Top choice taoist temple in The Peak & Northwest Hong Kong Island

One of Hong Kong’s oldest temples and a declared monument, atmospheric Man Mo Temple is dedicated to the gods of literature (‘Man’), holding a writing brush, and of war (‘Mo’), wielding a sword. Built in 1847 during the Qing dynasty by wealthy Chinese merchants, it was, besides a place of worship, a court of arbitration for local disputes when trust was thin between the Chinese and the colonialists.

Oaths taken at this Taoist temple (often accompanied by the ritual beheading of a rooster) were accepted by the colonial government.

Outside the main entrance are four gilt plaques on poles that used to be carried around at processions. Two describe the gods being worshipped inside, one requests silence and a show of respect within the temple’s grounds, and the last warns menstruating women to keep out of the main hall. Inside the temple are two 19th-century sedan chairs with elaborate carvings, that used to carry the two gods during festivals.

Lending the temple its beguiling and smoky air are rows of large earth-coloured spirals suspended from the roof, like strange fungi in an upside-down garden. These are incense coils burned as offerings by worshippers.

Off to the side is Lit Shing Kung, the ‘saints’ palace’, a place of worship for other Buddhist and Taoist deities. Another hall, Kung Sor (‘public meeting place’), used to serve as a court of justice to settle disputes among the Chinese community before the modern judicial system was introduced. A couplet at the entrance urges those entering to leave their selfish interests and prejudices outside. Fortune-tellers beckon from inside.

The historical part of Taipa is best preserved in this village in the south of the district. An intricate warren of alleys hold traditional Chinese shops and some excellent restaurants, while the broader main roads are punctuated by colonial villas, churches and temples. Rua do Cunha, the main pedestrian drag, is lined with vendors hawking free samples of Macanese almond cookies and beef jerky, and tiny cafes selling egg tarts and serradura pudding. Avenida da Praia, a tree-lined esplanade with wrought-iron benches, is perfect for a leisurely stroll.

 

This charming building founded in the 19th century was the country retreat of the late tycoon Robert Ho Tung, who purchased it in 1918. The colonial edifice, featuring a dome, an arcaded facade, Ionic columns and Chinese-style gardens, was given a modern extension by architect Joy Choi Tin Tin not too long ago. The new four-storey structure in glass and steel has Piranesi-inspired bridges connecting to the old house and a glass roof straddling the transitional space.

The most treasured icon in Macau, the towering facade and stairway are all that remain of this early-17th-century Jesuit church. With its statues, portals and engravings that effectively make up a ‘sermon in stone’ and a Biblia pauperum (Bible of the poor), the church was one of the greatest monuments to Christianity in Asia, intended to help the illiterate understand the Passion of Christ and the lives of the saints.

The church was designed by an Italian Jesuit and completed by early Japanese Christian exiles and Chinese craftsmen in 1602. It was abandoned after the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1762 and a military battalion was stationed here. In 1835 a fire erupted in the kitchen of the barracks, destroying everything, except what you see today. At the top is a dove, representing the Holy Spirit, surrounded by stone carvings of the sun, moon and stars. Beneath the Holy Spirit is a statue of the infant Jesus, and around it, stone carvings of the implements of the Crucifixion (the whip, crown of thorns, nails, ladder and spear). In the centre of the third tier stands the Virgin Mary being assumed bodily into heaven along with angels and two flowers: the peony, representing China, and the chrysanthemum, representing Japan. To the right of the Virgin is a carving of the tree of life and the apocalyptic woman (Mary) slaying a seven-headed hydra; the Japanese kanji next to her read: ‘The holy mother tramples the heads of the dragon’. To the left of the central statue of Mary, a ‘star’ guides a ship (the Church) through a storm (sin); a carving of the devil is to the left. The fourth tier has statues of four Jesuit doctors of the church: (from left) Blessed Francisco de Borja; St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the order; St Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Far East; and Blessed Luís Gonzaga.

