Historic Site sights in Běijīng
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Drum Tower & Bell Tower
Repeatedly destroyed and restored, the Drum Tower originally marked the centre of the old Mongol capital. The drums of this later Ming-dynasty version were beaten to mark the hours of the day. Stagger up the incredibly steep steps for impressive views over Běijīng's hútòng rooftops. Drum performances are given hourly from 9.30am to 11.30am and from 1.30pm to 4.50pm.
Fronted by a stele from the Qing dynasty, the Bell Tower originally dates from Ming times. The Ming structure went up in a sheet of flame and the present structure is a Qing edifice dating from the 18th century. Augment visits with drinks at the Drum & Bell Bar.
Both the Drum and Bell Towers can be reached…
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Prince Gong's Residence
Reputed to be the model for the mansion in Cao Xueqin's 18th-century classic Dream of the Red Mansions, this residence is one of Běijīng's largest private residential compounds. If you can, get here ahead of the tour buses and admire the rockeries, plants, pools, pavilions, corridors and elaborately carved gateways. Arrive with the crowds and you won't want to stay. Performances of Běijīng opera are held regularly in the Qing-dynasty Grand Opera House in the east of the grounds.
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Jūyōngguān
First constructed in the 5th century, rebuilt by the Ming and more recently restored, Jūyōngguān was considered one of the most strategically significant parts of the Wall. This is the closest section of wall to Běijīng, but it has been over-renovated, so little authenticity remains. Usually quiet, the steep and somewhat strenuous circuit can be done in under two hours.
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Duān Gate
Sandwiched between the Gate of Heavenly Peace and Meridian Gate, Duān Gate was stripped of its treasures by foreign forces quelling the Boxer Rebellion (according to the blurb).
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Xiǎngshuǐhú
Xiǎngshuǐhú means ‘loud water lake’, which may suggest tempting visions of the Great Wall reflected in turbulent waters. The name actually derives from a nearby spring and the surrounding area can be quite dry, especially in winter and spring. Nonetheless, the restored Ming-era wall here has some staggeringly steep gradients, which make for quite a Great Wall StairMaster workout. Sections of the fortification, which divides into two at the road, come with 1m-high steps that make you feel totally Lilliputian. Take shoes with good grip. Located to the west of Mùtiányù and about 30km from Huáiróu.
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Bādálǐng
The mere mention of its name sends a shudder down the spine of hardcore walkers of the Great Wall. Bādálǐng is Běijīng’s most-visited chunk of the brick-clad bastion. Nixon, Thatcher, Reagan, Gorbachev and Queen Elizabeth have all stamped on Bādálǐng. It ticks all the iffy Great Wall boxes in one flourish: souvenir stalls, T-shirt flogging hawkers, restaurants, heavily restored brickwork, little authenticity, guardrails and mobs of sightseers. If you’re curious to discover how many people can fit on the wall at any one time, the big holiday periods are a good time to find out. Some guidebooks trumpet that ‘130 million foreign and domestic tourists have visited…
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Jinshanling
The Jinshanling Great Wall, near the town of Gǔběikǒu, marks the starting point of an exhilarating 10km hike to Sīmǎtái. The adventure – winding through stunning mountainous terrain – takes around four hours as the trail is steep and parts of the wall have collapsed, but it can be traversed without too much difficulty. Note that the watchtowers are in various states of preservation and some have been stripped of their bricks. Autumn is the best season for the hike; in summer you’ll be sweating gallons so load up with water before you go (ever-present hawkers on the wall sell pricey water for around Y10 a bottle, or more depending on how thirsty you appear). To…
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Front Gate
The Front Gate actually consists of two gates, originally linked by a by a semicircular enceinte, which was swept aside in the early 20th century. Without the city walls, the gate sits entirely out of context, like a door without a wall. The northerly gate, 40m-high Zhèngyáng Gate (正阳门; Zhèngyáng Mén) – literally 'Facing the Sun Gate' – dates from the Ming dynasty. The largest of the nine impressive gates of the inner city wall dividing the Inner or Tartar (Manchu) City from the Outer or Chinese City, the gate was partially destroyed during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and the temples that flanked it have vanished. Also torched during the Boxer Rebellion, the…
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Sīmǎtái
In Miyun County near the far-flung town of Gǔběikǒu near the Héběi border, the stirring remains at Sīmǎtái make for an exhilarating Great Wall experience. Built during the reign of Ming-dynasty emperor Hongwu, the 19km stretch is characterised by watchtowers, steep plunges and scrambling ascents. This rugged section of wall can be heart-thumpingly steep and the scenery is dramatic. Following the crowds to the wall, you have a choice: either head west for the hike (four hours one way) to Jīnshānlǐng or walk east as far as you can. The hike to Jīnshānlǐng makes the long journey out here worth it, but you will need to set off early in the morning; you can do the hike…
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Ancient Observatory
Star-gazing is perhaps on the back foot in today's Běijīng – it could take a supernova to penetrate the haze that frequently blankets the nocturnal sky – but the Chinese capital has a sparkling history of astronomical observation. Běijīng's ancient observatory, mounted on the battlements of a watchtower lying along the line of the old Ming city wall, originally dates to Kublai Khan's days when it lay north of the present site.
