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One of mankind's most extensive construction endeavour, the great wall measures over 6000km across northern China. The wall was built as the fortification for the ancient empires. With its winding ridges and watchtowers, the Great Wall of China is one of the most photogenic man-made structures on earth.
Though some parts of the wall are in ruins, one can see good views of the wall from the following points: Badaling Section, Simatai, Jinshanling, Gubeikou etc.
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Any visit to China is incomplete without a visit to the Forbidden City. In the middle of a bustling Beijing city lies the world’s largest palace complex covering 74 hectares. Now a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, this palace complex displays gardens, palaces and halls with vibrant colours and fascinating architecture. It also has ancient relics and structures.
This imperial palace, which was thrown open to the public after 500 years is a must see for it stands for China’s journey from its turbulent history to today’s modern life.
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Summer Palace is the largest royal park containing three hills and five gardens. Listed as one of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, the palace gardens is ranked amongst the most noted and classical gardens of the world. Composed mainly of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, The Summer Palace occupies an area of 294 hectares (726.5 acres), three quarters of which is water. |
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Set in an area of about 2,700,000 square meters, the Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven. The architecture of this place gives an understanding of an ancient Chinese thought of ‘The heaven is round and the earth is square’ since the northern part of wall enclosing the temple is semicircular representing the heaven and the southern part is square representing the earth.
There are several magnificent buildings within the walls - The Circular Mound Altar (Yuanqiutan), Imperial Vault of Heaven (Huangqiongyu) and Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest (Qiniandian). Also, there are some additional buildings like Three Echo Stones and Echo Wall. Almost all of the buildings are connected by a wide bridge called Vermilion Steps Bridge (Danbiqiao) or called Sacred Way |
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which is 360 meters long and 30 meters wide, connects the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest and the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The emperors in the past believed that they could go to heaven through this Bridge, which is why this bridge is also called Sacred Way.
You can also admire an ancient tree that was planted more than 500 years ago. Called the Nine-Dragon Cypress, its branches look like nice dragons. |
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Another must see is the Tiananmen Square, which stands for the Tiananmen Square protests located at the center of Beijing City. Here one can visit Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall and see the national flag raising ceremony. Thousands of people come to the Square every day. |
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The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century. Life size terracotta figures of warriors and horses arranged in battle formations are the star features at the museum. They are replicas of what the imperial guard should look like in those days of pomp and vigor.
Listed by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the world cultural heritages the museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters, divided into three sections with over 7,000 pottery soldiers, horses, chariots, and even weapons.
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Hop on a bicycle and enjoy China’s outdoors. One can easily hire a bicycle and explore popular cycling routes alongside the Great Wall.
: This fast-growing sport in China can be practiced even in some bars equipped with practice walls.
: One can choose from an array of Chinese mementos starting from Chinese silk, tea, medicines, pearls, jade, antiques, rugs, paintings and calligraphy. Enjoy shopping to the fullest as you can get good bargains especially in small shops.
Don’t miss China’s favourite food – Jiaozi, traditional Chinese dumpling!!! These are usually made of rice flour with vegetable and meat filling. The more creative ones can have sea food and watermelon filling as well. The crescent shaped dumpling comes in different varieties with an array of fillings: water dumplings, pan-fried dumplings, steam dumplings, Shanghai soup dumplings.
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