Location and Layout

Situated in the heart of Beijing, the Palace Museum is approached through the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tian'an men). Immediately to the north of the Palace Museum is Prospect Hill (also called Coal Hill), while on the east and west are the Wangfujing and Zhongnanhai neighborhoods. Ancient China’s astronomers endowed the location with cosmic significance. They correlated the emperor's abode, which they considered the pivot of the terrestrial world, with the Pole Star (Ziwei yuan)—believed to be the center of the heavens. Because of its centrality and restricted access, the palace was called the Forbidden City. It was built from 1406 to 1420 by the third emperor of the Ming dynasty, the Yongle Emperor (r. 1403-1420) who, upon usurping the throne, determined to move his capital northward from Nanjing to Beijing. Over 200 years later, the Ming dynasty fell to the Manchu Qing dynasty in 1644. Then, in 1911, the Qing were subsequently overthrown by republican revolutionaries. The last emperor, Puyi (who ruled from 1909 to 1911 under the reign name Xuantong), continued to live in the palace after his abdication until he was expelled in 1924. During nearly six hundred years of imperial operation, the palace served as the residence and court of twenty-four emperors.?

??The Forbidden City is surrounded by 10-metre-high walls and a 52-metre-wide moat. Measuring 961 meters from north to south and 753 meters from east to west, the complex covers an area of 1,110,000 square meters. Each side of the rectangular city has a gate. These four gates are the Meridian Gate (Wu men) on the south, the Gate of Divine Prowess (Shenwu men) on the north, and the East and West Prosperity Gates (Donghua men and Xihua men), respectively. Entering from the south, visitors will see a succession of halls and palaces spreading out on either side of the central axis. The glowing yellow roofs of the stately buildings seem to levitate above the vermilion walls. This magnificent sight is amplified by the painted ridges and carved beams of the ancient structures.?

??Known as the Outer Court, the southern portion of the Forbidden City features three main halls – the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe dian), Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghe dian), and Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohe dian). These three halls are flanked by the Belvedere of Embodying Benevolence (Tiren ge) and Belvedere of Spreading Righteousness (Hongyi ge). The Outer Court was the venue for the emperor’s court and grand audiences.?

??Mirroring this arrangement is the Inner Court, which is the northern portion of the Forbidden City. The Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing gong), Hall of Union (Jiaotai dian), and Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunning gong) lie upon the central axis. The Six Eastern Palaces and the Six Western Palaces are private imperial residences found on their respective sides of the main axis. Other major buildings in the Inner Court include the Hall for Abstinence (Zhai gong) and Hall of Sincere Solemnity (Chengsu dian) in the east and the Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxin dian), Belvedere of Raining Flowers (Yuhua ge), and Palace of Compassion and Tranquility (Cining gong) in the west. The Inner Court is not only comprised of the residences of the emperor and his consorts but also venues for religious rituals and administrative activities. The far north end of the Inner Court is the Imperial Garden.?

? In total, the buildings of the two courts account for an area of some 163,000 square meters. These structures were designed in strict accordance to the traditional code of architectural hierarchy, which designated specific features to reflect the paramount authority and status of the emperor. Ordinary mortals were forbidden—and most would never dare—to come within close proximity to this imperial city.?

Founding of the Palace Museum?

The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 ended with the abdication of the last emperor Puyi. The provisional government allowed him to continue to live in the Inner Court of the Forbidden City. Meanwhile, all of the imperial treasures from palaces in Jehol (or Rehe—present-day Chengde, Hebei Province) and Mukden (present-day Shenyang, Liaoning Province) were moved to the Forbidden City for public display in the Outer Court in 1914. While confined to the Inner Court, Puyi utilized the vestiges of his dynastic influence to plot his own restoration. He also smuggled out or pawned countless works of art under the pretexts of granting them as rewards to his courtiers and servants or sending them for repair.?

? In 1924, during a coup launched by the warlord Feng Yuxiang, Puyi was finally expelled from the Forbidden City. The management of the palace fell to a committee that was set up to deal with the concerns of the deposed imperial family. That committee also audited the imperial collections. After a year of tireless preparations, on 10 October 1925, the committee arranged a grand ceremony in front of the Palace of Heavenly Purity to mark the inception of the Palace Museum. News of the opening flashed across the nation. Such was the scramble of visitors on the opening day that traffic jams around Beijing almost brought the city to a standstill.?

