Travel Eye on Beijing (China)

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Overview:

The capital of the People's Republic of China, Beijing (formerly Peking) is a very modern and exceedingly busy city (nearly 14 million people call it home) with high-rise buildings, international hotels and sprawling suburbs. The city is abuzz and bristling with cranes on the skyline as construction projects give rise to new skyscrapers and modernisation proceeds apace. However, Beijing also encompasses numerous attractions of cultural and historical interest, of which some, such as the Great Wall, former Imperial palace (known as the Forbidden City), the Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace and the remains of Peking Man at Zhoukoudian, are UNESCO-endorsed World Cultural Heritage Sites. Chinese history and culture fascinates Western visitors, and Beijing is the place to start exploring it. The city abounds in imperial palaces, temples, mansions, gardens and tombs that epitomise classical Chinese architecture. It has 120 museums and more than 100 public gardens.

Locality:

Beijing is located in the northeastern corner of China. Its city limits extend some 80km (50mi), including the urban and the suburban areas and the nine counties under its administration - in other words, it's huge. Though it may not appear so in the shambles of arrival, Beijing is a place of very orderly design. Long, straight boulevards and avenues are crisscrossed by a network of lanes. Places of interest are either very easy to find if they're on the avenues, or impossible to find if they're buried down the hutongs (narrow alleys).

Entertainment/Facilities/Attractions/Things to do:

There are more attractions in Beijing than in any other city in China. No trip would be complete without visiting The Great Wall of China and touring the Forbidden City. Explore the city's ancient architecture, Royal Gardens, Temples and Palaces. Host a VIP Dinner at Beijing's upscale and exclusive China Club.

The first port of call for most visitors is the Forbidden City, which lies at the heart of Beijing with the rest of the city radiating out from it in a grid pattern. For five centuries this massive palace complex with 9,999 rooms functioned as the administrative centre of the country and home to a succession of emperors, who lived in luxurious isolation, surrounded by courtiers and retainers. The Palace overlooks the famous Tiananmen Square, site of so much political drama and dissent, the epitome of this capital city.

Popular sights and attractions in Beijing include:

The Great Wall
Photos of Great Wall at Mutianyu
Forbidden City
Beihai Gardens
Beijing Opera
Chairman Mao's Mausoleum
China Acrobatic Troupe
Huai Rou Cloisonne Tour
Rolls Royce Tour
Shopping at Silk Market
Summer Palace
Temple of Heaven
Tian'anmen Square