Nearly any person you speak to has heard of Beijing’s most famous site — the Great Wall of China. However, Beijing is an intriguing city for many other reasons. Ancient temples stand side-by-side with uber-modern skyscrapers. Some residents live in traditional courtyard homes, while others live in expensive high rises. Perhaps most impressive of all is that Beijing is home to seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. So, regardless of your reasons for visiting Beijing, its remarkable heritage sites should be at the top of your must-see list.
A Home Fit for an Emperor: The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City, which sits at Beijing’s center, was China’s political center for over 500 years. It was constructed between 1406 and 1420 and was inhabited during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The former imperial palace features splaying courtyards punctuated by imposing red buildings and surrounded by walls. It was home to 24 emperors, their families, and their servants.
The Forbidden City was constructed after a coup d’etat during the rule of the Ming Dynasty’s founder, Zhu Yuanzhang. The emperor moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing and built the Forbidden City. When the Qing Dynasty was established in 1644, the new imperial family took over the palace. In addition to daily living, rituals and ceremonies took place there. Thus, it was designed to follow the cosmic order in Confucian ideology.
Public and private life were divided in the Forbidden City. State affairs were managed in the huge compounds of the outer court, where only men were allowed. The inner court was the imperial family’s domestic space, containing the emperor and empress’ residences. There were palaces for the emperor’s consorts and spaces for the retired emperor and empress. It was long claimed that the complex contained 9,999 rooms, though experts have only counted 8,886.
The city was last inhabited by the child emperor Puyi, who was expelled in 1924. During the 1933 Japanese invasion, many treasures were taken from the Forbidden City. Some were returned after World War II, while others were evacuated to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek. These artifacts are now displayed at Taipei’s National Palace Museum.
In 1987, the Forbidden City was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The palace is the most visited museum in China, welcoming around 80,000 visitors daily or 14 million annually. Experts have valued the palace at US$70 billion, making it the most valuable palace in the world. It is also the world’s most valuable property. Interestingly, it is thought to be haunted, but closes promptly at 4:30 pm each day, leaving ghost hunters disappointed.
A Modern World Wonder: The Great Wall of China
China’s best-known attraction is, of course, the Great Wall of China. The wall, constructed continuously between the 3rd century BCE and the 17th century CE, was one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken and is the world’s largest military structure. The Great Wall was developed as a border fortification to protect the country from invasions and raids.
China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuang (259-210 BCE), unified the country and connected existing defensive walls to create a single wall system around 4,160 miles long. The wall was strengthened during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE), the Wei Dynasty (386-534 CE), and the Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE). The greatest changes were made during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), as the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) had just ended and another invasion was to be avoided at all costs. The best-preserved sections of the wall date back to this time.
The wall is comprised of three components, passes, signal towers, and walls. Passes were strongholds along the wall, often in key positions such as intersections with trade routes. Signal towers were used to send military communications using fire, smoke signals, banners, clappers, or guns. The wall sections generally stand between 23-26 feet in height. Their structure is dependent on the topography and building materials available, such as tamped earth and wooden boards, adobe bricks, or rocks. Around one-fourth of its total length is made up of natural barriers such as rivers and mountain ridges. The wall ends at the Shanhai Pass, where it goes into the water at the Liaodong Bay Coast.
The Great Wall, in total, stretches for 13,171 miles. Nowadays, large sections of the wall are in ruins or have disappeared. Despite its cultural importance, sections were removed to build roads or other infrastructure. In the 1970s, one section was dismantled for building materials, though it was subsequently rebuilt. Still, the site has captured the imagination of the world and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. Some sections of the wall, including Badaling and Mutianyu, have been restored. Other popular (and wilder) sections to visit include Jinshanling, Simatai, Huanghuacheng, and Gubeikou.
A Retreat Fit for a King (and Queen): The Summer Palace
The Summer Palace, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) imperial garden. The palace was a summer retreat for the Chinese royal family, who preferred it to the walled-in Forbidden City during the warmer months. The palace features lakes, gardens, and palaces and covers around 1.1 square miles. Though there had been other structures in the area before the Qing Dynasty, the palace that exists today was constructed between 1750 and 1764.
