Xiangshan Park

Xiangshan Park was called Jingyi (Tranquillity) Park in ancient times. It is located in the southern side of the Temple of the Azure clouds at the foot of the Western Hills, northwest suburbs of Beijing. Xiangshan forms like a crescent moon, behind which the connected peaks from north, and south encircle a col of 6 square kilometers. The Xiangshan Park is built in this col.

It is a mountain forest park, which utilizes the natural environment with artificial embellishment. Every pavilion, terrace, tower, pagoda, hall, loft, hill stone is made suitable for the requirement of natural scenery. Beautiful environment of the nature and various buildings at different layers are made in accordance with each other beauty, appearing in very harmonious grace.

The red maples are the picturesque scenery known far and near. Every year after the frost descent (in the last ten days of October), a great tract of maples of more than 90 maple trees on the south-west slope of the mountain become red. Among which some leaves of pine, cypress, persimmon and white birch dot the scene, inlaying green and yellow with red like a natural embroidery.

In the middle of the slope of the northwest mountain of Xiangshan Park, there is a tablet on which the Emperor Qian Long of the Qing Dynasty inscribed "Fine day snow in the Western Mountains", one of the eight sights of old Beijing.

Imperial Palace

The Imperial Palace, also known as the Forbidden City or "Gugong", was the imperial residence and center of the kingdom during the reign of 24 emperors. 14 in the Ming and 10 in the Qing dynasty resided and ruled from this palace for 491 years until Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing dynasty and of China. It is now the largest and best preserved ancient architecture in China.
Located in the center of Beijing, the Imperial Palace covers an area of 72 hectares. Rectangular in shape, it runs 960 meter long from north to south. And 750 meter wide extended from east to west. There is a 10-meter high wall, encircled by a 52-meter wide moat.

The palace boasts more than nine thousand rooms, with layout following strict feudal code. The palace is divided into two main sections:- the Front Palace and the Inner palace. In the center of the Front Palace stand the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Complete Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. The Inner Palace includes the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Prosperity, the Hall of Earthly Peace and the Imperial Garden.

There are four gates at each corners of the walls:- The Meridian Gate to the south, the Gate of Divine Military Genius to the north, the East Flowery Gate to the east and the West Flowery Gate to the west. The Gate of Divine Military Genius was the gate connecting the imperial palace with the market area to the north of the palace. It is the largest gate of the Forbidden City, 35.6 meters high and surmounted by five pavilions. The central pavilion is rectangular in shape, while the other four, two on each side are square and hence the nickname is "The Five Phoenix Tower"

The Meridian Gate was so named because the Chinese emperors believed that they lived in the center of the universe, and the Meridian Line went through the Forbidden City.

A pair of bronze lions guards the Gate of Supreme Harmony, symbolizing the imperial power. In China, lions were supposed to be good doorkeepers and put at the gate to ward off evil spirits. Lions are frequently seen in front of buildings as guardians, one playing with a ball (male) and the other a cub (female). It was considered auspicious. The ball is said to represent imperial treasury or peace. The cub sucks milk from underneath the claw, because the female doesn't have breast.

The hall of Supreme Harmony is 35 meter high, 60 meter wide and 33 meter on both sides. It is now the largest, best preserved wooden hall in China. Twenty-four pillars support the roof. The Central six are gilded and painted red. The Emperor throne, which is surrounded by art treasures of symbolic significance, is in the middle of the hall.

Above the throne is gold painted caisson, or coffer ceiling, with dragon designs, from which hangs a spherical pearl called The Xu Anyuan mirror?

Three flights of marble steps leads up to the terrace In the middle of the central flight is a huge carving in the design of Dragons playing with pearls over which the emperors sedan chairs were carried. At the east corner of the terrace is a sundial, and at the west corner stands a small temple in which the grain measure was kept. The sundial and grain measure is both symbols of rectitude and fairness.

Behind the Hall of Preserving Harmony, between the stairways, is a huge one-piece marble carving of Dragons playing with pearls? This marble was brought here all the way from Fang Shan District, about 70 km away from Beijing City proper. It is about 17 meters long, 3 meters wide and 1.7 meters thick, weighing about 250 tons. Without any modern means of transportation, you can imagine how difficult it was for the Chinese laborer to transport such a huge piece of stone here!

Facing the Gate of Imperial Supremacy in the Hall of Jewelry is the famous Nine Dragon Screen, the best of its kind and the biggest in China. The main body of the screen was engraved with nine huge dragons. Each dragon is playing with a jewelry ball, each with different unique appearance. The dragons were painted with different colors with three dimension visual appearance and were handcrafted with highest skill of workmanship. It is truly the most beautiful piece of art.
The Imperial Palace is the largest museum in China; it preserves more than 900,000 priceless antiques covering all dynasties of Chinese history. It has been recognized as the biggest and most important treasury house of Chinese culture and arts in the world.

