Beijing

 Capital city of China and well-known tourist city with historical, cultural, and modern
sightseeing.

Overview
Chinese Name: 北京
Population: 21,333,000 (2022)
Area: 16410.54 km2
Location: North of China
Main attraction: Tianmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Badaling
Great Wall, Ming Tombs, etc.
Beijing is the capital city of the People’s Republic of China and the political, cultural and economic
center of China. It has a glorious history which can be dated back three millennia. The most
highlighting part is its great role of the ancient capital city since the past eight centuries. The city
preserves the most magnificent imperial culture of China, including numerous historical architectures,
relics, tradition.

MAPS
BEIJING TRANSPORT
 By Train

 There are 4 major railway stations in Beijing: Beijing, Beijing West, Beijing South, and
Beijing North.
 Beijing – Tianjin 30 mins, Beijing – Xi’an 6h, Beijing – Shanghai 5h, Beijing – Hongkong 9h

 By Air

 There are 3 major airports in Beijing.

 Capital International is the largest airport in China, the busiest in Asia, and second busiest in
the world in terms of passenger output.
 Beijing’s new airport – Daxing International Airport was put into use on 30th September 2019.

 Beijing Subway

 23 subway lines have been put into use in Beijing. Operation times vary for the different
metro lines but most of the lines run from 5:00 to 23:26 every day.
 Subway lines 1 and 2 are the most useful for tourists because they can take you to many
must-see attractions in Beijing.
 Forbidden City 紫禁城
- Forbidden City (紫禁城), officially called Gugong ( 故宫 Chinese name), was the imperial
palace for 24 Emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties until the overthrow of Qing Dynasty,
now is open to the public as the Palace Museum. As the highest power center over five
centuries, ordinary people were forbidden from even approaching the palace wall without a
price of instant execution.
- 14-years hardworking by one million civilian workers presented the largest ancient imperial
architecture complex, 72 hectares area with 8703 rooms, all were wooden structures
decorated with yellow glazed tile roof bluish white marble base.

 Badaling Great Wall 八达岭

- Badaling Great Wall, also known as Ba Da Ling ( 八 达 岭 ) in Chinese, is the most
representative part of the Great Wall of China, as well as the most visited section. It is located
in Yanqing County, over 70 kilometers (43 miles) the northwestern suburbs of Beijing city.
The Great Wall is a symbol of ancient Chinese civilization and a world-renowned
fortification. Stretching 6,350 kilometers on the mountains in Northern China, the Great Wall
was first built in the 7th century B.C. and completed during the reign of the first Emperor of
Qin. It was extended during the Ming Dynasty. Being one of the "seven wonders of the
world", it has been listed as a world cultural heritage.

 Tian’anmen Square 天安门广场

 - Tian'anmen Square, the heart of Beijing, is the world's largest city center square. The
ground of the square is all paved with specially processing light-colored granite stone. The
ceremony of raising the national flag in every morning and dropping flag in every sunset time
is the most solemn ceremony. Tian'anmen Square was the locality of numerous major
political and historical events. It is the witness of Chinese development. While strolling in
Tian'anmen Square, looking up at the magnificent layout, the majestic momentum, the vast
and deep landscape, you will feel China's rapid development. Tiananmen Square is the Holy
Land in the hearts of the Chinese people and is the heart of great China.
- On 1st October 1949, Chairman Mao proclaimed the establishment of People’s Republic of
China in Tiananmen Gate.

 Temple of Heaven 天坛
- The Temple of Heaven (天坛) is one of the most brilliant ancient architectures in China.
It is also an outstanding masterpiece of classic imperial buildings throughout Chinese history.
The site was firstly built in 1420 by Yongle Emperor ( 永 乐 皇 帝 ), then expanded by the
subsequent emperors of both Ming and Qing Dynasty, and had served as the holy place for
emperors to pay homage to Heaven and to pray for a year of rich harvest.
- The Temple of Heaven is the largest not only in the size and scale, but also the forms and
traditions. In 1998, the UNESCO listed the Temple of Heaven in the World Heritage Sites
List.

 Summer Palace 颐和园

- Summer Palace in the place of emperors and his families of Qing Dynasty for summer
retreat. Constructed around the Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, Summer Palace is a vast
complex of gardens, palaces, lakes, and hills.
- On December 2nd, 1998, UNESCO announced the Summer Palace as a World Heritage Site
with the declaration “a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design”.
 Yuanmingyuan - The Old Summer Palace 圆明园
Although now mostly just ruins, the Old Summer Palace in northwestern Beijing was once the
imperial residence of the Qianlong Emperor and was considered one of the most spectacular
achievements of Chinese architecture and garden design when constructed in the 1700s.
Looted and destroyed by the British and French during the Second Opium War in 1860 –
the palace was home to a vast and important collection of art and antiques – it took hundreds and
troops three days to burn and demolish the site.

 Hutong 胡同
- Beijing Hutong connecting the quadrangle dwellings is more than a tourist attraction, but also
the pulse of the city. All the over 6,000 alleys of long, shirt, wide, narrow, straight and
winding link the whole Beijing from the ancient time telling the various stories happened in
each period and show the historic development and cultural change of Beijing city.
 Ming Tombs 明十三陵
Ming Tombs means 13 tombs of Ming Dynasty. Listed in World Cultural Heritages by
UNESCO, it shows impressive natural landscape and historical significance.

 Beijing Olympic Park 奥林匹克公园

Beijing Olympic Park, located in Chaoyang District, is a spacious park for the 2008 Beijing
Olympic Games. It contains 10 Olympic venues, 7 non-competitive venues, and a forest park,
some of which have become landmarks of Beijing and representative works in architectural
history such as the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube.
 The Lama Temple 雍和宫
Lama Temple, is a national key Buddhist temple in the Han Nationality area. The buildings are
a combination of Han and Tibetan styles.

 Behai Park 北海公园

Beihai Park, also known as Northern Sea Park, is one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved
ancient imperial gardens in China located in center of Beijing. This ancient garden, with over
1,000 years' history, is not only a classic combination of the grandiosity of the northern gardens
and the refinement of the southern gardens in China, but also a perfect integration of magnificent
imperial palaces and solemn religious constructions
 National Museum of China
By the end of 2013, the National Museum of China has more than 1,050,000 collections and 48
exhibition halls, with many of the priceless collections which cannot be found anywhere else in
China and the rest of the world. It is the third largest museum in the world and one of the
richest collections of Chinese cultural relics. Its overall scale ranks first in the world museums.
In 2013, the number of visitors reached 7.45 million, the second most visited museum.

 Peking Opera
- Beijing Opera is the quintessence of China. The largest Chinese opera form,it is extolled as
‘Oriental Opera’. Having a history of 160 years.
- There are currently four main role categories in Beijing Opera. They are Sheng (生) - Male
Role, Dan (旦) - Female Role, Jing (净) - Painted Face Male and Chou (丑) - The Comedy
Role.
 Beijing Cuisine

- Beijing cuisine, the food popular in Beijing, China’s capital, is a combination of Shandong
cuisine, Halal dishes, Chinese aristocrat cuisine and imperial dishes, etc. The cooking
methods of Beijing food are rich and it tastes salty, fresh, and tender with strong sauce
aroma. The notable dishes are Peking duck, Instant-boiled Mutton, Sautéed Meat Shreds with
Soy Bean Paste, Quick-fried Tripe, etc. It also has the famous snacks like Stir-fried Liver,
Thousand-layered cake, Pea Cake, Donkey Rolls, Mung Bean Milk, etc.

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