Beijing
Hutong & Siheyuan — Old Beijing's Courtyard City
The hutong (胡同 — the narrow alleyways of old Beijing, originally laid out in a grid during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) when Kublai Khan's city planner Liu Bingzhong designed the capital Dadu) and the siheyuan (四合院 — the enclosed courtyard house with buildings on all four sides of a central courtyard, the standard form of residential architecture in Beijing for 700 years) together form the historic urban fabric of pre-1949 Beijing, now surviving mainly in the Dongcheng and Xicheng districts.
798 Art District & Contemporary Beijing — China's Creative Revolution
798 Art District (798艺术区 — the contemporary art district in the Chaoyang district of northeastern Beijing, in the former buildings of the state-owned 798 Joint Factory (the military electronics factory built with Soviet assistance in the 1950s in the Bauhaus-influenced East German industrial style (designed by East German architects during the 1950s Sino-Soviet friendship period)) — the most important contemporary art district in China and one of the most significant in Asia): the transformation of the factory complex (from 2002, when artists began renting the cheap industrial spaces) into a gallery, studio, and cultural venue complex has made 798 the symbol of China's contemporary art renaissance.
Forbidden City, Tiananmen & the Imperial Heart of Beijing
Beijing (北京 — the capital of the People's Republic of China, population approximately 21 million, founded as a major city in the 10th century (as the Liao dynasty capital 'Nanjing') and capital of China under the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties (1271-1912) — the cultural and political capital of the world's most populous nation): the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square form the symbolic and geographical centre of Beijing and one of the most historically significant urban complexes in the world.
Ming Tombs & the Sacred Way — Beijing's Imperial Necropolis
The Ming Tombs (明十三陵 — Míng Shísān Líng — 'Ming Thirteen Mausoleums', in the Changping district 50 km north of Beijing — the burial site of 13 of the 16 Ming dynasty emperors (1368-1644), UNESCO World Heritage since 2003 as part of the 'Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties'): the Ming Tombs complex (covering approximately 120 km² in a horseshoe-shaped valley enclosed by mountains on three sides — the ideal fengshui (风水 — Chinese geomancy) landscape for an imperial necropolis) contains the most extensive surviving collection of Ming dynasty funerary architecture in China.
Peking Duck, Jiaozi & the Imperial Gastronomy of Beijing
Beijing cuisine (北京菜 — the culinary tradition of China's northern capital, combining the roasted meat traditions of the northern Chinese and Mongolian nomadic heritage (Peking Duck, roasted lamb) with the elaborate court cuisine of the Qing dynasty Imperial Kitchen (御膳房) and the dumpling (饺子 — jiǎozi) culture of northern China): Peking Duck (北京烤鸭) is the most internationally celebrated Chinese dish and the defining food experience of a visit to Beijing.
Summer Palace & Yuanmingyuan — Beijing's Imperial Garden Legacy
The Summer Palace (颐和园 — the imperial garden and summer retreat on the northwestern outskirts of Beijing, covering 290 hectares of which approximately 220 hectares is the man-made Kunming Lake — UNESCO World Heritage since 1998) is the finest surviving example of Chinese imperial garden design and the most beautiful single site in Beijing.
Temple of Heaven — The Sacred Heart of Imperial China
Temple of Heaven (天坛 — Tiāntán — UNESCO World Heritage since 1998, in the Chongwen district of southern Beijing — the complex of religious buildings where the Ming and Qing emperors conducted the state ceremonies of Heaven worship from 1420 to 1914): the complex (covering 273 hectares, the largest surviving imperial altar complex in China) includes the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿 — the circular triple-eaved hall on a three-tiered marble platform, built without a single nail, the blue roof tiles representing Heaven — the most photographed building in Beijing other than the Forbidden City) and the Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛 — the open-air white marble three-tiered circular altar where the emperor performed the Heaven sacrifice).
Olympic Park — The Bird's Nest, Water Cube & Beijing 2008 Legacy
Beijing Olympic Park (北京奥林匹克公园 — the park in the Chaoyang district of northern Beijing that hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and was also the main venue cluster for the 2022 Winter Olympics — the only city in the world to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics): the National Stadium (国家体育场 — the 'Bird's Nest', designed by Herzog & de Meuron with artist Ai Weiwei as artistic consultant, capacity 91,000) and the National Aquatics Center (国家游泳中心 — the 'Water Cube' / 'Ice Cube', now used as a curling venue) are the architectural centrepieces.
The Great Wall — Mutianyu, Badaling & Jinshanling
The Great Wall of China (万里长城 — Wànlǐ Chángchéng — 'Ten Thousand Li Long Wall' — the series of fortification walls built across northern China over more than 2,000 years (from the 7th century BCE through the Ming dynasty (1368-1644)) to protect the Chinese states and empires against nomadic incursions from the north — UNESCO World Heritage since 1987, one of the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World): the most accessible and most visited sections of the Great Wall are within 70-100 km of Beijing.