1.

Great Wall

The Great Wall was built as military affairs in different times of ancient china, in order to defend the enemies from the northern side out of the country. It starts with Jiayuguan (Jiayu Pass) from the west and ends in Shanhaiguan (Shanhai Pass) from the east. The Badaling Great Wall is the best-preserved section and opened the earliest to tourists. Nowadays, Mutianyu section, Jinshanling section, Jiankou Section and Huanghuacheng section have all been developed to unfold their mystery masks to visitors from home and abroad. Without doubt the Great Wall is among the most imposing and amazing architectures in our planet. Few things could be seen from outer space but the Great Wall. All in all, the great wall is regarded as one of the three major symbols of China.

2.

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City, which goes by the name of the Imperial Palace, is not only the palace for 24 emperors of Ming and Qing dynasty but also the biggest and most magnificent ancient palace ever preserved in the world. The Forbidden City is rectangular in shape. It is 960 meters long from north to south and 750 meter wide from east west. As the area of structure takes almost 150,000 squares, it's also called the city in a city. A 52-meter-wide-moat encircles a 9.9-meter-high wall which encloses the complex. Manpower and materials throughout the country were used to build the Forbidden City. A total of 230,000 artisans and one million laborers were employed. Marble was quarried from Fangshan of Hebei Province, paving blocks were fired in kilns in Suzhou of Jiangsu Province, while bricks and scarlet pigmentation used on the palatial walls came from Linqing in Shandong Province. Timber was cut, processed and hauled from the northwestern and southern regions. As an imperial garden, the Forbidden City was built in order to comply with the theory of astrology, which indicates the palace situates in the right place that would bring people good fortune.

3.

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. Situated in the southern part of the city, this grand set of structures covers an area of 273 hectares. To better symbolize heaven and earth, the northern part of the Temple is circular while the southern part is square. The whole compound is enclosed by two walls, a square wall outside a round one. The outer area is characterized by suburban scenery, while the inner part is used for sacrifices. The inner enclosure consists of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest and the Circular Mound Altar. The ancient Chinese believed that Heaven was the supreme ruler of the universe and the fate of mankind, thus worshiping rites dedicated to Heaven came into being. The Heaven the ancient Chinese referred to was actually the Universe, or nature. During Ming and Qing dynasties in history, Emperors would visit this temple for annual ceremonies during which they prayed good harvest for the whole nation.

4.

Tian'anmen Square (the Gate of Heavenly Peace)

Tiananmen Square is named after Tiananmen Rostrum which locates in the central of Beijing. It was first built in 1417 and named Chengtianmen (the Gate of Heavenly Succession). At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was seriously damaged by war. When it was rebuilt under the rule of Qing Dynasty in 1651, it was renamed Tian'anmen, and served as the main entrance to the Imperial City, the administrative and residential quarters for court officials and retainers. As the world's largest central square and the symbol of China's national pride, it witnessed several influential events in contemporary Chinese history. Ssurrounded by many imposing buildings including the Heavenly Gate (entry to the Forbidden City), Museums, government buildings and the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao, Tian’anmen has now become more than a political symbolism but also a popular sightseeing place.

5.

Hike Mt.Qingcheng

Local Chengdu people loves to go to Qingcheng Mountain during the weekend, especially in summer times. As one of the birth lands of Chinese Taoist, it is also an extraordinary fascinating and intriguing scenic spot that is covered by luxuriant and verdant trees. The mountain, which is surrounded by numerous peaks, is shaped like a city, hence the name Qingcheng which means Green City in Chinese. It is entitled the most peaceful and secluded mountain under heaven and combines perfectly with its evergreen scenery. It takes only one day to hike the mountain up and down, or half-day excursion by cable cars.

6.

