Tour Beijing

Beijing
Beijing is an ancient city with a long history. Back in 3000 years ago in Zhou dynasty, Beijing, which was called Ji at the moment, had been named capital of Yan. Thereafter, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasty all made Beijing their capital. Therefore, Beijing was famous for "Capital of a thousand years". The long history leaves Beijing precious cultural treasure. Winding for several kilometers in Beijing area, the Great Wall is the only man-made structure that could be seen in the space. The Summer Palace is a classic composition of ancient royal gardens, and the Forbidden City is the largest royal palaces in the world. The temple of heaven is where the emperor used to fete their ancestors, and also the soul of Chinese ancient constructions. The four sites above has been confirmed world cultural heritage by UNESCO. However, the best representatives for Beijing are the vanishing Hutongs and square courtyards. Through hundreds of years, they have become symbol of Beijing's life. Tian'anmen square being still brilliant today with cloverleaf junctions and skyscrapers everywhere, the old-timey scene and modern culture are combined to present a brand new visage of Beijing. As Beijing has been confirmed home city of Olympics 2008, the spirit of "green Olympics, scientific Olympics and humanized Olympic" will surely bring more and more changes to Beijing, promote the development of sports and Olympics in China as well as in the world, and strengthen the friendly communications between Chinese and foreign people. Beijing, the best place to enjoy the modern China!

Tian'an men square
Tian’an men Square is located in the center 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 Qing 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. The southern sections of the Imperial City wall still stand on both sides of the Gate. The tower at the top of the gate is nine-room wide and five –room deep. According to the Book of Changes, the two numbers nine and five, when combined, symbolize the supreme status of a sovereign. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Tian’anmen Square was the place where state ceremonies took place. On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed on Tian’anmen Rostrum the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Since then Tian’anmen Square has been the symbol of New China. Chairman Mao’s portrait is hung above the central entrance, flanked by two slogans:” Long Live the Great Unity of the Peoples of the World”. The Rostrum on its top was opened in 1988 to the public for the first time in its history. It offers a panoramic view of the Square and the city proper. Tian’an men Square is the largest square in the world. It has an area of 44 hectares (109 acres) that can accommodate as many as one million people for public gatherings. It has witnessed may historical events in China’s modern history and is a place for celebrations on such festive days as international Labour Day on May 1st and national Day on October 1st.Take the chance to visit the world`s largest quare!

Great Wall
The Great Wall, like the Pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India and the Hanging Garden of Babylon, is one of the great wonders of the world. To the northwest and north of Beijing, a huge, serrated wall zigzags its way to the east and west along the undulating mountains. This is the Great Wall, which is said to be visible from the moon. The part of the Great Wall we can admire today north of Beijing, are the reconstructed remnants of the Ming Dynasty wall. But this wall is only the last wall-fortification in a long tradition of wall building. The oldest fortification walls of China were erected as an instrument of defense between the kingdoms of the Warring States period from the 5th to the 3rd century BC, that means, to defend Chinese against Chinese, not against "barbarians", like later. Today, it is possible to reconstruct five of these inner-China walls: the walls of Qi 齐 (modern Shandong), Chu 楚 (modern Hubei), Qin 秦 (modern Shaanxi), Yan 燕 (modern Hebei), Zhao 赵 (modern Shanxi), and Wei 魏 (modern Henan). The Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching 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 is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass. At its peak, the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men. It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall. Like an ancient Chinese saying goes “You are not a hero until you get to the Great Wall."

Forbidden City
The Forbidden City has served as the royal residence during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was here that a total of 24 monarchs ascended the throne and wielded power for some 500 years. A world-famous historical site, the Palace Museum is on the World Heritage List of UNESCO and is an embodiment of oriental civilization. The great museum was made a center of rule during the Ming Dynasty by Zhun Di, The fourth son of the founding emperor Zhuyuanzhang. The construction of the Palace Museum involved manpower and resources across China. For example, the bricks laid in the halls, known as “gold brick,” underwent complex, two –dozen processes. As the final touch, the fired bricks were dipped in Chinese wood oil. Involving complicated processes and high cost, these bricks are called “golden bricks.” The Palace Museum is rectangular in shape, 960 meters long from north to south and 750 meters wide from east to west, covering a space of 720,000 square meters of which 150,000 is building area. It has 9000-strong rooms in it. According to legend there are 9999.5 room-units in all .The whole compound is enclosed by a 10-meter-hign wall and is accessed through four entrances, namely, the meridian Gate in the south, the Gate of Military Prowess in the north, Donghua(Eastern Flowery ) Gate in the north, Donghua ( Eastern Flowery) Gate in the east and Xihua(Western Flowery ) Gate in the west. On each corner there is a turret consisted of 9 roof beams, 18 pillars and 72 ridge. Encircling the compound there is a 3,800-meter-long and 52 meter-wide moat, making the Palace Museum a self-defensive city-within-a city. The Palace Museum serves as a living embodiment of good tradition and styles unique to China` s ancient architecture. It reflects to the full the ingenuity and creativity of the Chinese working people. Don`t you want to experience the greatest palace museum of China? Don`t you want to appreciate the ancient architecture of Chinese? Don`t hesitate, come on!

