BEIJING

1
BEIJING

• Beijing is a metropolis in northern China and
  the capital of the People's Republic of China.
  Beijing is a major transportation hub, with
  dozens of railways, roads and motorways passing
  through the city. It is also the focal point of
  many international flights to China. Beijing is
  recognized as the political, educational, and
  cultural center of the People's Republic of
  China. The best times to visit Beijing are spring
  (April and May are nicest) and fall (September
  and October can be beautiful). Beijing or Peking
  means "northern capital". The term Peking
  originated with French missionaries four hundred
  years ago and corresponds to an older
  pronunciation. The city has been renamed several
  times (Jin Dynasty) Zhongdu, (Mongol Yuan
  Dynasty) Dadu, (Ming Dynasty) Hongwu, Beiping
  (Peiping) ''northern peace, Nanjing, Yanjing.
  October 1st 1949. Communist Party Of China,
  under the leadership of Mao Zedong announced in
  Tiananmen the creation of the People's Republic
  of China and renamed the city back to Beijing.
• Beijing is situated at the northern tip of the
  roughly triangular North China Plain, which opens
  to the south and east of the city. Mountains to
  the north, northwest and west shield the city and
  northern China's agricultural heartland from the
  encroaching desert steppes. The city's climate is
  a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate,
  characterized by hot, humid summers due to the
  East Asian monsoon, and generally cold, windy,
  dry winters that reflect the influence of the
  vast Siberian anticyclone.
• Television and radio CCTV, Beijing
  Television(BTV), China Radio International, Radio
  774.
• Press Beijing Evening News (Beijing Wanbao),
  The Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao), the Beijing Star
  Daily, the Beijing Morning News, and the Beijing
  Youth Daily (Beijing Qingnian Bao), Beijing
  Weekly, Beijing Today, Youth Daily, People's
  Daily, City Weekend, Beijing This Month, Beijing
  Talk, That's Beijing, MetroZine.
• Sports Chinese Super League, Beijing Guoan,
  Chinese Football Association Jia League, Beijing
  Hongdeng, Beijing Institute of Technology FC,
  Chinese Basketball Association, Beijing Ducks,
  Women's Chinese Basketball Association, Beijing
  Shougang, Asia League Ice Hockey, China Sharks,
  China Baseball League, Beijing Tigers.

2
The Forbidden City (Zijin Cheng)

• The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial
  palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the
  Qing Dynasty.
• It is located in the middle of Beijing, China,
  and now houses the Palace Museum.
• For almost five centuries, it served as the home
  of the Emperor and his household, as well as the
  ceremonial and political centre of Chinese
  government.
• The complex consists 980 surviving buildings with
  8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 square
  meters.
• Forbidden City, which is located north of the
  Tiananmen Square, and to whom is going through
  the same gate, UNESCO declared World Heritage in
  1987. year.
• Building forbidden city started the 1406th year.
• It took 14 years and about 200,000 workers to
  complete the complex.
• It is protected by UNESCO.
• Part of his name - Forbidden refers to the fact
  that no one could enter or leave the palace
  without the permission of the emperor.
• The design of the Forbidden City, from its
  overall layout to the smallest detail, was
  meticulously planned to reflect philosophical and
  religious principles, and above all to symbolize
  the majesty of Imperial power.

3
The Great Wall of China

• The Great Wall Of China is a series of stone and
  earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt,
  and maintained between the 5th century BC and the
  16th century to protect the northern borders of
  the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu attacks during
  the rule of successive dynasties.
• It stretches over approximately 6,400 km (4,000
  miles) from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in
  the west, along an arc that roughly delineates
  the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, but
  stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160 miles) in
  total.
• It was guarded by more than one million men.
• Notable Areas "North Pass" , "West Pass" ,
  "Pass".