? According to a twenty-eight volume inventory published in 1925, the treasure trove left by the Qing imperial family numbered more than 1,170,000 items. This collection included sacrificial vessels and ancient jade artifacts from the earliest dynasties of Chinese history; paintings and calligraphy dating to as early as the seventh century; porcelain from the Song and Yuan; a variety of enamel and lacquer ware; gold and silver ornaments; antiques made of bamboo, wood, horn, and gourds; religious statues in gold and bronze; thousands of imperial robes and ornaments; textiles; and furniture. In addition, countless books, literary works, and historical documents were found among the antiquities. All these were divided into separate collections that were placed under the care of designated staff to sort and collate. Exhibition halls were opened to display some of the treasures. The establishment of the museum ushered in new fields of research and academic inquiry, and writers and editors soon began publishing books and journals to report the exciting, new findings. The Palace Museum quickly became a thriving center for scholarly research and public interest.?

Collection Evacuation and Ensuing Division

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the Japanese had annexed territory in China's northeast and proceeded to march on Beijing. With this looming threat, the Museum’s authorities decided to evacuate its collection rather than let it fall into enemy hands or risk destruction in battle. In the frantic time from February to May 1933, the most important pieces in the collection were packed into 13,427 crates and sixty-four bundles and sent to Shanghai in five batches. Another six thousand some crates were assembled from the Antiquities Exhibition Institute, Summer Palace, and Imperial College. In 1936, they were dispatched to Nanjing where a depository had been built and a branch of the Palace Museum was to be established.?

? On 7 July 1937, shots fired at the Lugou Bridge (also known as the Marco Polo Bridge) west of Beijing heralded the eruption of the Sino-Japanese War. Within a year, the Japanese had invaded most of eastern China. The treasures stored in Nanjing had to be moved again—this time by three routes to Sichuan, where they were secreted in Baxian, Emei, and Leshan. Only at the end of the war were they consolidated in Chongqing and subsequently returned to Nanjing in 1947. With the imminent victory of the Communist army south of the Yangtze River, the weakened Kuomintang began their retreat to Taiwan. From the end of 1948 to 1949, the Kuomintang selected 2,972 crates to be shipped across the Strait for storage in Taichung. The contents of these crates formed the collection of the Taipei Palace Museum, which opened to the public in 1965. Most of the national treasures remaining in Nanjing were gradually returned to Beijing, although to this day 2,221 crates remain in storage in Nanjing.?

? During this tumultuous decade of war and revolution, none of the treasures were lost or damaged, in spite of the incredible quantity of antiquities. This was largely due to the steadfast commitment of the Palace Museum staff, whose achievement in preserving these treasures was nothing short of heroic. Unfortunately, as a result of this long period of upheaval, some of the treasures were dispersed into various institutions. Over the years, the collection has remained divided. Today, many people still hope for the eventual reunification of the collection and the restoration of its comprehensive representation of Chinese traditional culture.?

? In the early 1950s, shortly after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the Palace Museum staff was imbued with new determination and enthusiasm to restore the Forbidden City to its former glory. The Museum’s administration launched a policy of comprehensive restoration. Where previously the dirty and dilapidated halls and courts lay under weeds and piles of rubbish, the palace shined with a renewed vibrancy after some 250,000 cubic meters of accumulated debris were cleared out. In time, the crumbling palace buildings, repaired and renovated, once again displayed their original resplendence. All the tall structures were equipped with lightning rods, while modern systems were installed to ensure fire protection and security. Additionally, the maintenance of the surrounding moat has been a distinct government priority, particularly since the beginning of the reforms instituted during the early 1980s.?