Summer Palace
The Summer Palace, dominated mainly by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, covers an area of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is under water. Its 70,000 square meters of building space features a variety of palaces, gardens and other ancient-style architectural structures. Well known for its large and priceless collection of cultural relics, it was among the first group of historical and cultural heritage sites in China to be placed under special state protection. The Summer Palace was first built in 1153 and served as an imperial palace for short stays away from the capital. Empress Dowager Ci Xi rebuilt it in 1888 with a large sum of money which had been appropriated to build a Chinese navy. It was supposed to serve as a summer resort for the Empress Dowager Cixi. Known also as the Summer Palace, it was ravaged by the Allied Forces of the Eight Powers that invaded China in 1900. The Summer Palace is a monument to classical Chinese architecture, in terms of both garden design and construction. Borrowing scenes from surrounding landscapes, it radiates not only the grandeur of an imperial garden but also the beauty of nature in a seamless combination that best illustrates the guiding principle of traditional Chinese garden design:“The works of men should match the works of Heaven”. In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List with the following comments: 1) The Summer Palace in Beijing is an outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole; 2) The Summer Palace epitomizes the philosophy and practice of Chinese garden design, which played a key role in the development of this cultural form throughout the east; 3) The imperial Chinese garden, illustrated by the Summer Palace, is a potent symbol of one of the major world civilizations.

Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven, is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing, in Xuanwu District. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, pre-dates Taoism. The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century. The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun in the east (日坛), the Temple of Earth in the north (地坛), and the Temple of Moon in the west (月坛). The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the Qianlong Emperor. In 1914, Yuan Shih-kai, then President of the Republic of China, performed a Ming prayer ceremony at the temple, as part of an effort to have himself declared Emperor of China. In ancient China, the Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing, heavenly authority. To be seen to be showing respect to the source of his authority, in the form of sacrifices to heaven, was extremely important. The temple was built for these ceremonies, mostly comprising prayers for good harvests.

Hutong
People say that the real culture of Beijing is "the culture of hutong" and "the culture of courtyard". How true that is. Often, it is Beijing's winding hutongs that attract tourists from home and abroad rather than the high-rise buildings and large mansions. Hutong is a typical lane or small street in Beijing that originated during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). "Hutong" is a Mongolian word, meaning "water well". During that time, water well is the settlement around which people lived. There are tens of thousands of hutongs surrounding the Forbidden City. In the past, Beijing was composed of countless courtyards. Hutongs were formed when people left a passageway between two courtyards to make entering them more convenient. As the symbol of Beijing City, a hutong has its own layout and structure, which makes it a wonder in the world. When taking a bird's eye view of Beijing, you will find the combination of hutongs and courtyards just like an orderly chessboard with delicate gardens, fine rockeries, and ancient ruins. Hutongs have witnessed the development of Beijing. Where there is a hutong, there is a story. Among the numerous hutongs in Beijing, Beixinqiao Hutong has the most turns. There are more than 20 in which you can easily get lost. The narrowest is Qian Shi Hutong (Money Market Hutong), measuring about 30 to 40 meters (32 to 44 yards), located in Zhubao Shi Street outside the Front Gate. The narrowest part is merely 40 centimeters (16 inches) wide, so when two people meet, they must turn sideways to pass each other. The longest one is Dong Jiaomin Hutong, with a total length of 6.5 kilometers (4 miles), lying between Chang'an Avenue and East Street and West Street of the Front Gate. The shortest one is Guantong Hutong measuring about 30 meters (33 yards). Come and see by hiring the rickshaw, and you'll have a true taste of Beijing!