Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central
Enclosed by 3.5km of citadel walls at the very heart of Beijing, the Unesco-listed Forbidden City is China’s largest and best-preserved collection of…
Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central
Here, in the very middle of the Middle Kingdom, is where divine power resides. The ghost of emperors past haunt the Forbidden City (故宫, Gùgōng) as Chairman Mao slumbers in his Tian'anmen Square mausoleum. From imperial parks to monolithic museums, Beijing's densest array of big sights gives way eastwards to the shopping malls and hotels of Wangfujing. To the south, the sleepy former Legation Quarter is where foreigners first left their mark on the capital.
Attractions
Must-see attractions
Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central
Flanked by triumphalist Soviet-style buildings, Tian'anmen Sq is an immense void of paved stone (440,000 sq metres, to be precise) at the symbolic centre…
Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central
Instantly recognisable by its giant framed portrait of Mao, and guarded by two pairs of Ming dynasty stone lions, the double-eaved Gate of Heavenly Peace …
Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central
One of Beijing's more surreal spectacles is the sight of Mao Zedong's embalmed corpse on public display within his mausoleum. The Soviet-inspired memorial…
Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central
Lost in a tumbledown hutong neighbourhood, this Buddhist temple is one of Beijing's best-preserved Ming dynasty structures. It was built in 1444 to honour…
Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central
Beijing's finest park is also one of the only hills in the inner city, a mound that was created from the loess (sediment) excavated to make the Forbidden…
Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central
One of Beijing's best-kept secrets – despite being next to the Gate of Heavenly Peace – the Workers' Cultural Palace was gifted to the masses by Mao in…
Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central
Astronomers have been studying the mysteries of the cosmos here since 1442. Crowning the 18m-high brick tower – an earlier version of which would have…
Guidebooks
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