Tiananmen Square The Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, is said to be the biggest square in the world. It is 880 meters from north to south, and 500 meters from east to west, with total area of 440,000 square meters and can hold one million people and is regarded as a symbol of China. The daily flag ceremonies at the square, performed during sunrise and sunset, are most exceptional and well-worth time to view and experience. The square is surrounded by a variety of significant buildings including Tiananmen Gate, The Forbidden City, the Great Hall of the People, The Monument of the People's Heroes and the Mao Zedong Mausoleum. Tiananmen Square attracts millions of visitors annual throughout the world.

Forbidden City The Forbidden City (Imperial Palace) in the heart of Beijing is the largest and most complete imperial palace and ancient building complex in China, and the world at large. Its construction began in 1406 and was completed 14 years later, having a history so far of some 580 years. It was functioned as the administrative center of China aside from being the residence of emperors and empresses of the Yuan (1271 - 1368), Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644 - 1911) dynasties. Consisting of more than 9,000 rooms and covering an area of 72 hectares, Forbidden City is the largest and the best-preserved Imperial Palace in the world. In addition, it was listed as UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage in 1987.

The Temple of Heaven The Temple was completed in 1420 and was originally a platform for the Son of Heaven (the emperor) to perform sacrifices and solemn rites. The Temple buildings and the parklands reflect ancient Chinese religious beliefs that imagine heaven as round and earth as square. Thus, the buildings in the temple are constructed on a central axis. The temples themselves are round and the bases square. It is composed of four main areas: the Round Altar, Echo Wall, the Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a unique wooden and blue-tiled structure built without a nail. The entire complex is a treasure trove of ancient Chinese architectural designs and arts and was listed as UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage in 1998.

Yonghegong (Yonghe Lamasery) Originally built in 1694 and situated in the northeast part of Beijing city , the Yonghe Lamasery is the largest and best-known lamasery in Beijing. The principal components are three exquisite memorial archways and five major halls, all of which stand on a north-south axis. The total area of the compound calculated from the southernmost memorial archway to the lamasery; northernmost point is 66,400 square meters. It is a typical Tibetan Monastery in Beijing and reveals various architectural styles from Han, Mongolia, Manchuria and Tibet, and the impressive 60-foot Maitreya Buddha, carved form a single sandalwood tree. The temple houses a treasury of Buddhist art, including sculptured images of gods, demons and Buddhas, as well as Tibetan-style frescoes.

Summer Palace (Yihe Yuan) The construction of the Summer Palace first started in 1750. It is the most splendid imperial garden in China with elegant overall arrangement, magnificent buildings and attractive scenery. Summer Palace is comprehensive expression of the traditional Chinese garden arts. It concentrates all Chinese imperial gardens’ magnificence and is full of interests of the nature by borrowing the beautiful view of the landscape around. The palace occupies an area of 290 hectares, three fourths of which are covered with Kunming Lake. Among the ancient architectures in the garden, the Covered Walkway, Tower of Buddhist Incense, the Marble Boat, the 17-Arch Bridge and Grand Theatre are the most famous ones and well known to visits both home and abroad. It was listed as UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage in 1998.

Ming Tombs At a distance of 50 km northwest of Beijing stands an arc-shaped cluster of hills fronted by a small plain. Here is where 13 emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) were buried, and the area is known as the Ming Tombs. Construction of the tombs started in 1409 and ended with the fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644. In over 200 years tombs were built over an area of 40 square kilometers, which is surrounded by walls totaling 40 kilometers. Only three tombs are opened to the public including Changling of the Yongle Emperor, the largest and the best preserved, Dingling of the Wanli Emperor, the first of the tombs to be excavated, and Zhaoling.
The mausoleums have been perfectly preserved, as has the necropolis of each of the many emperors. Because of its long history, palatial and integrated architecture, the site has a high cultural and historic value. Ming Tombs were fully recognized by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in 2000 and they were added to the hugely prestigious World Heritage List.

The Spirit Way The Spirit Way (Shen Dao), is 7 kilometers long, the longest in China's royal tombs, an impressive marble archway as well as the entrance to the Ming Tombs. It was thought to have leaded the emperors' souls to enter heaven. The Sprit Way ends at a pavilion sheltering a stone tablet. They formed one group, but each tomb is independent of the other. Each locates at the foot of a hill. The highlight of the Spirit Way is the statues of guardian animals and officials. Although most royal tombs have such an avenue of statues, yet none can be compared to the Ming Tombs. There are 12 pairs of animals, including elephants, lions, mythological beasts, and six pairs of court and military officials. It is worth walking through the Spirit Way leisurely, or driving along it unhurriedly.

