Beijing Things to Do Tips by clairegeordio

The Great Wall at Mutianyu was built between the 6th Century BC, with renovations in the 14th Century. It’s use was mainly for defence – armies would have been stationed along the wall to watch out for any signs of invasion to China. This part of the Great Wall is about 70km from the centre of Beijing and is a good alternative to the Badaling section, which is closer to the centre but more crowded.
There are 22 watchtowers on this part of the wall, which are placed at regular intervals. The length of wall here available to walk along is about 1˝ miles.
We spent about 4 hours here and I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was just amazing being on the Great Wall of China, but hard to take in! We had perfect, sunny weather and were able to see the watchtowers far ahead. We chose to take the cable car up and down, which, at the time of writing, was 50RMB return. Entrance ticket was 40RMB. We travelled here from central Beijing with our contact, Alvin, who was given to us through VT's homanded. Contact details can be found on one of my transportation tips.

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This is the largest square in the world, with an area of 440,000 square metres and is located right in front of the Forbidden City. Over a period of several hundred years, many meetings and democracy demonstrations were held in front of the square. There are several buildings of interest around the square – in the centre is the Monument to the People’s heroes, West is the Great Hall of the People, the site of the China National People's Congress meetings. At the East of the square is the National museum of China, and at the South is the Chairman Mao memorial hall. I was surprised when I arrived at the square at 8am to already see hundreds of people queuing to see his remains. Visitors are apparently allowed a couple of minutes to file past the coffin.

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Directions: In the very center of Beijing
Website: http://www.roundtiananmensquare.com/index.html

This monument, in the centre of Tiananmen Square was unveiled to the public in 1958 and is made out of 17,000 pieces of granite and marble. It is dedicated to the people who gave their lives for the revolutionary struggle of the Chinese people in the 19th and 20th Centuries. It has bas reliefs on the base of the monument showing scenes from China’s revolutionary history and has an engraving by Chairman Mao that says "Eternal glory to the people’s heroes"

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Directions: In the very center of Beijing
Website: http://www.roundtiananmensquare.com/index.html

Tiananmen Gate or Gate of Heavenly Peace is usually referred to as the front entrance of the Forbidden City. On the front of the building is one of the last publicly displayed portraits of Mao Zedong with placards either side of it that read "Long Live the People's Republic of China" and "Long live the Great Unity of the World's People" You can go up the rostrum of the Gate for 15RMB to get a great view of Tiananmen Square, which is what we did. In 1949 it was from here that Chairman Mao addressed the public declaring the foundation of the People’s Republic. At night Tiananmen Gate is lit up and there are some lovely fountains in front. Overall, it is a specatular place to photograph, both day and night.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/

The Forbidden City was the court and residence of the Ming and Qing dynasties between 1420 and 1911, now it is known as the Palace museum and is the largest palace complex in the world. It became a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987. It was divided into two parts – the northern part was where the emperors ruled over the nation, and the southern half was where they lived. Yellow is the dominant colour in the Forbidden City as yellow is the symbol of the Royal family. Unfortunately, several buildings were totally covered during our visit, one of which was the Hall of Supreme Harmony. We spent about 3 hours here, but to see it all you should spend longer. I don't know if it was because buildings were being renovated and covered up or because we had already seen some magnificent places before visiting, but for me, the Forbidden City didn't quite have the wow factor, although it was amazing all the same!
At the time of writing, entry was 60RMB.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/

This is the main gate to the Forbidden City and is over 35 metres high. The Emperor had exclusive use of the central arch to enter the Forbidden City and an Empress was only allowed to use this arch once – on her wedding day.
Also, the three finalists achieving the highest awards in the national examinations were able to come through this archway after being interviewed by the Emperor.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/

This is one of the Forbidden City’s great halls. It was built in 1420 and was renovated in 1765 after having already been rebuilt. In the early days of the Ming dynasty banquets were held here, and later during the 18th Century it was used for examinations where Emperors would read papers regarding the top ten candidates to honor them.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/

The largest stone carving in the Forbidden City, known as the Dragon walk, is behind the Hall of Preserved Harmony, in the middle of the stairway. It is a huge piece of marble showing 9 dragons and is over 16 metres long and over 3 metres wide. It is said to have taken 20,000 men to transport it the 70km from where it came from.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/

In front of this gate is a large square where you can see several large bronze cauldrons or vats that held water in case of fires. There are 308 vats in the Palace. This gate would have been the place where Emperors would have made decisions and heard reports whilst sitting on the throne. Another feature to look out for at the Gate of Heavenly Purity is the pair of bronze lions. Altogether there were six pairs of bronze lions at the Forbidden City, used to magnificence of the Palace and the authority of the rulers. The one with a cub under it’s paw is the female lion and the one with an embroidered ball under it’s paw is the male one.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/

The Imperial Garden, at the North end of the Forbidden City, was built in 1417. It covers an area of around 12,000 square metres. There are many old trees in the garden, along with rock gardens and temples. One of the highlights of the garden is the interlocked Cypress tree – it is said that the last Emperor and Empress had their photograph taken here after their wedding ceremony.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/