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Beijing
- Attractions in Beijing
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Attractions in Beijing
There are plenty of attractions in Beijing. The Great Wall, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, to mention just a few. All of them great places and there is actually so much to see in Beijing to keep you busy for a long time.
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China was built in the year 200 BC by the first emperor of China, Shi Huangdi. He built it to protect himself from enemies. The wall was reinforced during the Ming dynasty, between the years 1400-1600 and was in all about 6000 km long.
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the emperors’ palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The area within the walls is 7.7 million square feet and there are 800 buildings with a total of 8000 rooms. The Forbidden City is the world’s largest collection of preserved ancient buildings and is on UNESCO World Heritage List.
Summer Palace
Summer Palace Summer Palace was originally built in the Jin dynasty, and later it developed into a luxurious park where the imperial families could spend their summers. The Summer Palace is a little higher than the Beijing city so the temperature is slightly lower during the summer.
Temple of Heaven
Temple of Heaven is a park with Taoist buildings and temples, and is located in southeast Beijing.
Beihai Park
Beihai Park is located northwest of the Forbidden City and it is a traditional Chinese park with a long history that starts in the 10th century.
Ye San Po
Ye San Po is a natural and very beautiful nature reserve, southwest of Beijing, with high mountains, forests and deep valleys.
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square is a large square in the middle of Beijing, which received its name from Tiananmen gate at the northern end of the square. The square has a great cultural significance in China where it has been the site of many historic events, including founding the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.
Underground city
The underground city is located 45 miles north of Beijing city and had a militarily important strategic location during the war. During the Japanese invasion of China in 1938, the villagers built an underground system of tunnels to escape the Japanese who killed and burned everything in their path.
Old Summer Palace
The Old Summer Palace is a large park with nice gardens and a lot of temples. Everything was extremely grand and valuable but unfortunately only ruins remain. The area was totally destroyed by British and French troops in 1860.
National Ethnic Minority Theme Park
China’s all minority groups are represented in a large park in the northern part of Beijing. There are replicas of typical buildings and also representatives from each ethnic group. Every day they perform, sing, dance and plays theater to show how it can look like where they come from.
Long Qing Xia
Long Qing Xia is a canyon outside of Beijing, about 50 miles north of the city. At the entrance to Long Qing is a village named Gu Cheng Cun. That was the empress’ garden during the Ming dynasty.
Beijing Hutongs
Hutong is the name of the thousands of old and narrow streets and alleys, which was a very typical scene in Beijing before. Now, they are unfortunately disappearing more and more.
Beijing Zoo
The Beijing Zoo has mostly wild Chinese domestic animals, such as the panda. There are also a number of animals from around the world such as the polar bear, kangaroo and zebra.
Badachu
Badachu is a nice place to visit and in the summer it is much cooler there, thanks to the altitude, so many go there to escape the worst heat of the city for a while. The park also has a lot of very old trees, some are as much as 600 years old and still in good condition.