Collections

The collections of the Palace Museum originate from the Qing imperial collection and include ceramics, paintings, calligraphy, bronzes, timepieces, jades, palace paraphernalia, ancient books, and historical documents. During the 1950s and 1960s, a systematic inventory was completed and redressed previous inaccurate catalogues. After the founding of the Museum in 1925, particularly after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the collection was further augmented in various ways. For example, many precious artifacts were salvaged from a muddled assortment of apparently worthless objects. After more than a decade of painstaking efforts, some 710,000 treasured pieces from the Qing palace were retrieved. Meanwhile, national allocations, requisitions, and private donations brought more than 220,000 additional pieces of cultural significance to the Museum. These acquisitions made up for the lack of certain aspects of ancient Chinese history in the original Qing collections and included colored earthenware from prehistoric times, bronzes and jades from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, pottery tomb figurines from the Han dynasty, stone sculpture from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and tri-color pottery from the Tang dynasty. The ancient paintings, scrolls, and calligraphy added to the collections were particularly spectacular. These exquisite additions included Lu Ji's A Consoling Letter (Pingfu tie) in cursive script, Wang Xun's Letter to Boyuan (Boyuan tie), and Gu Kaizhi's Nymph of the Luo River (Luoshenfu tu) from the Jin dynasty; Zhan Ziqian's landscape handscroll Spring Excursion (Youchun tu) from the Sui dynasty; Han Huang's Five Oxen (Wuniu tu) and Du Mu's running-cursive script handscroll Courtesan Zhang Haohao (Zhang haohao shi) from the Tang dynasty; Gu Hongzhong's The Night Revels of Han Xizai (Han Xizai yeyan tu) from the Five Dynasties; Li Gonglin's Imperial Horses at Pasture after Wei Yan (Lin Wei Yan mufang tu), Guo Xi's Dry Tree and Rock, Level Distance Landscape (Keshi pingyuan tu), and Zhang Zeduan's Life along the Bian River at the Pure Brightness Festival (Qingming shanghe tu) from the Song dynasty. These pieces are all unrivaled masterpieces from throughout the history of Chinese art. Currently, the total number of works of art in the Museum's collection exceeds 1.8 million.?

??As unremitting as the attempt to recover lost masterpieces has been, the Museum continues to exert efforts to recover certain national treasures. Some of these works include Zhang Xian's Illustrating Ten Poems (Shiyong tu, Song dynasty), Nai Xian's calligraphy Poems Reflecting on the Past in the Southern City (Chengnan yonggu shi, Yuan dynasty), Shen Zhou's landscape handscroll After Huang Gongwang's Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Fang Huang Gongwang fuchun shanju tu, Ming dynasty), and Shi Tao's ink bamboo Loudly Calling Yuke (Gaohu Yuke tu, Qing dynasty). The first two were spirited out of the palace by the last emperor, Puyi, on the excuse of bestowing them to his brother, Pujie. These two priceless works passed into other hands, and it was not until the 1990s that they were returned to their rightful place in the Palace Museum collection.?

Development and Accessibility?

Beginning in the 1950s, the Museum's existing repositories have been completely overhauled to provide humidity controls, insect proofing, and other safeguards for the preservation of the collection. In the 1990s, a new storehouse with a capacity of over 600,000 items was built and included advanced temperature and humidity controls and protections against fire and theft. In the 1950s, a workshop was established for the care of collection pieces. This workshop was expanded in the 1980s into the Conservation Department. The workshop and subsequent department continue traditional forms of craftsmanship and utilize scientific methods in the restoration of damaged art. Over the past few decades, the Conservation Department has attended to as many as 110,000 objects from the Museum’s collection and other public institutions.

? In addition to continuously refurbishing the main courts and halls, the Museum has expanded the scope of exhibitions by opening new galleries to display bronzes, porcelain, handicrafts, paintings and calligraphy, jewelry, and clocks. Temporary exhibition galleries have also featured a wide range of thematic shows. Furthermore, the Museum has curated traveling exhibitions for museums overseas and hosted visiting international exhibitions. Since the beginning of China’s period of economic reform, an increasing number of exhibitions have been displayed around Asia and in Oceania, Europe, and North and South America. These exchanges have aroused great interest and esteem and played a significant role in promoting international understanding and cultural dialogue.

??The Palace Museum's range of publications has created further interest in domains such as the Forbidden City’s history, architecture, and vast cultural holdings. The substantial body of published works includes Famous Historical Paintings in the Palace Museum Collection, Selected Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, National Treasures, Palaces of the Forbidden City, Daily Life in the Forbidden City, A Collection of National Treasures, and The Complete Palace Museum Collection (in 60 volumes). There are also two periodicals, namely, the Palace Museum Journal and The Forbidden City.?

