The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City (or the Palace Museum) is one of the must-visit attractions for travelers to China. It used to be an imperial palace in the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties.
The layout of this palace is strictly according to Chinese fengshui theory. China’s best-preserved imperial palace is the world’s largest ancient palatial structure (7.2 ha. or 17.8 ac.), the essence and culmination of traditional Chinese architectural accomplishment.
Tiantan Park
The past place of worship for emperors in the Ming and Qing Dynasty, the Tiantan Park is one of the most beautiful open to the public in Beijing. It would take at least one hour to walk the whole park, under the premise that you will not be stopped by the amazing green lawn that looks like a chessboard with the shadows of trees projected onto it in the afternoon, or the path right in front of the Hall of Prayers that makes you want to lie down so much at sunset.
The Lugou Bridge
“Over this river there is a very fine stone bridge, so fine indeed, that it has very few equals in the world.” It is because of what Marco Polo wrote in his book of travels that the Lugou Bridge became famous outside of China since the 13th-century. Reconstructed in 1698 after damage from the Yongding River, the Lugou Bridge used to be known for its heavenly scenery at the time when the moon is about to set down and leaves shadows on the water under the bridge. But as the water has dried up in recent years, the scenery only exists in legend now. The Lugou Bridge is also the mark of the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945.
The Summer Palace
The Summer Palace is China’s largest imperial garden. UNESCO added this 300-hectare (740-acre) site to the World Heritage List in 1998, and described it as “...a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value.”
The Summer Palace was a royal summer resort in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), so the architectures and the layout there are quite exquisite. Boat cruises are available on Kunming Lake. There are numerous stores in Suzhou Street, selling souvenirs like antiques, snacks, silk, jewelry, and tea. The shop assistants there are dressed in the costumes of the Qing Dynasty.
The Great Wall
The Great Wall is a series of stone and brick fortifications built east-to-west along the historical borders of China to protect it from invasion of the nomadic groups from the north. Though the construction of the Great Wall had begun as early as the 7th-century B.C.E, the Great Wall we can see today was mostly expanded in the Ming Dynasty. Indeed, you cannot say you have been to Beijing if you have not visited the Great Wall.
While the Badaling Great Wall is the most famous and crowded section of Great Wall, there are other sections with as good scenery and probably much less people, like the Mutianyu Great Wall.