The Great Wall The Great Wall of China, enlisted in the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987, for most visitors to Beijing, is not a question of whether they will go and see the Great Wall but more which part of the wall they will visit. It is a symbol of Chinese traditional culture and the pride of the Chinese nation. Seemed like a tremendous dragon, the Great Wall rises and falls with the contours of the mountains westward. Beginning in the Warring States period (475-221 BC) to prevent northern nomadic tribes from invading their territory Chinese rulers built the Great Wall which is known as the "10 000-li (5000 km) wall" in China and one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. 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. From east to west, the sections of the Great Wall at Simatai, Jinshanling, Mutianyu, Badaling and Jiayuguan have become tourist attractions.

Simatai Great Wall The Simatai section of the Great Wall, 120 kilometers from the city center, is 5.4 km in length with 35 watchtowers in all. Its construction started in the early Hongwu years (1368-1398) of the Ming Dynasty. Built hundreds of years ago, the Simatai Great Wall still retains all its original appearance. It not only incorporates a variety of styles of other parts of the 10, 000-li-long wall, but also displays some unique characteristics. This section of the Great Wall is often described with the following five words: perilous, dense, diverse, ingenuous, and peculiar. Simatai Great Wall has been acknowledged by the UNESCO as one of the World Cultural Heritages.

Badaling Great Wall Badaling is located at Yanqing County, more than 70 kilometers northwest from the center of Beijing City. The wall of Badaling has a total length of 3, 741 meters with an average height of 8 meters The highest part is 15 meters. The total area for a tour is 19, 000 square meters. There're two entrances to climb the Badaling Great Wall, most people, however, climb the Great Wall from the right entrance because it is much easier. The wall on the left is a little more steep, naturally, less people climb the wall from this side. No matter which choice you will make, start climbing and walking along the wall overlooking splendid mountainous scenery now!

Mutianyu Great Wall First built over 2000 years ago, Mutianyu Great Wall is older, much steeper and more challenging than Badaling Great Wall. It is located in Huairou Distrisct and starts from Juyong Pass on the west and reaches Gubeikou on the east. The main tourist attraction includes Guanjiankou, Niujiaobian and Yingfeidaoyang on the west part of the section. Mutianyu Great Wall snakes on the high mountains, whose vegetation coverage reaches over 90 per cent. The Mutianyu Great Wall has the largest construction scale and best quality among all sections of Great Wall. Many foreign top leaders have visited Mutianyu Great Wall. Among them are John Major, former prime minister of Britain, and Bill Clinton, former president of the United States.

Beihai Park Functioned as the royal garden of four dynasties, Beihai Park is an extremely popular park among Beijing city tour with a history of 800 years. It occupies an area of 68.2 hectares, two thirds of which are covered with water. The scale of the park is appropriately regal and the huge lake is divided into three parts: Beihai(the North Lake), Zhonghai(the Central Lake) and Nanhai(the South Lake). A walk around the various scenic spots in Beihai is definitely enjoyable. There are various places to take in along the way such as Jade Islet Isle, the Jade Jar of Dushan, the Painted gallery, the Nine Dragon Screen, the Liulige Tower, Yong'an Temple, the Five-Dragon Pavilion. Beihai is also a peaceful place to wander and do some people watching.

Beijing Zoo Beijing Zoo, situated to the west of Beijing Exhibition Center, was known for a short time after the founding of the People's Republic as the Western Suburbs Park (Xijiao Gongyuan). In the 18th century, the zoo was known as the Sanbeizi Gardens, supposedly named after the third son of Emperor Kangxi, Prince Cheng Yin. Beijing Zoo is the oldest and largest zoo in the Asia Pacific area and the world-famous home of the giant pandas. Now it contains more than 7000 animals, including golden monkeys from Sichuan, yaks from Tibet, sea turtles from the Chinese sea, Manchurian tigers, and snow leopards.

Hutong Tour The word "Hutong" originated from the Mongolian word "huto", which means water wells. Since nomadic tribes used to live and stay near water wells, they called the small alleys "huto". Hutong had its first appearance in Beijing in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).The name was gradually adopted by all the residents of Beijing, and has been handed down to the present. The houses built on each side of Hutong are called Siheyuan (quadrangle), generally rectangular dwelling compounds, in which buildings on four sides. Almost every quadrangle is surrounded by high walls. The width of Hutong was clearly regulated in the Yuan Dynasty and measured by steps. A passage of six steps in width was called a hutong, running directly from east to west. A passage of 24 steps in width was then called a street, which ran from north to south. The whole city, therefore, looked like a chessboard. All tourists are attracted by the building style of the brick-and-tile mansion, in which the courtyard consists of a garden with winding corridors, pavilions, rockeries and water. They can also visit local residents and taste some delicious local cuisine while taking the hutong tour.

Temple of Confucius The Temple of Confucius in Beijing is located on Guozijian Street, inside Anding Gate. Sacrifices were made to Confucius, the greatest thinker, educationalist as well as philosophers of Confucianism in ancient China, during the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368), Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) at this temple. As the second largest temple constructed for Confucius, Temple of Confucius in Beijing covers an area of 22,000 square meters (5.4 acres) and are variously known as Confucian Temples, Temples of Literature or Culture, or Temples of the Sage.