Beijing

Beijing is a city that has changed in the last few decades, rolling with the sweeping tides of industrialization and modern technology despite their persistent communist form of government. However, China’s capital, housing a gargantuan 13 million residents in it alone, is simply too saturated with so much ancient, and even recent, history to ever shake off its roots and rich culture.

The famed Forbidden City sits in the center of this huge, but surprisingly well-organized, city. For 500 years it had remained off-limits to most of the world, being the sacred home of the emperors, their families, their concubines, and a few priestly eunuchs. Because of this isolation, the city proves to be one of the best preserved group of ancient buildings in China.

The city and palace’s wealth is still evident today in its lush gardens, courtyards, pavilions, and ornate halls – 720,000 meters of 9000 rooms in 800 buildings – despite lack of care, the elements, invading Manchus, and, more recently, the pillaging forces of the Japanese and Kuomintang during the World War Two era.

Beijing’s largest temple, the Lama (or Tibetan) Temple, is worth a glimpse simply for its absolutely stunning architecture. You’ll feel reverent in the face of lavish tapestries and frescoes, unbelievable statuary and carpentry.

A 60-foot high sandalwood statue of the Maitreya, or future, Buddha can be found in the Wanfu Pavilion and is easily one of the most impressive features of the temple. Perhaps one of the most amazing things about this statue is that it was carved from only a single tree.

The Summer Palace was the refuge of the royals during the suffocating summer heat that plagued the Forbidden City, hence, its name. Consequently, the palace is adorned with cool features such as Kunming Lake, taking up three-quarters of the area, gardens, corridors, pavilions, and temples. A marble boat sits at the edge of the lake, the only testament to a failed project to build a modern navy. The main building is called the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity while along the north shore is the Long Corridor spanning 2300 feet and filled with mythical paintings.

The Great Wall of China is probably the most iconic symbol of the country to tourists from all over the world if not so much the locals who see it more or less as simply, well, a wall. Most visitors climb the wall at Badaling, where vendors try and sell their wares. For a less-traveled road, try ascending the wall Huanghua 35 miles north of Beijing.

Another area of Beijing that may ring a bell if you’ve had an eye and ear to the news in past years is Tiananmen Square, the true heart of Beijing with its impressive and vast array of pavestones and the site of such sweeping communist events like Mao’s death in 1976 and the 1989 suppression of pro-democracy demonstrators (the image of a lone, brave student standing in the path of massive PLA tanks still stays in the hears and minds of people around the world).

Today, though, the square is used as an open space for people to wander and kids to fly their kites. Surrounding the area is a myriad of monuments such as the Gate of Heavenly Peace, the Museum of Chinese History, the Museum of the Chinese Revolution, the Great Hall of the People, the Front Gate, and the Chairman Mao Mausoleum where the body of Mao has been preserved and put on display for visitors to take a glimpse of.

For a little shopping and dining, try heading underground to Beijing Underground City, built in the late 1960s in the face of a potential Soviet invasion. It took about 10 years and 2000 people armed with only simple tools to create an impressive network of approximately 90 entrances hidden in shops along Qianmen’s main streets. Today, the network is crowded with warehouses, hotels, restaurants, and shops.