? Although the Forbidden City used to be an impenetrable fortress, the imperial palace is now a public museum. The collection, displayed in gallery halls throughout the complex, is becoming increasingly more accessible with digital technologies. The Museum’s website, established in 2001, is dedicated to presenting a “Digital Palace Museum” by which the wealth of cultural heritage contained in the Forbidden City may be effectively spread worldwide.?

? With rich collections representing the broad spectrum of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization and the 600 year history of the Forbidden City, the Palace Museum has seen many developments since its founding in 1925 and looks forward to carrying on the legacy of the past for future generations. Now, as always, the Palace Museum is committed to the preservation of national heritage and the goal of serving as a model for museums around the world.

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? ? ? He who doesn’t reach the Great Wall is not a true man.

The majestic Great Wall touches the billows of the Bohai Sea in the east, and traverses the vast expanse of the Gobi desert in the west. It crosses prairies and deserts, nestles up to the Yellow River, surmounts high mountains, stretches 10,000 li and, like a soaring dragon, leaps over the boundless land of China. It was built with the blood and sweat of the laboring people of ancient China. It is a symbol of the brilliance of China’s ancient culture and a pride of the Chinese nation.

The Great Wall of China possesses thousands of famous passes. Badaling, located in the outer town of Juyong Pass, is eulogized as one of the top nine passes in the world. 　 It boasts strategically important position, long history, rich culture, spectacular architecture, inspiring sight, and great fame. For these reasons, it is rated as the best of all famous passes. Badaling Great Wall is the outstanding representative of the Great Wall of China. It is the best part of Ming Dynasty Great Wall. It is a precious part of human cultural heritages and a center of attention for world tourists.

Badaling Great Wall embodies the wisdom and civilization of the Chinese nation. It is laid with historical heritages of thousands of years. Badaling Great Wall, a place contested by all strategists since ancient times, is endowed with new historical missions these days. It strides across high mountains, straddles deep oceans, crosses time and space, and serves as a bridge of friendship for all people of the world. The seeds of friendship are sown here. The songs of peace are sung here. Let us pray – May the flowers of true friendship never fade at Badaling Great Wall!

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      Top choice historic site in Forbidden City & Dōngchéng Central

Ringed by 3.5km of scarlet citadel walls at the very heart of Běijīng, the Unesco-listed Forbidden City is China’s largest and best-preserved collection of ancient buildings, and the largest palace complex in the world. Steeped in stultifying ritual and Byzantine regal protocol, this other-worldly palace was the reclusive home to two dynasties of imperial rule, sharing 900-plus buildings with a retinue of eunuchs, servants and concubines, until the Republic overthrew the last Qing emperor in 1911.

'Forbidden City' is an approximation of the Chinese紫禁城(Zǐjìn Chéng), a poetic moniker that also references the colour purple and the cosmically significant North Star, the‘celestial seat’of the emperor. But officially, it's called the Palace Museum (故宮博物館; Gùgōng Bówùguǎn), a public institution established in 1925 after Puyi, the last emperor, was evicted from the Inner Court. Most Chinese people simply call it GùGōng (故宮; Ancient Palace).

Due to the sheer scale of the Forbidden City, restoration is an ongoing endeavour, with ambitious plans to have 80% of the palace open to visitors by 2020 (in 2002, when the current restoration program began, only about 30% was accessible). In 2015, sections of the perimeter wall walkway opened, offering aerial views over the south of the complex. A year later, the Royal Icehouse saw the light of day, housing a restaurant that offers noodles and simple meals. Being a museum, exhibits come and go; check the regularly updated website to find out what's on.