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square


The Tiananmen Square on the north to south axis is at the center of Beijing city. It's the largest square in the world, encompassing an area of 14 hectares, and measuring 865 meters north to south, and 500 and 370 meters east to west on the northern and southern ends respectively.
The Five-Star Red Flag flutters high above the mid-point of the square's north side. Everyday, at dawn and dusk, the Guards march in unison to the foot of the flagstaff to hoist or lower the National Flag, saluted with eyes by the on-lookers.

The Monument to the People's Heroes towers over the center of the square. To its south lies Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall. The Chinese Revolutionary Museum and the Chinese History Museum stand to the east of the square, the Great Hall of the People to the west and the magnificent Heavenly Peace Gate Tower to the north. The Tower is adjoined on its left side by the Zhongshan Park and on the right side by the Working People's Palace of Culture. Opposite the tower in the far south is the Zhengyang Gate Tower. These fine and unique buildings arranged in perfect harmony add greater beauty and grandeur to the Tiananmen Square.
The Tiananmen Square is the people's square, where grand state ceremonies are held on important occasions.

Beijing, Jing for short, is the nation's political, economic, cultural and educational center as well as China's most important center for international trade and communications. Together with Xian, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Nanjing and Hangzhou, Beijing is one of the six ancient cities in China. It has been the heart and soul of politics and society throughout its long history and consequently there is an unparalleled wealth of discovery to delight and intrigue travelers as they explore Beijing's ancient past and enjoy its exciting modern development.

As the capital of the People's Republic of China, Beijing is located in northern China, close to Tianjin Municipality and partially surrounded by Hebei Province. The city covers an area of more than 16,410 square kilometers (6336 square miles) and has a population of 14.93 million people.

Beijing is a city with four distinct seasons. Its best is late spring and autumn. But autumn is taken as the golden tourist season of the year since there is sometimes in the spring of recent years, a yellow wind. We suggest tourists visit Beijing during the months of May, September, and October when people can enjoy bright sunshine and blue skies. An abundance of international class performances are presented in May. If you like winter, you will have other chances to appreciate another landscape of Beijing. After skiing in Beihai and viewing the snowy sights on West Hill, enjoying the steaming hotpot is the best choice, which is really the fun of tour in Beijing. Please keep warm and remember to bring your down garments and sweaters when you visit Beijing in the winter.

How can one city boast so many phenomenal places? Beijing's long and illustrious history started some 500,000 years ago. It is here that the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens, Peking men, lived in caves. Records show that Beijing has been an inhabited city for more than three thousand years and has endured invasions by warlords and foreign powers, devastating fires, the rise and fall of powerful imperial dynasties and has emerged each time as a strong and vibrant city. For more than 800 years, Beijing was a capital city - from the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368) to the Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644 - 1911) dynasties. Thirty-four emperors have lived and ruled the nation in Beijing and it has been an important trading city from its earliest days.

Although now Beijing is a modern and fashionable city complete with a full 21st Century vitality, you can experience authentic Beijing life and become acquainted with 'old Beijing' by exploring its many teahouses, temple fairs, Beijing's Hutong and Courtyard and enjoy the Peking Opera. Add any or all of these to your Beijing tour and you will leave with a feeling of special appreciation in your heart for this ancient city that has truly seen it all and tells its story with matchless grace, charm and vigor.

With the biggest central square in the world - Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City that is the largest and best-preserved imperial palace complex, a superbly preserved section of the Great Wall,as well as the largest sacrificial complex in the world - the Temple of Heaven, Beijing attracts both domestic and foreign visitors who all come to wonder at its century-old history and unique cultural relics.

Dwelling too much on the historical past of Beijing may give tourists the false impression that it is little more than an ancient city in style but this is definitely not so! Strolling around Beijing, you'll find it has much in common with any other great metropolis elsewhere in today's world. There are towering skyscrapers; busy shopping malls and an endless stream of traffic that makes the city much the same as others. The most famous and popular commercial circles and commercial pedestrian streets are predominantly located near the Yansha Shopping Mall, Tiananmen and Wangfujing Street, Guomao Shopping Mall, Qianmen Street and Xidan Street, etc. However, although you will find multinational chains with their own brands to offer, nowhere else on earth will you find such a variety of gourmet Chinese restaurants offering the very best of the eight different styles of Chinese cuisine as well as western style dishes. Modern hotels abound, each offering the highest standards of service and convenience.

After a day's Beijing tours, nighttime can hold other surprises for you. These can vary from traditional performances such as the Beijing Opera, acrobatics and martial arts to modern ones including concerts, ballroom dancing, pubs and clubs. Each and every one has its individual enchantment for the tourist. No description of our capital city is complete without mention of the friendly people who throng the streets. Everywhere you will encounter smiling faces and a warm welcome, especially from the children who love to say 'Hello!' All these things add up to truly make your visit a cultural experience of a lifetime.