Lama Temple

Lama Temple, also called the Yonghe Lamasery, was once the home of Yongzheng Emperor (1678-1735) when he was still a prince. Situated in the northeastern part of Beijing, this magnificent temple consists of five main buildings lying on the north-south axis, with annex halls standing on both sides. As it brings two princes into being emperors (Yongzheng and Qianlong) in Chinese history, it was taken as a place where immortal lives because of the culture of geomantic omen. Qianlong (1711-1799) changed the place into Lama Temple after Yongzheng’s passing away, and now Lama Temple has become a well known temple which ranks the highest class all over china.

7.

Summer Palace

Situated in the western outskirts of Haidian District, the Summer Palace is 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from central Beijing and is equally as famous as the Forbidden City. The Summer Palace is called "Yiheyuan"(Garden of Nurtured Harmony) in Chinese. Having the largest royal park and being well preserved, it was designated, in 1960 by the State Council, as a Key Cultural Relics Protection Site of China. Containing examples of the ancient arts, it also has graceful landscapes and magnificent constructions. The Summer Palace is the archetypal Chinese garden, and is ranked amongst the most noted and classical gardens of the world. In 1998, it was listed as one of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

8.

Beijing 2008 Olympic Game Center Park

Located at the north end of the central axis of Beijing City, with a large area of 1215 hectares, it contains National museum, exhibition area, Olympic Village and Olympic competition avenues. Approximately 31 venues are used in Beijing Olympics, including National Stadium, the Bird's Nest and National Aquatics Center. After the 2008 Beijing Olympic Game, these newly builds take places of other famous structures to standing for Beijing.

9.

Hutong (Beijing alleys)

Hutong is one of famous Beijing attractions, which many foreigners visit Beijing China choose for a rickshaw tour in Beijing. Travelers are attracted by the deep and quiet winding Hutongs full of warm, beautiful Siheyuan, or quadrangles. Therefore, the ancient capital culture has been named as "Hutong culture" and "Siheyuan culture".

10.

Ming Tombs

Ming Tombs is situated at the foot of Tianshou Mountains of Changping District. It is not only the cemetery of the 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644) but also the best-preserved Chinese imperial tombs with 500 years history. the head and the largest tomb of Ming Tombs is Changling, where Emperor Yongle (the first emperor in Beijing) and his Empress Xu were buried. The Ming Tombs was inscribed into the catalogue of World Heritage in the 27th session of World Heritage Organization of UNESCO ,2003.

11.

Shichahai Lakes

Shichahai, constituted with three parts: the west lake, the back lake and the front lake, was a wonderful place to be away from summer holidays since the Qing Dynasty. With the fantastic scenery around, it's one of the most well-known interests in Beijing. Shichahai is the place where the style and features of old Beijing city best protected, there are gardens and palaces of the princes around it. After hundreds years of development, Shichahai has contained all kinds and classes of culture up to the emperor and down to the common people. Tourists could go boating there in summer and go skating in winter.

12.

Guozijian

The Guozijian - "School of the Sons of State" was also well-known the "Imperial Academy" and was the national central institute of learning after the Sui (581-618AD) danasty. This school was the highest place of learning in China's traditional educational system and an integral part of the Confucian system of education for government officials. Originally founded as far back as 3 CE, when a standard nationwide school system was established during the reign of Emperor Ping of Han (9BC – AD6) danasty, it was called the Taixue in Chinese. The central schools of Taixue were disbanded during the 1898 reform of the Qing Dynasty, the Guozijian was replaced by the Imperial Capital Academy which later became Peking University that we are very familiar with.

13.

Beijing Capital Museum

Firstly opened to the public in October of 1981, the Capital Museum was originally sited in the Confucian Temple of Beijing. On May 18th 2006, the new Beijing Capital Museum moved to its actual residence and opened to visitors. It is now the most advanced and modern comprehensive museum in Beijing area and around. Large numbers of exhibitions have been displayed here, covering a wide variety of subjects, history, cultural relics, revolutionary history, folk customs and so on. The core of the museum is to reveal the splendid culture and glorious history of China. It devotes itself to be the symbolic construction of Beijing.