"Fascinating Beijing" a Beijing Travel Page by CLIFFORDK

Send Photo to a Friend

Of the four cities I visited in China in 2001, Beijing stands out in my mind as the most interesting. Capital of China, seat of the government, and site of the imperial palace for almost 600 years (though used as the official royal residence for only 500 of those years), Beijing has plenty of memorable spots and lots of good picture-taking material. I visited five main points of interest while there--Tiannanmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs and the Temple of Heaven. I won't go into a lot of detail here on each of these spots, but suffice it to say that they should be high on anyone's list who is visiting China. The Forbidden City was even more fascinating than I had imagined it to be. Much bigger than the pictures in books show. Tiannanmen Square was amazing (and crowded) because of the sheer size of it (it can hold 1,000,000 people). The Ming Tombs and the Temple of Heaven were very interesting, especially for their architecture. And what can I say about the Great Wall? There's a Chinese saying that a man isn't truly a man until he has climbed the Great Wall. The Great Wall is China, and should absolutely not be missed. Everything I had pictured and more. It's quite a climb if you go very far, because the part outside of Beijing goes up and down the mountains. But it was well worth the effort, and the surrounding countryside and mountains are beautiful. In short, visit Beijing--it is a must-see.