It is said that in 1749, the Qianlong Emperor decided to build the palace to celebrate his mother’s 60th birthday. A large lake was constructed, called Kunming Lake, inspired by the famous West Lake in Hangzhou. Earth that was excavated in shaping the lake was then used to enlarge the surrounding hills, particularly Longevity Hill, which accounts for around a quarter of the garden area.
In 1860, during the Second Opium War, the Summer Palace and the nearby Old Summer Palace were occupied by British and French forces. They sacked both palaces and burned the Old Summer Palace. This was done as part of a British and French effort to persuade the Qing government to negotiate with them. Later on, between 1884-95, Empress Dowager Cixi oversaw the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace for her 60th birthday. In 1900, forces from the Eight-Nation Alliance seized artifacts and destroyed the gardens. The palace was, however, restored just two years later.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Beijing municipal government took charge of the palace and turned it into a public park in 1914. Large restorations since then have brought the park to the condition it is in today. The Summer Palace is easy to reach via a dedicated stop on the subway. Though crowded, a short walk off the main path provides a more peaceful experience. Those wishing to view the palace from the water can pay for a boat ride on Kunming Lake. You can also walk down the longest corridor in the world (2,388 feet long), as listed in The Guinness Book of World Records.
Praying for Good Harvests: The Temple of Heaven
Unlike the previous structures on the list, the Temple of Heaven wasn’t any kind of residence for royalty. Instead, it was visited by Ming and Qing emperors for annual ceremonies. During these ceremonies, emperors would give sacrifices and pray for a good harvest. Prior to the ceremony, the emperor and his entourage would travel through Beijing, starting at the Forbidden City and ending at the temple. Ordinary people were prohibited from seeing this procession. Ceremonies at the temple had to go perfectly, as there was a superstition that one small mistake would be a bad omen for the entire nation in the coming year.
The temple complex was initially constructed during the Ming Dynasty, between 1406 and 1420. It was constructed during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, the same emperor responsible for building the Forbidden City. The complex was extended in the 16th century and renovated in the 18th century.
The temple was occupied by French and British forces during the Second Opium War and it was occupied again during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance used it as a command post for a year. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the temple was not managed and fell into disrepair.
The Temple of Heaven was opened to the public as a park in 1988, and in 1998, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is considered to be the supreme achievement of traditional Chinese architecture and the most representative existing ancient sacrificial building.
The grounds of the Temple of Heaven cover 1.05 square miles, an area five times the size of the Forbidden City. There are three main groups of buildings inside. The most famous is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a circular building that is 125 feet tall. It is built on three levels of marble stone base and was the site of imperial ceremonies. This building was struck by lightning in 1889 and burned down but was rebuilt in the years that followed. Other structures on site include the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Circular Mound Altar.
The Imperial Tombs: Where Emperors are Laid to Rest
We haven’t run out of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Beijing yet — the next on this list are the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. These tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the Ming Dynasty emperors, and they are clustered in an area 26 miles northwest of Beijing. This site was selected in 1420 by the Ming Yongle emperor after he constructed the Forbidden City. This was to be his burial site, and he chose the southern slope of the Tianshou Mountains based on feng shui. Subsequent emperors went on to place their tombs nearby in the same valley, with a total of 13 Ming emperors buried here.
At the time of the Ming Dynasty, the tombs were not accessible to regular people. In 1644, however, many of them were ransacked and burned by Li Zicheng’s army. Li Zicheng was a rebel leader who helped overthrow the Ming Dynasty. From there, Qing emperors went on to establish their tombs in the area as well, and there are two main sites of Qing tombs. Three of the Ming and Qing tomb sites were added to the UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000 and 2003. In addition to these, there are also Ming and Qing Dynasty tombs in the Liaoning and Jiangsu provinces.
Yonghe Temple, a Bustling Religious Center
The Yonghe Temple, known locally as the “Lama Temple,” is located centrally in Beijing. The temple is one of China’s largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, and it was the most important Buddhist temple in China during the middle and late Qing Dynasty.
Construction started in 1694, during the Qing Dynasty, on a site where an official residence for Ming Dynasty eunuchs had once stood. In 1702 it was converted into the residence of one of the Kangxi Emperor’s sons, who moved in, in 1703. The future Qianlong Emperor, Hongli, was born in one of the temple’s buildings in 1711.