Entrance

In former ages the penalty for uninvited admission was severe, although mere mortals wouldn't have even got close; the Imperial City girdled the Forbidden City with yet another set of huge walls cut through with four heavily guarded gates (including the Gate of Heavenly Peace, home to Mao's portrait). These days, tourists enter through the Meridian Gate, a massive U-shaped portal at the south end of the complex, which in former times was reserved for the use of the emperor. Gongs and bells would sound imperial comings and goings, while lesser mortals used lesser gates: the military used the west gate, civilians the east gate and servants the north gate. The emperor also reviewed his armies from here, passed judgement on prisoners, announced the new year’s calendar and oversaw the flogging of troublesome ministers. Up top is the Meridian Gate Gallery, which hosts temporary cultural exhibitions for both traditional Chinese arts and from abroad.

Through the Meridian Gate, you pass into a vast courtyard and cross the Golden Stream (金水; Jīn Shuǐ)–shaped to resemble a Tartar bow and spanned by five marble bridges–on your way to the magnificent Gate of Supreme Harmony. This space could hold an imperial audience of 100,000 people. Turn left here for access to the perimeter wall.

First Side Galleries

Before you pass through the Gate of Supreme Harmony to reach the Forbidden City’s star attractions, veer off to the east and west of the huge courtyard to visit the Calligraphy and Painting Gallery inside the Hall of Martial Valor and the particularly good Ceramics Gallery, housed inside the creaking Hall of Literary Glory.

Three Great Halls

Raised on a three-tier marble terrace (mimicking the Chinese character王, Wáng, meaning king) are the Three Great Halls, the glorious heart of the Forbidden City. The recently restored Hall of Supreme Harmony is the most important and largest structure in the Forbidden City. Built in the 15th century and restored in the 17th century, it was used for ceremonial occasions, such as the emperor’s birthday, the nomination of military leaders and coronations. Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony is a richly decorated Dragon Throne (龍椅; Lóngyǐ), from which the emperor would preside over trembling officials. The entire court had to touch the floor nine times with their foreheads (the custom known as kowtowing) in the emperor’s presence. At the back of the throne is a carved Xumishan, the Buddhist paradise, signifying the throne’s supremacy. Look out for an innocuous plinth displaying a bronze, boxy object called a Jiā liàng. It’s a measure used to portion five standard unit sizes of grain, a prosaic reminder that here was the absolute crux of Chinese power, ruling over a vast empire.

Behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the smaller Hall of Central Harmony which was used as the emperor’s transit lounge. Here he would make last-minute preparations, rehearse speeches and receive close ministers. On display are two Qing dynasty sedan chairs, the emperor’s mode of transport around the Forbidden City. The last of the Qing emperors, Puyi, used a bicycle and altered a few features of the palace grounds to make it easier to get around.

The third of the Great Halls is the Hall of Preserving Harmony, used for banquets and later for imperial examinations. The hall has no support pillars. To its rear is a 250-tonne marble imperial carriageway embellished with carved dragons and clouds, crafted elsewhere and conveyed into Běijīng on a temporary road made of ice. The emperor would have been carried aloft over this scene in his sedan chair as he ascended or descended the terrace. The outer housing surrounding the Three Great Halls was used for storing gold, silver, silks, carpets and other treasures.

A string of side halls on the eastern and western flanks of the Three Great Halls usually, but not always, house a series of excellent exhibitions, ranging from scientific instruments and articles of daily use to objects presented to the emperor by visiting dignitaries. One contains an interesting diorama of the whole complex.

Lesser Central Halls

The basic configuration of the Three Great Halls is echoed by the next group of buildings. Smaller in scale, these buildings were more important in terms of real power, which in China traditionally lies at the back door.

The first structure is the Palace of Heavenly Purity, a residence of Ming and early Qing emperors, and later an audience hall for receiving foreign envoys and high officials.

Immediately behind it is the Hall of Union, which contains a clepsydra – a water clock made in 1745 with five bronze vessels and a calibrated scale. There’s also a mechanical clock built in 1797 and a collection of imperial jade seals on display. The Palace of Earthly Tranquillity was the imperial couple’s bridal chamber and the centre of operations for the palace harem.

Imperial Garden

At the northern end of the Forbidden City is the Imperial Garden, a classical Chinese garden with 7000 sq metres of fine landscaping, including rockeries, walkways, pavilions and ancient cypresses. Before you reach the Gate of Divine Prowess, the Forbidden City’s north exit, and Shùnzhēn Gate, which leads to it, note the pair of bronze elephants whose front knees bend in an anatomically impossible fashion, in deference to imperial power.

