Beijing is the capital of the People’s Republic of China: a first-tier city in the heart of China and a municipality run directly by the central government. As a center of politics, culture, international communication, and scientific and technological innovation, Beijing attracts talent from all over the country, displaying China’s development to the world. In Beijing, there is the world’s largest and best-preserved wooden-structured palace-shaped building, the Imperial Palace, formerly known as the Forbidden City, and the world’s largest city square –Tian’an Men Square. With its”bigness”, Beijing has left a deep impression on tourists at home and abroad.
Beijing is also a world-famous historical and cultural city. As one of the seven major ancient capitals in China, it was used as a capital for over 800 years. The long history of civilization has left Beijing with a very rich cultural heritage, such as the Imperial Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the site of Peking Man at Zhoukoudian, the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, etc., all of which have been inscribed on the UN’s World Heritage List. When planning the construction of Beijing as a modern metropolis, the importance of conserving cultural heritage has also been taken into account, leading to the preservation of traditional housing and architecture in the Gulou and Houhai Lake areas of the city.
It is true that Beijing, once an ancient imperial city, is now a genuine metropolis.
China is an ancient civilization with thousands of years of recorded history. Even in ancient times, a lot of cities of considerable size were established, especially the capitals of different dynasties. The most remarkable seven major ancient capitals comprise Beijing, Xian (in Shaanxi Province), Anyang (in Henan Province), Luoyang (in Henan Province), Kaifeng (in Henan Province), Nanjing (in Jiangsu Province) and Hangzhou (in Zhejiang Province). With a long history, rich accumulation of culture, distinctive architecture, and a large number of historical sites, they were the political, economic, and cultural centers in ancient China and are now windows for people to learn about ancient Chinese civilization.
Besides the seven major ancient capitals, there are a great number of historical and cultural cities in China and all of them have deep cultural roots. Many important historical events took place in these cities. By May 2018, 134 cities had been placed by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China on the list of National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities, including Tianjin, Shanghai, Chengde (in Hebei Province), Pingyao (in Shanxi Province), Datong (in Shanxi Province), Suzhou (in Jiangsu Province), Yangzhou (in Jiangsu Province), Shaoxing (in Zhejiang Province), Ouanzhou (in Fujian Province), Jingdezhen (in Jiangxi Province), Qufu (in Shandong Province), Wuhan (in Hubei Province), Jangling (in Hubei Province), Changsha(in Hunan Province), Chengdu (in Sichuan Province), Guangzhou (in Guangdong Province), Guilin (in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), Kunming (in Yunnan Province), Dali (in Yunnan Province), Dunhuang (in Gansu Province), and Lhasa (in Tibet Autonomous Region).
The Great Wall was the most magnificent military defense project in ancient China. It is also one of the eight wonders of the world.
When talking about the Great Wall, people generally take it for granted that its construction began during the reign of Qin Shi Huang (the first Emperor of Qin). This is probably due to the fact that many stories about the Great Wall are related to him. In fact, the construction of the Great Wall can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in the 7th century BC, 400 to 500 years earlier. The earliest sections of the Great Wall were built by some states along their borders to prevent other states from invasion. Later, the states of Qin, Yan, and Zhao also built sections of the Great Wall along the northern border to defend against aggression from the Xiongnu in the north. After Qin Shi Huang unified China, he ordered the sections of the Great Wall between the states to be pulled down and the sections of the Great Wall built by the states of Qin, Yan, and Zhao along their northern borders to be connected and extended, which formed the historic Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty. Because it is over 10,000 li (1 li = 0.5 km) in length, it is called 10,000-li Great Wall.
After the Qin Dynasty, more sections were added to the Great Wall. The most magnificent of them are the projects completed in the Han and Ming dynasties. If all the sections of the Great Wall were put together, their lengths would exceed 100,000li, though many of them have been damaged or destroyed. At present, the relics of the Great Wall, especially those of its beacon towers, can be found in 15 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, including Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and Beijing. Today, the Great Wall is a world-famous tourist attraction. A lot of visitors from over the world like visiting the Great Wall when they visit China. The most popular three sections are Shanhai Pass, Bada Ling Great Wall and Jiayu Pass. “He who does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man” is a quotation often repeated by visitors from home and abroad. It would be a pity if you came to China but didn’t make it to the Great Wall.
Formerly known as the Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace (as it is now called) was the home of emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties and lies at the center of Beijing’s central axis. Its construction began in 1406 and lasted 14 years until it was ready for use in1420. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it served as the home of 24 successive emperors. It is the largest and most complete ancient building complex in China. The construction as a whole is a sublime example of the fine traditions and unique art styles of ancient Chinese architecture, with its splendor and solemnity, fully deserving of its high position in architectural history. It is acclaimed as one of the “five greatest palaces” in the world the Imperial Palace in China, the Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in the UK, the White House in the U.S, and the Kremlin in Russia. It was listed by the UNESCO as one of the World Cultural Heritage sites in 1987.
With a total area of about 720,000 square meters, the Imperial Palace measures 961 meters long from north to south and 753 meters wide from east to west. At each of the four corners of the palace sits an impressively ornate turret. The walls of the palace are only interrupted by four gates: the front gate to the south is called Wumen (the Meridian Gate), the north gate Shenwumen (the Gate of Divine Might), the east gate Donghuamen (the East Glorious Gate) and the west gate Xihuamen (the West Glorious Gate).
The Imperial Palace consists of over 70 halls and over 9,000 rooms, with a floor area of about 150,000 square meters. The whole construction is symmetrically distributed along a straight central north-south axis. Major halls are located in the middle, and minor halls and rooms are arranged on both sides. The layout was designed to display the emperor’s status and majesty.
The layout also strictly follows the principle of “state in front, living space behind’, i.e. the front part is the quarter for state affairs, and the rear section is the living quarter. The former is called “the Outer Court’,” and the latter “the Inner Court’ The center of the Outer Court is composed of the three major halls the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. On the east side of the center is the Hall of Literary Glory, and on the west side is the Hall of Military Eminence, all laid out symmetrically. Of the three major halls, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the most important and it is regarded as the symbol of the feudal imperial power. Commonly called Jinluan Dian (the Golden Throne Hall), the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the grandest building in the Imperial Palace and the largest ancient wooden-structured hall in China. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was the site for grand royal ceremonies, including coronations, royal weddings, the appointment of empresses, the appointment of commanders prior to military expeditions, and celebrations of the three major festivals, the Spring Festival, the Winter Solstice and the Longevity Festival (the Emperor’s Birthday Celebration).
The Inner Court, also symmetrically laid out, is where the emperor deals with daily government affairs and where the emperor lives with his empress and imperial concubines. Different from the majesty and grandeur of the Outer Court, the Inner Court is full of the flavor of life. Centered around the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and Peace, and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, which are located at the central axis, the Inner Court is called “the rear three palaces. “On both sides of each palace are the eastern six palaces and the western six palaces for the empress and imperial concubines to live in, and the eastern five palaces and the western five palaces for princes to live in. In the Inner Court, there are also three gardens for members of the royal family.
Today, the immense Imperial Palace has become China’s greatest museum-the Palace Museum, which receives innumerable visitors every day.
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