Brief Introduction
Beijing is the modern capital city of the People’s Republic of China as well as a well known city in
the ancient world. It has over 3000 years of history and has been the capital city of five
dynasties. This has made Beijing famous for the depth in culture and richness in tourist resources.
No visitor to China today wants to miss visiting the Forbidden City, the largest royal palace in the
world, the Summer Palace, where the imperial family escaped the summer heat, the Temple of
Heaven, or the Great Wall. There are more than 200 major sightseeing spots open to tourists and
over 7300 cultural and historical scenes.
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square, the largest city square in the world
with 44 hectares in size, is the central focus of Beijing. To
its west stands the Great Hall of People while the
National Museum is located in the east. The Monument
to the People’s Hero stands high in the middle of the
square and the memorial hall of Chairman Mao is located
on the south. The Tiananmen Square was enlarged to its
current size in early 1950. It can accommodate a half million people at one time. Tiananmen
Square became famous in the Western world after the democracy demonstrations which took
place in 1989. People will gather around the flag pole for the flag raising or lowering ceremony
every day. (Distance from CNCC Grand Hotel is 12.3 km)
Palace Museum (The Forbidden City)
The Palace Museum is also known as Forbidden City in
the western world. There have been 24 emperors who
have lived here in the Ming and Qing, the last two
dynasties in Chinese history during 1368-1911. It was
turned to a museum and opened to the public in 1925.
Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980
surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers
720,000 square meters. The palace complex exemplifies
traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural
developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site
in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures
in the world. (Distance from CNCC Grand Hotel is 11.4 km)
The Summer Palace
The Summer Palace is located in western part of Beijing. It started out life as the Garden of Clear
Ripples (also Gardens of Perfect Clarity) in 1750 and was given the current name in 1888. It is
mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and the man-made Kunming Lake and covers an expanse of
2.9 square kilometers in total, three quarters of which is
water. In its compact 70,000 square meters of building space,
one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other
classical-style architectural structures. British and French
troops looted and destroyed the Old Summer Palace during
the Second Opium War. It took 3,500 British troops to set
the entire place ablaze and took three days for it to burn. In
December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on
its World Heritage List. (Distance from CNCC Grand Hotel is
10.9 km)
The Temple of Heaven
The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420
during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also
responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in
Beijing. The emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties
visited here once a year for the annual ceremonies invoking
a prayer to Heaven for a good harvest. The temple grounds
cover 2.73 square km of parkland, and comprise three main
groups of buildings including: The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, The Imperial Vault of Heaven,
The Echo Wall, and The Earthly Mount. The Temple of Heaven was registered on the UNESCO
World Heritage List in 1998. (Distance from CNCC Grand Hotel is 11.8 km)
The Great Wall
The Great Wall stretches over 6,400 km from Shanhaiguan
in the east to Lop Nur in the west. The long wall is a series of
stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and
maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century
to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire
during the rule of successive dynasties. Richard Nixon visited
the Great Wall in 1972 in what was the first step in formally
normalizing relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. The
following sections are in Beijing municipality: Badaling, Jinshanling, Simatai, Mutianyu,
Juyongguan pass and Jiankou. (Distance from CNCC Grand Hotel to Badaling is 50.8 km)
The Ming Tombs
From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried in this area, which is
located some 40 km due north of Beijing at a specially selected site occupying 120 square km.
The entire tomb site is surrounded by a wall, and a seven kilometer road named the "Spirit Way"
leads into the complex which is one of the finest preserved pieces of 15th century Chinese art
and architecture. At present, three tombs are open to the public: Chang Ling, the largest, Ding
Ling, whose underground palace has been excavated and
Zhao Ling. There have been no excavations since 1989. The
Ming Tombs were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in
August 2003. (Distance from CNCC Grand Hotel is 40.0 km)
The National Centre for the Performing Arts
Formerly known as the National Grand Theatre, it is located
immediately to the west of Tiananmen Square and the
Great Hall of People, and near the Forbidden City. The
exterior of the theater is a titanium accented glass dome
that is completely surrounded by a man-made lake. Guests
arrive in the building from the main entrance at north after
walking through a hallway that goes underneath the lake.
Internally, there are three major performance halls: the Opera Hall, the Music Hall and the
Theater Hall. It can seat 6500 people in three halls and is 200,000 square meters in size. (Distance
from CNCC Grand Hotel is 11.8 km)
Capital Museum
The original Capital Museum was located in the Confucius Temple and formally opened in 1981.