Treasure Gallery

In the northeastern corner of the complex is a mini Forbidden City known as the Treasure Gallery, or Complete Palace of Peace and Longevity (寧壽全宮; Níng Shǒu Quán Gōng). During the Ming dynasty, the Empress Dowager and the imperial concubines lived here. Today it comprises several atmospheric halls, pavilions, gardens and courtyard buildings that hold a collection of fine museums.

The complex is entered from the south – not far from the unmissable Clock Exhibition Hall. Just inside the entrance, you’ll find a beautiful glazed Nine Dragon Screen, one of only three of its type left in China.

From there you work your way north, exploring a number of peaceful halls and courtyards before popping out at the northern end of the Forbidden City. On route, seek out the Pavilion of Cheerful Melodies, a three-storey wooden opera house, which was the palace’s largest theatre. Note the trap doors that allowed actors to make dramatic stage entrances.

Western & Eastern Palaces

A dozen smaller palace courtyards lie to the west and east of the three lesser central halls. It was in these smaller courtyard buildings that most of the emperors actually lived and many of the buildings, particularly those to the west, are decked out in imperial furniture. Those that are open to the public have cultural exhibitions displaying anything from temple musical instruments to ceremonial bronze vessels and ceramics.

Other Attractions

Previously off-limits areas of the palace are opening all the time, such as the Garden of Compassion and Tranquility in the western half of the complex, a place where empress dowagers and their consorts worshipped the Buddha, and now home to a display of religious artefacts. Set within Dōnghuámén, the Forbidden City's east gate, is a very good exhibition on ancient architecture.

The Summer Palace landscape, dominated mainly by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, covers an area of 3.08 square kilometers, three quarters of which is under water. Its 70,000 square meters of building space features a variety of palaces, gardens and other ancient-style architectural structures. Well known for its large and priceless collection of cultural relics, it was among the first group of historical and cultural heritage sites in China to be placed under special state protection.

The Summer Palace, originally named Qingyi Yuan or the Garden of Clear Ripples, was first constructed in 1750. It was razed to the ground by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860. The Government of the Qing Dynasty started to rebuild it in 1886 with funds that it had misappropriated from the Imperial Navy and other sources. Renamed two years later as Yihe Yuan or the Garden of Health and Harmony, it was supposed to serve as a summer resort for the Empress Dowager Cixi. Known also as the Summer Palace, it was ravaged by the Allied Forces of the Eight Powers that invaded China in 1900. The damage was repaired in 1902. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Summer Palace has undergone several major renovations. Its major attractions such as the Four Great Regions, Suzhou Street, the Pavilion of Bright Scenery, the Hall of Serenity, the Wenchang Galleries and the Plowing and Weaving Scenery Area have been successively restored.

 The Summer Palace is a monument to classical Chinese architecture, in terms of both garden design and construction. Borrowing scenes from surrounding landscapes, it radiates not only the grandeur of an imperial garden but also the beauty of nature in a seamless combination that best illustrates the guiding principle of traditional Chinese garden design: “The works of men should match the works of Heaven”. In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List with the following comments: 1) The Summer Palace in Beijing is an outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole; 2) The Summer Palace epitomizes the philosophy and practice of Chinese garden design, which played a key role in the development of this cultural form throughout the east;  3) The imperial Chinese garden, illustrated by the Summer Palace, is a potent symbol of one of the major world civilizations

      The Temple of Heaven is located in southern Beijing. It is included in the UNESCO world heritage list in 1998. With an area of 2.7 million square meters, it is the largest of its kind in the country. Built in 1420, the 18th year of the reign of Ming Emperor Yongle, the temple was where emperors went to worship heaven for good harvests. 

      The temple consists of two parts--the inner altar and outer altar. The main buildings are in the inner altar, on the north-south axis. At the southern end are the Imperial Vault of Heaven(1) and the Circular Mound Altar(2). On the northern end are the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests(3) and the Hall of Imperial Zenith(4). The structures at both ends are connected by a 360-meter-long walk. There is also the Hall of Abstinence(5) inside the West Heavenly Gate in which the emperor fasted for three days and bathed before prayer. 

