Beijing Things to Do

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Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong, in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall are 9,999 buildings.

Since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant color in the Forbidden City. Roofs are built with yellow glazed tiles; decorations in the palace are painted yellow; even the bricks on the ground are made yellow by a special process.

Would strongly recommend that you rent the audio tape and headphones which has the voice of Roger Moore taking you on a tour of this magnificent site. Key spots are indicated with numbers which the audio tape will take you through systematically.

Opening hours :
08:30 to 16:20 (Oct. 16 to Apr.15)
08:30 to 17:00 (Apr. 16 to Oct. 15)

Wanted to see the Great Wall in its original splendour and not some touristy-made up sections. So chose to go to Simatei and it did not disappoint. We spent the whole day here walking at our own pace and enjoying the breathtaking views everywhere we turned.

Some parts of the wall are crumbling but it was a manageable trek. There were a few local ladies who would be happy to guide you and in return they just want to sell some Great Wall souvenirs which I thought was pretty reasonable as there are no gfit shops here for sure.

I think Simatei section of the wall is remarkable and a good place to start if you do not want to journey too far from Beijing to appreciate the Great Wall.

Entrance is free. Make sure you go for all your toilet breaks before embarking on this journey. Toilets here are open-air style. So if you're the first to use it in the morning, it's dry and clean but it's not going to be the case the rest of the day!

Tiantan Temple, also known as the Temple of Heaven was built during the Ming Dynasty. The architecture and layout of the temple is based on elaborate symbolism and numerology. In accordance with principles dating back to pre-Confucian times, the buildings are round, like the sky, while the foundations and axes of the complex are rectilinear, like the earth. The symbolism of the temple was necessary since the complex served as the setting in which the Emperor, the Son of Heaven, directly beseeched Heaven to provide good harvests throughout the land.

It's a lovely place to go for a stroll and admire the wonderful architecture here.

Admission Fee: 50
Opening Hours: 06:00 to 19:50
Recommended Time for a Visit: One and a half hour

For more pictures, please see my Tiantan Temple travelogue

It was a little ironic that I visited the Summer Palace during a very cold winter day. So cold and windy it was that my ears ached and I had to wrap my neck, half of my face and pulled my hat really low over my ears!

It was still worth a visit though as the Summer Palace and its surroundings are beautifully crafted and gives you a glimpse into the past of how the royals lived and spent their summers away. Spend at least a couple of hours here as there are lots to see.

Pictured below is the Suzhou market street with over 60 stores extending from North Palace Gate entrance into a street about 300 meters (328.1 yards) in length. Along the Back Lake, the street design imitates the ancient style of shops on the banks of rivers in Suzhou City, Zhejiang Province, that is, taking the running water of Back Lake as the street and its banks as a market. The area served as an entertainment place where Emperors and concubines could feel as if they were strolling on a commercial street. When the royals went there, eunuchs and maids of honor would playact as peddlers, customers and shop assistants to mimic market activities.

Built during the reign of Qianlong (1711-1799), it was burned down by Anglo-French allied force in 1860. Until 1986, it was rebuilt and in 1990 it was opened to the public. Today·¯s market includes stores such as dyers, souvenir shops, drugstores, banks, shoe stores, teashops, and hockshops, with clerks dressed in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) costumes.

Please see my Summer Palace travelogue for more pix and stories.

Opening Hours :
07:00-17:00 (Nov. 1 to Mar. 31)
06:30-18:00 (Apr. 1 to Oct. 31)

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According to Chinese Philosophy Yin and Yang are two opposing forces, Heaven and the odd numbers belong to Yang, Earth and the even numbers belong to Yin, Nine was the largest heavenly number, and the ancient Chinese believed heaven consisted of nine layers and he emperors abode was on the top tier

The curved balustrades on each terrace are in multiples of nine

This circular temple is smaller the Hall of prayer at 19.5 m high but its built entirely from wood and is supported on 8 pillars it was struck by lighting in 1889 and burnt to the ground and obviously rebuilt

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The Hall of prayer for good harvest

Built during the Ming Dynasty in 1420, the ancient Chinese thought that heaven was round and earth was square, so this magnificent building is circular in construction, it has a round roof with three layers of eaves the roof is supported on 28 posts the 4 inner ones represent the four seasons, the 12 posts in the middle section represent the 12 months of the year and the 12 outer posts represent Shichen, which is a Chinese unit of measure equalling two hours

This circular wall which surrounds the Imperial vault of heaven (Hauagqiungyu) acts as a whisper chamber if stand at one end and whisper to a friend you can here each other clearly at over 50mts apart