Beijing - "The Forbidden City"
The capital of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing (formerly Peking) is a very modern and exceedingly busy city (nearly 14 million people call it home) with high-rise buildings, international hotels and sprawling suburbs. The city is abuzz and bristling with cranes on the skyline as construction projects give rise to new sky-scrapers and modernisation proceeds apace. However, Beijing also encompasses numerous attractions of cultural and historical interest, of which some, such as the Great Wall, former Imperial palace (known as the Forbidden City) the Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace and the remains of Peking Man at Zhoukoudian, are UNESCO-endorsed World Cultural Heritage Sites. Chinese history and culture fascinates Western visitors, and Beijing is the place to start exploring it. The city abounds in imperial palaces, temples, mansions, gardens and tombs that epitomise classical Chinese architecture. It has 120 museums and more than 100 public gardens.
The first port of call for most visitors is the Forbidden City, which lies at the heart of Beijing with the rest of the city radiating out from it in a grid pattern. For five centuries this massive palace complex with 9,999 rooms functioned as the administrative centre of the country and home to a succession of emperors, who lived in luxurious isolation, surrounded by courtiers and retainers. The Palace overlooks the famous Tiananmen Square, site of so much political drama and dissent, the epitome of this capital city.
Forbidden City
Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is the biggest and best preserved complex of ancient buildings in China, and the largest palace complex in the world. Construction of the palace complex began in 1407 and for 500 years this inner sanctum was off-limits to most of the world as the emperors lived in luxury, secluded from the masses, surrounded by their families, court officials, servants, eunuchs, concubines and other members of court. The Forbidden City and its centrepiece, the magnificent palace, have a permanent restoration squad which continually works to keep the 800 buildings and 9,999 rooms inside the Forbidden City complex in top repair. The once Forbidden City is now open to all visitors.
Opening time: Daily 8.30am to 3.30pm; Admission: RMBY45
Tiananmen Square
The famous square at the heart of Beijing, recently renovated, is still not much to look at, but it attracts curious tourists simply because it was the scene of so many historic events and is the largest city square in the world. In the ancient imperial days it was a gathering place and the site of government offices, but more modern history, particularly the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators, has made it a site of great political significance. Major rallies took place in the square during the Cultural Revolution when Mao Tse Tung reviewed military parades up to a million strong. The square is surrounded by several monuments, some ancient and some modern, including the former gates to the Forbidden City, the Gate of Heavenly Peace and Qianmen (the front gate); the Chinese Revolution Museum; and the Mao Mausoleum where China’s former leader lays preserved in state.
The Great Wall
Several sections of the Great Wall of China, a man-made phenomenon that has become a symbol of Chinese civilisation, can be viewed in the Beijing area. In Yanqing county in northwest Beijing is the 600-year-old Badaling Fortification, representative of the Ming dynasty sections of the Great Wall. Other sections can be seen at Jinshanling, Mutianyu and Simatai. The Great Wall, 4,000 miles (6,350km) long, was built in stages from the seventh century BC onwards, snaking its way across the mountains and valleys of five provinces in northern China as a mammoth defence bulwark.
The Summer Palace
The magnificent Summer Palace in northwest Beijing at Kunming Lake was built in 1750 by the Emperor Qianlong, and continued to be an imperial residence until the Empress Dowager Cixi died in 1908. The palace and stunning gardens are open to visitors, who enter through the East Palace gate, pass through a grand courtyard into the Hall of Benevolent Longevity, the Hall of Jade Ripples, and the Hall of Joyful Longevity. Empress Cixi’s private theatre in the Garden of Moral Harmony is a must-see, as is the long corridor that skirts Kunming Lake’s northern shoreline to reach the marble boat, an elaborate two-storey structure of finely carved stone and stained glass.
Opening time: Daily 7am to 7pm
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