Beijing

[The Great Wall][The Forbidden City][The Summer Palace]

The Great Wall
	It's more than 2,000 years old, but the Great Wall of China remains one of the great wonders of the world, an engineering feat rarely matched in the 22 centuries since its construction began.

Stretching 4,500 miles, from the mountains of Korea to the Gobi Desert, it was first built to protect an ancient Chinese empire from marauding tribes from the north.

But it evolved into something far greater бк a boon to trade and prosperity and ultimately a symbol of Chinese ingenuity and will. The truth is, though, that the Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over 1,000 years.

And while they often served the same purpose, these walls reflected the worlds бк both natural and cultural бк in which they were erected. For all its seeming timelessness, the Great Wall is an emblem of China's evolution.

The Forbidden City

Panorama of the Forbidden City, which occupies a total space of more than 720,000 square meters. The buildings in this palace complex are measured in 9,999.5 bays. The surrounding palace walls are 10 meters high and have a total length of 3,400 meter, and are protected by a 52-meter-wide moat. The Forbidden City consists of two parts, the Outer Court and the Inner Court. The Outer Court centers around the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Midway Hall of Harmony and the Hall of Military Prowess. The Inner Court centers around the Hall of Celestial Purity, the Hall of Union and Peace and the Hall of Terrestrial Tranquility, which are flanked by the Six East Palaces and the Six West Palaces. The layout is orderly and symmetric. The picture shows the Forbidden City viewed from the east.

During important ceremonies presided over by the emperor, guards of honor lined up on the square between the Meridian Gate and the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the largest square in the palace complex.

The three main halls in the Inner Court are the Hall of Celestial Purity, the Hall of Union and Peace, and the Hall of Terrestrial Tranquility. The picture shows the front chamber of the Hall of Celestial Purity, where the emperor attended to state affairs almost everyday.

The Hall of Preserved Elegance, one of the Six West Palaces, once served as the residence of Empress Dowager Cixi.

The Summer Palace

The Summer Palace with its beautiful hills and lakes. It was first named the Garden of Clear Ripples, which was burnt down by the allied forces of Great Britain and France in 1860. Reconstruction started 25 year later and was completed in 1895,and the name was changed to Yiheyuan (Garden of Good Health and Harmony).The design gives prominence to the Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. The total area is 290 hectares, and the buildings are measured in over 3,000 bays. Skirting the northern bank of Kunming Lake, the Long Corridor extends over 728 meters and is decorated with more that 8,000 paintings of landscapes, flowers and human figures.

[The Great Wall][The Forbidden City][The Summer Palace]

The Summer Palace
	The Summer Palace with its beautiful hills and lakes. It was first named the Garden of Clear Ripples, which was burnt down by the allied forces of Great Britain and France in 1860. Reconstruction started 25 year later and was completed in 1895,and the name was changed to Yiheyuan (Garden of Good Health and Harmony).The design gives prominence to the Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. The total area is 290 hectares, and the buildings are measured in over 3,000 bays. Skirting the northern bank of Kunming Lake, the Long Corridor extends over 728 meters and is decorated with more that 8,000 paintings of landscapes, flowers and human figures.