Popular Beijing Attractions
Can't decide how to spend your time in Beijing, the capital City of China? Start with this list of Beijing City's most popular attractions to get started planning your trip to Beijing, China.
-
Tiananmen Square
Like the Red Square in Moscow, the Arc De Triomphe in Paris and the Washington Monument, Tiananmen Square is the symbolic architecture of Beijing. It was named “the largest public square in the world” evaluated at the “World Top Tourism in Beijing” in 1992. Millions of tourists are attracted to the square by its long history and splendid appearance, and it has become the very image of Beijing’s charm to its...
-
Dingling Tomb
Diling Tomb was the imperial mausoleum for Emperor Wanli and his two empresses and also the only excavated one. Its construction began in 1584 and completed in 1590, covering an area of 180, 000㎡. It took 8 million taels of silver, equivalent to 2-year tax income during the mid-period of Emperor Wanli’s reign. At present, only the Baocheng, Memorial Tower and the city wall, among the above-ground architectures, surviv...
-
Yonghe Temple
Yonghe Temple, or Yong He Gong, the biggest Tibetan Buddhist lamasery in Beijing, was built in 1694 as the residence of Prince Yong of Qing Dynasty. After the prince came to the throne (i.e. Emperor Yongzheng), he promoted his old residence into a temporary dwelling palace called "Yong He Gong) (meaning palace of harmony and peace) in 1725. In 1744, his successor, Empoero Qianlong changed the palace into lama temple...
-
Niujie Mosque
The magnificent Niujie Mosque (literally "Cow Street Mosque") is located at the Niujie Street, Xuanwu District, Beijing. It is the oldest and the largest of its kind in Beijing, also one of the famous mosques in the world. Originally built in 966 AD that initiated by an Arabic scholar Nasuruddin, the mosque was named as "Libaisi" by the emperor in 1474. The Beijing Mosque has a strictly central axel...
-
Beijing Confucian Temple
Beijing Confucian Temple, originally named as Guo Zi Jian (The Imperial College), Confucian Temple or Capital Confucian Temple, was the place where emperors offered sacrifices to Confucius. A construction system was thus formed with Guo Zi Jian in the left and the Confucian Temple in the right.The construction of Beijing Confucian Temple was inttiated in 1302, the sixth year of the reign of Dade during the Yuan D...
-
Temple of Earth
The Temple of Earth, also known as the Temple of Fang Ze or Ditan Park, is located in the northern part of central Beijing, around the Andingmen area and just outside of Beijing's second ring road. It is also located just a few hundred yards north of Yonghe Temple (Lama Temple). The temple once served as the place where emperors of the Ming and the Qing dynasties offered sacrifices to the God of Earth. Now, this...
-
Changling Tomb
The first built of the Thirteen Ming Tombs, the Changling Tomb buried the Ming Emperor Yongle and his empress Xu. It was the largest (occupying 10 hectares), most advanced and best preserved imperial mausoleum, using the best material. Built in 1409, even the underground palace of the massive project took four years to complete. Having undergone the weathering of 600 years, the Changling Tomb remains intact and resplenden...
