Beijing Tour BJ1 - Great Wall and Ming Tomb
Great Wall - click here to view picture
It's more than 2,000 years old, but the Great Wall of China remains one of the great wonders of the world, an engineering feat rarely matched in the 22 centuries since its construction began. Stretching 4,500 miles, from the mountains of Korea to the Gobi Desert, it was first built to protect an ancient Chinese empire from tribes from the north. But it evolved into something far greater - a boon to trade and prosperity and ultimately a symbol of Chinese ingenuity and will. The truth is, though, that the Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over 2,000 years. And while they often served the same purpose, these walls reflected the worlds - both natural and cultural - in which they were erected. For all its seeming timelessness, the Great Wall is an emblem of China's evolution.

Ming Tomb - click here to view picture
As the name implies, these are the tombs of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368 to 1644). Lying 50 km north west of Beijing, it is located in the basin of the Tianshou Mountains in Changping. Changping is the burial grounds of thirteen Ming emperors. The Ming Tombs took more than 200 years to complete and occupies an area of more than 400 square miles. The construction is magnificent and it's definitely worth visiting. The tour include an underground visit to one of the last Ming Emperor's grave.

As the Emperor was the son of Heaven, building his tomb was an act of national significance. The positioning of the tomb was also a matter of great concern, as defined by the ancient science of fengshui or geomancy. If the Emperor's spirit were to be dissatisfied, this might result in the collapse of the dynasty or the Empire. Thus, it was common for an Emperor's tomb to consume as much as a third of the state budget. The location of Changping was sufficiently impressive to persuade the third Ming emperor Yong Le (AD 1403-1424) to build his tomb there, the first of thirteen such Imperial tombs.

Beijing Tour BJ2 - Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace
Forbidden City or Palace Museum - click here to view picture
The Forbidden City was completed in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty. It was the home of 24 emperors of the Ming and Ching dynasties. Naturally it was the scene of many important events affecting the course of Chinese history, including political struggles and palace coups, some of them extremely tragic. The Forbidden City stands in the center of Beijing. It is protected by high walls and a moat on all four sides and consists of dozens of halls and courtyards. The emperors of two dynasties, the Ming and the Ching, lived here with their families and hundreds of court ladies and palace eunuchs. From their throne in the Forbidden City, they governed the country by holding court sessions with their ministers, issuing imperial edicts and initiating military expeditions. The palace has over 8,000 rooms and halls and occupies a total land area of more than 720,000 square meters.

Temple of Heaven - click here to view picture
About 2 km southeast of the Forbidden City towers Tian Tan, or the Temple of Heaven, where dynastic rulers in China used to worship the heaven. The Temple and a surrounding garden covers an area five times the size of the Forbidden City. As Chinese emperors called themselves Tianzi, or the son of heaven, they had to cede supremacy to the heaven in terms of abiding. Chinese emperors had many other gods to worship apart from the god of heaven, including the gods of earth, water and war. They also worshipped their ancestors. As a result, religious activities were an important part of their busy work schedule. Temples of various kinds are scattered in Beijing. The best-known are the Temple of Heaven in the south, the Temple of Earth in the north, the Temple of Sun in the east, and the Temple of the Moon in the west. The Temple of Heaven is the grandest of them all.

Summer Palace - click here to view picture
The Summer Palace in Beijing, which was first built in 1750, largely destroyed in the war of 1860, and restored on its original foundation in 1886 by Empress Cixi. The Summer Palace consists of the longevity Mountain, and the Kunming Lake which covers three fourths of the entire palace. Around the lake are 3,000 halls, temples, gardens and rooms. The palace is now turned into a public garden. Construction of the palace is a combination of nature and man-made structures. Though built by men, all the buildings are harmoniously integrated into the natural scenery. It is a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design, integrating the natural landscape of hills and open water with manmade features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges into a harmonious and aesthetically exceptional whole.