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Home - City Guide - Beijing - Sightseeing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sightseeing Over the centuries Beijing has suffered the effects of war and revolution, large-scale industrialisation and a building boom to meet the demands of a growing, modern city. Skyscrapers loom over colourful temples and the intimate courtyards of the hutongs, while traffic crawls along the streets surrounding tranquil parks. Beijing used to be a walled city but little remains now apart from the grand Tiananmen and Qianmen Gates, which are located at either end of Tiananmen Square. The imposing square is home to the Great Hall of the People, China's parliament, the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, where the body of Chairman Mao rests, and the Monument to the People's Heroes, an obelisk depicting major events of the revolution. Beijing's key attractions are listed below, but the city and its surrounds are historically and culturally rich. If time allows, it is worth including the Old Observatory on an itinerary. Established by Kublai Khan, it is now a museum with an extensive collection of Ming and Qing dynasty bronze astronomical instruments. The Beijing Zoo, of course, is the world-famous home of the giant pandas and merits a visit. Away from the centre, most visitors go to Badaling to walk on the Great Wall, but it is worth including Zhou Kou Dian (Peking Man Site), 48km (30 miles) southwest of Beijing, the site where skulls dating back between 200,000 and 500,000 years were found in 1929. The original fossils were lost during World War II, but there is an interesting museum housing many implements and animal bones from that period. Tourist Information Tourist Information Office 103 Fuxingmennei Street Tel: (10) 60 11 12 20 or 65 13 08 28 (24-hour tourist hotline). Fax: (10) 60 12 01 30. |
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