Must see attractions in 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…

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…

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 …

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

In the northeastern corner of the complex is the Treasure Gallery (or Complete Palace of Peace and Longevity, 宁寿全宫, Níng Shǒu Quán Gōng), a…

A thrilling discovery, this exquisite collection of treasures is hidden halfway up an office building! China's state-owned Poly Group has funnelled a…

Behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the Hall of Central Harmony, which was used as the emperor’s transit lounge. Here he would make last-minute…

One of the Three Great Halls, this is the most important and largest structure in the Forbidden City. Built in the 15th century and restored in the 17th…

The Gallery of Clocks is one of the unmissable highlights of the Forbidden City. Relocated from the Hall for Ancestral Worship in 2018 (in order that the…

The main attraction within the Workers' Cultural Palace is the monumental Sacrificial Hall, as exquisite as any temple you'll find in Beijing. Built in…

The hall where emperors worshipped their ancestors (under restoration at time of research). Once held the spirit tablets of deceased Qing emperors.

Vast and energy-sapping, China's showpiece museum is housed in an immense 1950s Soviet-style building on the eastern side of Tian'anmen Sq, and claims to…

Following the Second Opium War in 1860, one of Britain's treaty demands was for permanent diplomatic digs in Beijing, hence the Legation Quarter, a three…

Monolithic and intimidating, the Stalinist Great Hall of the People (1959) houses the highest organ of state power, the National People’s Congress (NPC)…

Qianmen, aka 'Front Gate', consists of a pair of gate-like structures: the northernmost is the 40m-high Zhengyang Gate, which dates from the Ming dynasty…

Named after China's first president Sun Yatsen (alo called Sun Zhongshan), whose body was placed here briefly after his death, this lovely park, filled…