Bell Tower and Drum Tower,
the Capital Museum which reveals the past and present of Beijing
through its culture, customs and history, the Hutong which are
unique narrows lanes or narrow alleyways that exist between rows of
old walled courtyards (siheyuan), the Marco Polo Bridge, the Minyun
Reservoir, the Panjiayuan Antique Market which has a good selection
of antiques and old articles for sale, the Peking Man Site
which is located near the village of Zhoukoudian is the site
where remains of primitive people were found, astounding
pinnacle-shaped rock formations at Shidu, the Residence of Prince
Gong, St Joseph’s Church and the Yun Ju Si Temple. Besides
sightseeing in Beijing, there are many interesting things to do in
Beijing. You can do your shopping in Beijing by visiting famous
shopping areas in Beijing such as Dashilar (Dashilian), Guomao
shopping mall, Liulichang antique street, Qianmen Street, Wangfujing
shopping street, Yansha shopping mall and Xiushui Silk Market. You
can choose to relax in Beijing by catching a Beijing Opera
performance or watch the energetic acrobatics show. |