      The temple's main building is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, where the emperor prayed for good harvests. The round hall, 38 meters high and 30 meters in diameter, has triple eaves and a cone-shaped deep blue tile roof crowned with a gilded knob. Surrounding the hall is a six-meter-high spacious circular stone terrace on three levels, each edged by a balustrade of carved white marble. 

      The Circular Mound Altar is one of the more important buildings and is a three-tier white stone terrace enclosed by two walls. Geometrically designed, the altar has a taiji rock at the center of the top terrace. If you stand on the rock and speak in a normal voice, your voice will sound louder and more resonant to yourself than to others around you, because the sound waves reflected by the balustrades are bounced back to the center by the round wall. 

      The Imperial Vault of Heaven, the place to lay the memorial tablets to the heaven is to the north of the Circular Mound Altar. It is very similar in structure to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests but is smaller. The Vault, made of brick and timber, is 19 meters high and 15.6 meters in diameter. It is surrounded by a circular wall of polished brick with an opening to the south. This is known as the Echo Wall(6) and is 3.72 meters high, 61.5 meters in diameter and 193 meters in circumference. If a person whispers close to the wall at any point, his voice can be heard distinctly at any other point along the wall. 

      Around the Hall of Abstinence are two imperial ditches and they are circled by a 163-bay walkway. The Abstinence Bronze Man Pavilion and Time and Memorial Tablets Pavilion are at he Celestial Terrace of the main hall. To add the solemnity of the occasion, the bells in the two bell towers at the northeast end were struck when the emperor prayed for good harvests. 

? ? ?Top choice buddhist temple in Drum Tower & Dōngchéng North
? ? ?This exceptional temple is a glittering attraction in Běijīng’s Buddhist firmament. If you only have time for one temple (the Temple of Heaven isn’t really a temple) make it this one, where riveting roofs, fabulous frescoes, magnificent decorative arches, tapestries, eye-popping carpentry, Tibetan prayer wheels, tantric statues and a superb pair of Chinese lions mingle with dense clouds of incense.

The most renowned Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet, the Lama Temple was converted to a lamasery in 1744 after serving as the former residence of Emperor Yong Zheng. While the temple is an active place of worship, and you may occasionally see pilgrims prostrating themselves in submission at full length within its halls, the temple is mostly visited by tourists these days.

Resplendent within the Hall of the Wheel of the Law (Fǎlún Diàn), the fourth hall you reach from the entrance, is a substantial bronze statue of a benign and smiling Tsong Khapa (1357–1419), founder of the Gelugpa or Yellow Hat sect, robed in yellow and illuminated by a skylight.

The fifth hall, the Wànfú Pavilion (Wànfú Gé), houses a magnificent 18m-high statue of the Maitreya Buddha in his Tibetan form, clothed in yellow satin and reputedly sculpted from a single block of sandalwood. Each of the Bodhisattva’s toes is the size of a pillow. Behind the statue is the Vault of Avalokiteshvara, from where a diminutive and blue-faced statue of Guanyin peeks out. The Wànfú Pavilion is linked by an overhead walkway to the Yánsuí Pavilion (Yánsuí Gé), which encloses a huge lotus flower that revolves to reveal an effigy of the Longevity Buddha.

Don’t miss the collection of bronze Tibetan Buddhist statues within the Jiètái Lóu, a small side hall. Most effigies date from the Qing dynasty, from languorous renditions of Green Tara and White Tara to exotic, tantric pieces (such as Samvara) and figurines of the fierce-looking Mahakala. Also peruse the collection of Tibetan Buddhist ornaments within the Bānchán Lóu, another side hall, where an array of dorje (Tibetan sceptres), mandalas and tantric figures are displayed along with an impressive selection of ceremonial robes in silk and satin.

The street outside the temple entrance heaves with shops piled high with statues of Buddha, talismans, Buddhist charms, incense and keepsakes, picked over by a constant stream of pilgrims.