At ground level is a pleasant courtyard containing a reproduction-looking armillary sphere supported by four dragons and halls housing displays (with limited English captions). At the rear is an attractive garden with grass, sun dials and a…
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Foreign Legation Quarter
For grand shades of Europe, the former Foreign Legation Quarter where the 19th-century foreign powers flung up embassies, schools, churches, post offices and banks is well worth a stroll.
Access the area walking up the steps east from Tiānānmén Sq into Dongjiaomin Xiang (东交民巷), once called Legation St and renamed 'Anti-Imperialism Road' during the iconoclastic Cultural Revolution. Legation Quarter is a classy cluster of elegantly restored legation buildings towards the west end of Dongjiaomin Xiang. The commercial quadrant – which opened straight into the jaws of the credit crunch – is home to several exclusive restaurants (including Maison Boulud), shops and an…
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Gate of Heavenly Peace
Hung with a vast, beatific portrait of Mao and lending its name to the square immediately south, the Gate of Heavenly Peace is a potent national symbol. Built in the 15th century and restored in the 17th century, the double-eaved gate was formerly the largest of the four gates of the Imperial Wall which enveloped the imperial grounds.
The gate is divided into five doors and reached via seven bridges spanning a stream. Each of these bridges was restricted in its use and only the emperor could use the central door and bridge.
Mao proclaimed the People's Republic on 1 October 1949 from here and his gigantic portrait is the dominating feature, with anachronistic slogans on…
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Old Summer Palace
Forever etched on China's national consciousness for its sacking and destruction by British and French forces during the Second Opium War, the old Summer Palace was originally laid out in the 12th century. Resourceful Jesuits were later employed by Emperor Qianlong to fashion European-style palaces for the gardens, incorporating elaborate fountains and baroque statuary. During its looting, much went up in flames and considerable booty was sent abroad, but a melancholic tangle of broken columns and marble chunks from the hardier Jesuit-designed stone palace buildings remain.
The subdued marble ruins of the Palace Buildings Scenic Area (Xīyánglóu Jǐngqū) can be mulled over…
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Great Hall of the People
The Great Hall of the People, on the western side of Tiān'ānmén Sq, is where the National People's Congress convenes. The 1959 architecture is monolithic and intimidating; the tour parades visitors past a choice of 29 of its lifeless rooms. Also on the billing is a 5000-seat banquet room and the 10,000-seat auditorium with the familiar red star embedded in a galaxy of lights in the ceiling. It's closed when the National People's Congress is in session. The ticket office is down the south side of the building. Bags must be checked in but cameras are admitted. Hours vary.
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Jiankou
For stupefying hikes along perhaps Běijīng’s most incomparable section of wall, head to the rear section of the Jiankou Great Wall, accessible from Huáiróu. It’s a 40-minute walk uphill from the drop off at Xizhazi Village ( 西栅子村; Xīzhàzi Cūn) to a fork in the path among the trees that leads you to either side of a collapsed section of wall, one heading off to the east, the other heading west. Tantalising panoramic views spread out in either direction as the brickwork meanders dramatically along a mountain ridge; the setting is truly sublime.
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Mùtiányù
Famed for its Ming-era guard towers and excellent views, the 3km-long section of wall at Mùtiányù, northeast of Běijīng in Huairou County, is largely a recently restored Ming dynasty structure that was built upon an earlier Northern Qi dynasty edifice. US President Bill Clinton came here (Reagan went to Bādálǐng), if that’s anything to go by. With 26 watchtowers, the wall is impressive and manageable, with most hawking reserved to the lower levels (hawkers go down to around Y15 for cotton ‘I climbed the Great Wall’ T-shirts) : the further you get away from Mùtiányù central the better. It’s actually possible to hike from Mùtiányù all the way west to …
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Summer Palace
Virtually as mandatory a Běijīng sight as the Great Wall or the Forbidden City, the gargantuan Summer Palace easily merits an entire day's exploration, although a (high-paced) morning or afternoon may suffice.
Once a playground for the imperial court fleeing the suffocating summer torpor of the Forbidden City, the palace grounds, temples, gardens, pavilions, lakes, bridges, gate-towers and corridors of the Summer Palace are a marvel of landscaping. Unlike the overpowering flatland of the Forbidden City or the considered harmonies of the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace – with its huge lake, hilltop views and energising walks – offers a pastoral escape into the…
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Forbidden City
Ringed by a 52m-wide moat at the very heart of Běijīng, the fantastically named Forbidden City is China's largest and best-preserved complex of ancient buildings. So called because it was off limits for 500 years, when it was steeped in stultifying ritual and Byzantine regal protocol, the otherworldly palace was the reclusive home to two dynasties of imperial rule until the Republic demoted the last Qing emperor to has-been.
The design of the palace was originally closely based on its grand and now dilapidated forerunner in Nánjīng. Today, the Forbidden City is prosaically known as the Palace Museum (故宫博物馆; Gùgōng Bówùguǎn). In former ages the price for uninvited…
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