The construction of a new museum was started in 2001, and opened again in 2006 after the
relocation. Both were an investment of the Beijing Municipal Government. Articles exhibited in
the new Capital Museum are mainly past years’ collections and unearthed historical heritages of
the Beijing area, combined with the latest research results concerning the history, cultural
heritage, archeology, and relevant subjects of Beijing. There are over 5,600 pieces of historical
heritage exhibited in the museum halls. Collection, exhibition, and research are the major
functions of museums. The new Capital Museum fully adheres to, and adopts, advanced
technologies of construction of museums around the world and is of top class in China in these
three aspects. (Distance from CNCC Grand Hotel is 14.6 km)
798 Art Zone
798 Art Zone or Dashanzi Art District, is a part of the Dashanzi area in the Chaoyang District of
Beijing that houses a thriving artist community among 50-year old decommissioned military
factory buildings of unique architectural style. It is often compared with New York's Greenwich
Village or SoHo, but faces impending destruction from the forces driving Beijing's urban sprawl.
The Dashanzi factory complex began as an extension of the "Socialist Unification Plan" of
military-industrial cooperation between the Soviet Union and the newly-formed People's
Republic of China. The complex was officially named Joint Factory 718 and since then had
performed the role of military factory for 10 years before it was split into more manageable
components, and 798 was one of branches. The complex was vacated during middle of the 1990s
when most of the artist community was looking for new home in Beijing. (Distance from CNCC
Grand Hotel is 9 km)
Bar Street
In Beijing, only the international hotels hosted the first bars in the early 1980s, but in the 1990s
standalone establishments appeared. Sanlitun and Houhai are the best known places for having
bars serving expats and later, to younger locals. Sanlitun Bar Street is located in the diplomatic
district and the Yaxiu clothing market, a popular shopping destination for locals and foreigners
alike, is situated alongside this street. Houhai is one of the three lakes in the Shichahai scenic
area dated back to the Jin Dynasty of the early 12 century. It was the northernmost part of the
Grand Canal linking Hangzhou in the south to Beijing. You also can visit the famous sightseeing
spots nearby: the Drum Tower, the Bell Tower, Prince Gong’s Mansion, or the typical Chinese
Hutong streets with traditional Siheyuan courtyard houses. (Distance from CNCC Grand Hotel to
Sanlitun is 11.7 km and to Houhai is about 8 km)
Hutong Tour
Hutongs are narrow streets or alleys formed by lines of courtyard residence, most commonly
associated with Beijing. The size and decoration of the main entrance of a courtyard tells the
social status of its owner, they were relatives of the imperial family, or high-ranking officials, or
citizens of higher social status such as wealthy merchants or commoners, artisans or laborers.
The higher position the owners were the closer to the Forbidden City their courtyards were
located. There used to be several thousand Hutongs in Beijing. However, many of them have
disappeared, due to different reasons, since the middle of last century, but many of those ancient
Hutongs still stand, among them, some are several hundred years old and have been assigned
protected status. The Hutongs located in Qianmen, Drum Tower, and Bell Tower are especially
attractive to tourists.
Peking Duck
Peking Duck, or Peking Roast Duck is a famous duck dish from Beijing that has been prepared
since the Yuan Dynasty, and is now considered one of China’s national foods.
The dish is prized for the thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the
skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners by the cook. Ducks are bred specially for the dish,
which after 65 days are slaughtered and seasoned before it is roasted in a closed oven or a hung
oven. The meat is often eaten with pancakes, spring onions and special sauce. The two most
notable restaurants in Beijing which serve this delicacy are Quanjude and Bianyifang, two
centuries-old establishments which have become household names.
Peking Opera
Peking Opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance,
mime, dance, and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and
recognized by the mid-19th century. The repertoire of Peking Opera includes over 1400 works,
which are based on Chinese history, folklore, and, increasingly, contemporary life. Becoming a
Peking Opera performer requires a long and arduous apprenticeship beginning from a young age.
Teachers assess the qualifications of each student and assign them roles accordingly. Peking
Opera was initially an exclusively male pursuit until 1870s. Much of classical Peking Opera was
banned during the Cultural Revolution. To survive in an increasingly open market, the performers
are constantly trying to attract more young audiences. There are performances in Changan
Theatre, Liyuan Theatre, and Huguang Theatre in the evening, daily.
Acrobatic Show
In China, acrobatics have been a part of the culture since the Western Han Dynasty, over 2500
years ago. Acrobatics were part of village harvest festivals. Traditionally, acrobatic skills were kept
within families and passed from parents to children. However, most acrobats are now taught by
large scale education systems, as circuses are now made up of many more professionals than
they used to be. Today the acrobatic performance art not only inherits the traditions of Chinese
circus, but also combines it with a variety of entertainment, including music, stage set up,
illumination, sound equipment, and gymnastics. You may enjoy a wonderful acrobatic show at
Chaoyang Theatre or Tiandi Theatre every evening. This should not be missed!