Historic structure winding across China
The Great Wall of China is the collective name of a series of fortification systems generally built across the historical northern borders of China to protect and consolidate territories of Chinese states and empires against various nomadic groups of the steppe and their polities. Several walls were being built from as early as the 7th century BC by ancient Chinese states; selective stretches were later joined together by Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Little of the Qin wall remains. Later on, many successive dynasties have built and maintained multiple stretches of border walls. The most well-known sections of the wall were built by the Ming dynasty. Apart from defense, other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and emigration
Palace, museum, and architecture
Forbidden City is an area of Beijing, China, that contains the former imperial palaces to which entry was forbidden to all except the members of the imperial family and their servants
Site famed for ancient, imposing statues
The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting the emperor in his afterlife. The figures dating from approximately the late third century BCE were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong County, outside Xi’an, Shaanxi, China. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures were found in other pits, including officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians
Iconic lakeside retreat for royalty
The Summer Palace, is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing Dynasty. Mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, it covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres, three-quarters of which is water. Longevity Hill is about 60 m high and has many buildings positioned in sequence. The front hill is rich with splendid halls and pavilions, while the back hill in sharp contrast is quiet with natural beauty. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometres was entirely man-made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace “a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value”. Notably in recent history, it is also the Central Route terminus of the South-North Water Transfer Project having traversed 1,267 km from Danjiangkou Reservoir, Hubei, making it Beijing’s main water supply
Famed & historic temple complex
The Temple of Heaven is an imperial complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest
Famed waterside walkway with city views
The Bund or Waitan is a waterfront area in central Shanghai. The area centers on a section of Zhongshan Road within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River in the eastern part of Huangpu District. The area along the river faces the modern skyscrapers of Lujiazui in the Pudong District. The Bund usually refers to the buildings and wharves on this section of the road, as well as some adjacent areas. From the 1860s to the 1930s, it was the rich and powerful center of the foreign establishment in Shanghai, operating as a legally protected treaty port
Famed royal retreat from 17th century
The Potala Palace is a dzong fortress in the city of Lhasa, in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. It was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas from 1649 to 1959, has been a museum since then and is a World Heritage Site since 1994. The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The 5th Dalai Lama started its construction in 1645 after one of his spiritual advisers, Konchog Chophel, pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is between Drepung and Sera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa. It may overlay the remains of an earlier fortress called the White or Red Palace on the site, built by Songtsen Gampo in 637. The building measures 400 metres east-west and 350 metres north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging 3 metres thick and 5 metres thick at the base and with copper poured into the foundations to help proof it against earthquakes. Thirteen storeys of buildings containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues, soar 117 metres on top of Marpo Ri, the “Red Hill”, rising more than 300 metres in total above the valley floor.
Immense, famed plaza & cultural site
Tiananmen Square or Tian’anmen Square is a city square in the centre of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen located to its north, separating it from the Forbidden City. The square contains the Monument to the People’s Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China in the square on October 1, 1949. The anniversary of this event is still observed there. Tiananmen Square is within the top ten largest city squares in the world. It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history. Outside China, the square is best known for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, otherwise known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre or June Fourth Massacre
Winding, famed classical garden
Yu Garden or Yuyuan Garden is an extensive Chinese garden located beside the City God Temple in the northeast of the Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu Qu, Shanghai Shi. It abuts the Yuyuan Tourist Mart, the Huxinting Teahouse and the Yu Garden Bazaar. This garden is accessible from the Shanghai Metro’s Line 10 Yuyuan Garden Station. A centerpiece is the Exquisite Jade Rock a porous 3.3-m, 5-ton boulder. Rumours about its origin include the story that it was meant for the Huizong Emperor at the imperial palace in Beijing, but was salvaged from the Huangpu River after the boat carrying it had sunk
River, rafting, cormorant, waterfall, and mountain
The Li River or Li Jiang, which belongs to the Xijiang River system in the Pearl River Basin is a generic term for the tributary of the upper reaches of the Guijiang River and is located in the northeastern part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. It flows 164 kilometres from Xing’an County to Pingle County, where the karst mountains and river sights highlight the famous Li River cruise