After taking power, the Qianlong Emperor promoted the building to imperial status, replacing its turquoise tiles with yellow imperial tiles reserved for the emperor. In 1744, the emperor converted the building to a lamasery (a monastery).
In the years that followed, the monastery became a residence for a sizable population of Tibetan Buddhist monks. These monks traveled to China from Tibet and Mongolia. The Yonghe Lamasery became China’s center for the Lama administration. Then, in 1929, the temple was involved in a revolt against the Chinese Nationalist government.
When the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, the temple was declared a national monument. From then, it was closed for 32 years. It is believed that the temple survived the destructive Cultural Revolution due to intervention from Premier Zhou Enlai. The Yonghe Temple was reopened to the public in 1981 and is both a popular tourist attraction and an active religious site.
The buildings and artwork feature a fusion of Tibetan and Han Chinese styles. Particularly striking is the 85-foot-tall statue of the Maitreya Buddha, which is carved from one large piece of white sandalwood. The statue was gifted to the Qianlong Emperor by the seventh Dalai Lama. It was brought from Tibet to Beijing, a journey that took three years. The temple can be easily reached by subway and has its own stop called Yonghegong Lama Temple Station.
Tiananmen Square: A Site With a Sad History
Located directly in front of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square is a city square in the center of Beijing. It is named after the gate to its north, famed for its large portrait of Mao Zedong, which separates it from the Forbidden City. In English, Tiananmen translates to “Gate of Heavenly Peace.” The square contains several buildings, including the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, the Monument to the People’s Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, and the National Museum of China.
The square is a meaningful place for Chinese people — Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China there on October 1, 1949. This event is celebrated at the square annually. Tiananmen Square covers 53.31 acres and is the 8th largest city square in the world. It was built in 1651 and was expanded fourfold in the 1950s.
Besides the square’s importance in the founding of the PRC, it is best known internationally as the site of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. The protests were student-led, starting on April 15, 1989, and reflected unhappiness with the country’s government and political structure. Grievances included inflation, corruption, and recent changes to the economy which benefited few at the expense of many.
Violent confrontations between demonstrators and the army occurred regularly, and the Chinese Community Party (CCP) decided to clear the square by force. The government declared martial law on the evening of June 3 and deployed troops to occupy the square in the early morning hours of June 4. There were bloody clashes between the military and demonstrators with estimates of the death toll ranging from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded.
As a result of the demonstrations, the CCP has strictly limited political expression in the country. This situation is ongoing, and the topic of the Tiananmen Square massacre is one of the most sensitive and widely censored in China. Today, the square is open to visitors but heavily monitored. Military parades are held in the area on important dates, including the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the PRC’s founding.
Zhoukoudian: Traces of our Early Ancestors
Moving away from architecture, we have the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian. This site, located 42 km (26 miles) southwest of Beijing, is a cave previously inhabited by a subspecies of Homo Erectus, an extinct archaic species of human from the Pleistocene Period. The first human fossil, a tooth, was found at the site in 1921 by Austrian paleontologist Otto Zdansky. Between 1929 and 1937, researchers discovered several partial skulls of hominids here from ancient times.
The number of findings at Zhoukoudian Cave has made it the most productive Homo Erectus site in the world. These discoveries started a dialogue and supported the “Out of Asia” hypothesis that humans evolved in Asia, though the “Out of Africa” theory is more widely accepted today.
It has been determined that at the time Peking Man lived, the area was a cool, predominantly steppe region. There were rhinos, elephants, bison, bears, wolves, and big cats, among other creatures. The exact time that Peking Man lived in Zhoukoudian is unclear, but estimates range from 230,000 to 780,000 years ago. Over 100,000 stone tools were also recovered in the cave, and there was also evidence of fire use.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, in 1941, fossils from around 40 individuals were transported by the United States Marine Corps to the SS President Harrison, one of their ships. The aim was to protect the fossils, and they were to be brought to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. However, the ship was attacked by Japanese warships. Many attempts have been made to locate the crates containing the fossils, but they have never been found.
Following the Chinese Civil War, excavations at the Zhoukoudian site resumed and continued off and on for several decades. Excavations of the site are now considered to be more or less complete. A modern museum was opened at the site in 2014, which features over 1,600 relics.
