As the capital of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing is the center of the national politics, culture and international exchanges and a modern metropolis full of vitality, hosting more travelers than any other city in China, and for good reason, because no other city offers so many marvels, ancient and modern. No city is more important in recent Chinese history–and more of that history is on display here than anywhere else.

Places to visit

Badaling Great Wall

Located at Yanqing County, Badaling Great Wall is by far the most popular Great Wall of China site for travellers,mainly because it is close to Beijing (about 70 km less than two hours away) and is much easier to climb than the other Great Wall sections.Badaling Great Wall is at the highest point of north end of the Guankou gorge, in which the Juyongguan Pass lies. In the history, the function of Badaling was to protect the Juyongguan Pass. Along with Guankou gorge, there are several interests and historic sites. Badaling is a rare ancient military defense project. The elevation of it is about 1,000 meters.Near Badaling, there is a large-scaled Great Wall of China Museum as well as the Great Wall National Theater from which you can get a full and complete view of the Great Wall.

Baoguo Temple

The Baoguo Temple which located in the Ming City Wall Site Park was first constructed in the Liao Dynasty and destroyed in an earthquake during the Ming Dynasty. It was reconstructed and expanded scale in the Qing Dynasty. Maybe it is not the biggest or oldest temple in Beijing, but it is really a good place to admiring the scenery of the ancient city wall. What’s more, there is a Collection Market in the Baoguo Temple-the biggest folk collection market in China.

Beihai Park

Beihai Park is one of the most popular parks in the center of Beijing. It covers a total area of over 68 hectares, more than half of it is taken up by the lake.It has a history of 800 years with the longest history in China. It consists of Beihai Lake and Jade Flowery Islet and is built to represent the wonderland of ancient Chinese fairy tales. The construction of Beihai Park began in the 11th century. The Ming Dynasty saw more construction and renovation: the Five Dragon Pavilions and the Nine-Dragon Screen on the north bank of the lake and many pavilions and galleries were erected during that period.The typical sights at Beihai Park are White Dagoba,Hao Pu Creek (Haopujian) Garden,Quiet Heart (Jingxin) Studio,Nine-Dragon Screen,Five-Dragon Pavilions,Circular City.

Ming Tombs

As the name implies, these are the tombs of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty.Ming Tombs are located in the basin of the Tianshou Mountain in Changping, about 50km northwest of Beijing. They are final resting place of 13 of the 16 Ming emperors.Ming Tombs took more than 200 years (1409-1644 A.D.) to complete the construction and occupies an area of more than 400 square miles. The construction is magnificent and its definitely worth visiting.Ming Tombs follow a standard layout consist of a main gate(Lingmen) leading to the first of a series of a courtyard and the main hall, the Hall of Eminent Favours(Lingendian).Beyond lie further gates or archways, leading to the Soul Tower(Minglou),behind which rises the burial mound.

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City, also called Gugong in Chinese, is the largest palace building in which exists numbers of Chinese traditional buildings that presents Chinese ancient styles of architecture and history and culture.The Forbidden City is situated in the center of Beijing City and near the Tiannamen Square. The whole city covers the area of 74 hectares. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall are 9,999 rooms. The wall has a gate on each side. To the north is the Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen), which faces Jingshan Park. The distance between these two gates is 960 meters, while the distance between the gates in the east and west walls is 750 meters. The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section,or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family.

Best time to visit

Although summer is high travel tourist season, in some ways, it could get a little unpleasant as the normally dry air of Beijing gives way to heavy humidity and there is little shelter from the blazing summer
heat because most of Beijing’s tourist attractions are found outdoors such as Tian Ann Men Square, The Forbidden Palace and The Great Wall of China. This when combined with poor air quality because of high number of vehicles clogging Beijing’s busy roads can cast a dampener on your vacation holiday excitement.If you are going for an extended stay in Beijing, then the winter and spring months from November to April are the best time to visit the city.

Getting here

Beijing International Airport (known locally as Capital Airport) is 17 mi/27 km northeast of the city center. Beijing Capital Airport is the busiest airport in China.There are 34 international airlines which
connect Beijing with 25 countries as well as 32 cities. There are also 64 domestic airlines and 5 inter-regional airlines connecting Beijing to all major airports inside China.

Hotels in Beijing

www.hoteltravel.com/china/beijing/hotels.htm