4
Beijing Kaoya- Beijing Duck

• Peking Duck a delicious, lightly-smoked, rich
  meal complimented by pancakes, dipping sauce,
  vegetable filling and irresistible slivers of
  juicy meat, fat and crispy skin.
• Peking Duck is said to originate from Inner
  Mongolia and was first served in a Peking
  restaurant in 1855.
• The original recipe for Peking Duck includes a
  description of how to build and fire the oven for
  smoking the bird!

5
Tiananmen Square

• The heart of modern China beats in Tiananmen
  Square, the symbol of the People's Republic and
  the center of Beijing's landmarks.
• The flagstones of Tiananmen cover a staggering
  440,000 square meters, enough space to allow a
  million people to gather there.
• The Tiananmen Gate Tower sites at the north, the
  Five-Star Red Flag flies high on the square, the
  Monument to the People's Heroes dominates the
  center, the Great Hall of the People and the
  Museum of the Chinese Revolution and the Museum
  of Chinese History to the east and west of it, as
  well as The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall and the
  Qianmen gate, sit in the south of the square.
• Over several hundred years, in front of the
  Tiananmen, many democracy meetings and
  demonstrations are held.
• Five Star Red Flag-the Chinese national flag,
  flies high in the sky above the Square.

6
Summer Palace

• It is one of the best parks in the city.
• Originally it was a retreat for emperors to
  escape the scorching summer heat of Beijing.
• The Summer Palace is huge, most of it being taken
  up by Kunming Lake.
• The dirt that was dug up to make the lake was
  piled up and made into Longevity Hill.
• On top of Longevity Hill are several Buddhist
  temples, which, on clear days, offer good views
  of the lake.
• Small boats are available for rent and you can
  motor or paddle about the lake.
• Another part of the park, called Suzhou street,
  which is supposed to be a model of what the city
  of Suzhou looked like in the Qing Dynasty.
• The streetencircles a short canal, which you
  can go up and down in a gondola-like boat.

7
Temple Of Heaven

• Built between 1409 and 1420, the Temple of Heaven
  is one of Beijing"s most impressive parks in
  terms of Heaven is one of Beijing"s most
  impressive parks in terms of architecture, color
  and significance.
• The Temple is basically a huge communications
  terminal which the Emperor used to communicate
  directly with Heaven.
• Several times a year, the Emperor would come here
  to pray for good harvests, enough rain and other
  heavenly boons.
• The construction of the Temple is based around
  the number nine, the largest of the single
  digits, which is divine in Chinese numerology.
• The Temple consists of four basic parts the
  Round Altar, the Echo Wall, the Imperial Vault of
  Heaven, and the Hall of prayer for Good Harvests.
• The Round Altar is where the Emperor would report
  on the status of the country to Heaven.
• The Altar is constructed in the middle, anything
  you say is amplified several times.

8

• This is because when the Emperor was talking with
  Heaven, his voice was supposed to be amplified so
  that it was as if his voice was as loud as the
  collective voice of a whole nation.
• The Echo Wall is a round structure which if you
  whisper along the inner wall, your voice can be
  heard all the way around the other side.
• However, there is always a crowd of people
  whispering(and shouting) so it is very hard to
  get the desired effect.
• Supposedly the Emperor would use this method to
  secretly confer with Inner Court members.
• The Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of
  Prayer for Good Harvests are both structures
  which were places of worship for the Emperor.
• The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is
  remarkable because it is a 38-meter-tall building
  which does not have a single nail holding it
  together.
• The original was burnt down in 1889 but has been
  faithfully reconstructed.
• The hall has 28 wooden pillars supporting a
  39-meter tower of three conical roofs, covered
  with blue glazed tiles, to reflect the color of
  the sky.
• The wooden walls are richly decorated, inside and
  out.
• To the west of the complex is the Hall of
  Abstinence, where the emperors would prepare
  themselves for the solemn occasion by spending a
  night fasting (and without concubines!).
• If you go to the Temple of Heaven in the early
  morning , you can see groups of people practicing
  all types of kung fu and taiji.
• You can also practice with them if you are so
  inclined. This is another good activity for the
  jetlagged.

9
Ming Tombs

• Otherwise known as the 13 Tombs, this is the
  burial site of 13 out of 17 emperors of the Ming
  Dynasty.
• However, the only one you can get a good look at
  is the tomb of Emperor Wanli, who reigned from
  1537 to 1620.
• This tomb was unearthed in 1956.
• There are two others that have been uncovered,
  but the rest remain illusive.
• The best part of the Ming Tombs is the road
  there.
• The spirit Way is the path leading to the mouth
  of the tomb.
• Along the path are bizarre, mythical stone
  monsters standing guard.
• To get to the tomb itself, you have to walk down
  many flights of stairs till you are deep inside
  the mountain.
• But the actual tomb chambers are a little
  disappointing.
• It's just a couple of stone rooms, excavated
  treasures.

10
Hutong

• According to linguistic experts, "hutong"
  originally meant "well" in the Mongolian, Uygur
  and Manchu languages.
• A hutong is an ancient city alley or lane typical
  in Beijing, where hutongs run into the several
  thousand.
• The main buildings in the hutong were almost all
  quadrangles--a building complex formed by four
  houses around a quadrangular courtyard.
• The quadrangles varied in size and design
  according to the social status of the residents.
• The ordinary people's quadrangles were simply
  built with small gates and low houses.
• Hutongs, in fact, are passageways formed by many
  closely arranged quadrangles of different sizes.

11
Lama Temple The Yonghe Temple Palace of Peace
and Harmony

• Is a temple and monastery of the Geluk School of
  Tibetan Buddhism located in the northeastern part
  of Beijing.
• The building and the artworks of the temple
  combine Han Chinese and Tibetan styles.
• Building work on the Yonghe Temple started in
  1694 during the Qing Dynasty.
• The Yonghe Temple is arranged along a north-south
  central axis, which has a length of 480m.
• Along the axis, there are five main halls which
  are separated by courtyards the Hall of the
  Heavenly Kings (Tian Wang Dian or Devaraja Hall),
  the Hall of Harmony and Peace (Yonghegong), the
  Hall of Everlasting Protection (Yongyoudian), the
  Hall of the Wheel of the Law (Falundian), and the
  Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses (Wanfuge).
• The Hall of the Heavenly Kings is the
  southernmost of the main halls, it served
  originally as the main entrance to the monastery.
• In the center of the hall stands a statue of the
  Maitreya Buddha, along the walls statues of the
  four Heavenly kings are arranged

12
Beihai Park

• Beihai Park is an extremely popular attraction
  among Beijingers and tourists.
• It is very large, about 68.2 hectares, and almost
  two-thirds of the park is a lake.
• The park sits in the Beijings center, used to be
  the royal garden of the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing
  Emperors.
• Besides the lake, the main things to see in
  Beihai are the Round City, which contains a jade
  vase from the time of Kublai Khan the Temple of
  Eternal Peace, the Nine Dragon Screen, which is
  really a 5-meter-high, 27-meter-long wall covered
  with glazed tiles carved into nine intertwining
  dragonsand the White Pagoda on Gem Island in the
  center of the lake.
• You can paddle around in a bizarre assortment of
  boats.
• Within Beihai is also the famous Fangshan
  Restaurant, the best known of the Imperial Court
  style restaurants where you can eat Qing Dynasty
  type food, for a pretty penny.

13
Capital Museum

• The former Capital Museum, which was located in
  the Confucius Temple, started its planning stage
  in 1953 and formally opened to the general public
  in 1981.
• The museum is a five-storey mansion, catering for
  a maximum of 13 concurrent exhibitions, which can
  be seen in about 5 hours at the cost of 30 Yuan
  per visitor.
• The architectural design concept of the Capital
  Museum is based on human and cultural heritage to
  serve the community and underlines the harmonious
  integration of past and present, history and
  modernism, art and nature.
• The construction of the Capital Museum itself is
  a piece of architectural artwork integrating both
  classical and modern beauty.