Beijing Yuandadu Relics Park

Built on the basis of Yuan Dynasty City Wall, Yuandadu Relics Park is a key scenery project for Beijing Olympics Games. Divided into Haidian Section and Chaoyang Section, it is the largest band shaped park in Beijing with a total length of 9km. Giant group statues of 19 historical figures like Kuhan, Imperial Concubine and Italian traveler Marco Polo represent the Prosperity of Dadu in the form of earth city. Group statue Prosperity of Dadu has become the large size open air museum , it is the south of Olympic Park, and has become the natural barrier of refuge function. Located in the south of Olympic Park, Yuandadu City Wall Relics Park will, after its completion, be in harmony with Olympic Park with its style of green sites, history, human culture and high tech environmental protection and become the first sights for People's Olympic.

Chuan Di Xia Village

Located 90 KM away west of Beijing , Chuan Di Xia Village is one of China"s well preserved ancient villages with the history of over 500 years. The village is known for its 70 conserved traditional courtyard buildings from the Ming Dynasty. The village"s buildings were damaged during the Japanese occupation and during the Cultural Revolution, and remain in this damaged state, frozen in time. Remnants of occupation can still be found around the village. Now just over 30 people still live in the village. Architects calls this village the living museum of local Chinese housing. This area is great for hiking, offering a range of walks suitable for families as well we experience as well as very experienced walks.

Eastern Peak Temple

Located in the middle section of Chaoyangmenwai Dajie Avenue, Dongyuemiao Temple was founded in 1319A.D. (the sixth year of the reign of Yan You Period of the Yuan Dynasty). The temple was the largest temple set up by the Zhengyi Sect of Taoism in North China to worship Emperor Dongyue.

The original temple took up 60 thousand square meters embracing an architectural complex of seven identical, interconnected courtyards each leading to the next in a series and the central court is flanked by an east side yard and a west side yard. The entire layout features a complex of ancient buildings that incorporate the style of corridor-courtyard and one-story buildings which is a manifestation of architectural style for the three dynasties of Yuan, Ming and Qing.

Dongyuemiao Temple has been noted for "The three Manys", that is "Many Statues of Gods, Many Couplets and Many Stone Tablets". There are 76 groups of statues presenting a vivid picture of folk beliefs through various postures that dramatize social life and many different individual personalities.

The temple fairs at Dongyuemiao, being the earliest and the largest ones in the city, used to be the center of economical and cultural activities in East Beijing. The large number of stone tablets stored in the temple serves as important materials for further study into folk beliefs and social structure. An outstanding example is the "Taoist Stone Tablet" that bears the calligraphy of the famous calligrapher Zhao Mengfu from the Yuan Dynasty and is of high artistic and historic value.

Dongyuemiao Temple was designated by the State Council as a cultural site under state preservation in 1996 and it will open to the public in 1999.

Fragrant Hills

The feudal Emperors of ancient China had on lack of places to rest, play and retreat to. One more place on this long list of Imperial Recreational Grounds is the Fragrant Hills. Situated 28 kilometers northwest of Beijing, the Fragrant Hills are the tail end of the larger Western Hills range.

In the 12th century the area was a royal hunting park. Its focal point is Incense Burner Peak, 557 meters above sea level and named for the huge rock on top of the mountain that supposedly resembles an incense burner. You can climb to the top, or take a cable car up. As early as 1186 there was a temple here, and in 1745 the Garden of Tranquility and Pleasure (Jingyiyuan) was laid out around the hill.

One popular thing to do in Beijng is to go the Fragrant Hills in autumn, when the leaves of the trees on the mountains are a blaze of red and yellow. However, it is so crowded at this time that it is much more enjoyable to go in the off season.

Sleeping Buddha Temple
Located on the eastern side of the Fragrant Hills, this temple was built in the seventh century in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. It was enlarged in the Yuan Dynasty to accommodate a huge bronze Reclining Buddha, which was cast in the year 1320 using 25,000 kilograms of bronze.

The 5.2-meter-long Sleeping Buddha is said to portray the nirvana of Sakyamuni, founder of Buddhism. Surrounding it are 12 smaller sculptures, depicting the mouming expressions of his 12 disciples. Also contained in the temple are Buddhist scriptures and other statues.

Grand View Garden

Located in Xuanwu District southwest of Beijing, the present Grand View Garden is a replica of Daguanyuan the magnificent garden of an imperial family described in the well-known Chinese novel "A Dream of Red Mansions" by a Qing Dynasty writer Cao Xueqin (17l5-l763). The site used to be a park dotted with willows and pines. In l984, the China Television Film Production Centre decided to use it as the setting to shoot garden scenes for the TV series "A Dream of Red Mansions". The Xuanwu District Government then suggested that the temporary garden be turned into a permanent scenic spot. Thus the plan to build the Grand View Garden faithful to the writer's description has come into being.

The project started in June 1984 and is expected to be completed in 1988. The Grand View Garden covers 110,000 square metres and includes more than 40 scenic spots illustrating the main plots in the garden. The stonework covers an area of more than 8,000 square metres and the lakes and canals 24,000 sq.m. The construction work is divided into three stages, of which the first stage in the southern part of the garden cost about 4 million yuan (about l.4 million US dollars) and was opened to the public in early 1985 . It includes a front gate, four courtyards, Qinfang Bridge, Dicui Pavilion, winding paths and other scenic sites. Every effort has been made to be accurate in reproduction of Daguanyuan. Horticulturists, architects, archaeologists and experts on the history of the famous novel were asked to pay much attention to the layout of the whole garden, the location of trees, the arrangement of the rockery, and the decoration of the main characters' homes.

Yihongyuan (Happy Red Court), located west of Qinfang Bridge, used to be the residence of Jia Baoyu, hero of the novel.

Xiaoxiangguan (Bamboo Lodge), a small and simple courtyard decorated in light-green, with slim bamboos grown in the courtyard, housed the weak and unlucky Lin Daiyu, heroine of the novel.

Jia Baoyu's sister-in-law, widow Li Wan lived in an eastern courtyard dalled Daoxiangcun (Paddy-Sweet Cottage).

Two stone lions, carved by the veteran artisans from Quyang County in Hebei Province, stand as guards at the front and the gate is flanked by sloping walls. Inside the garden more than 2,000 flowers and trees have been planted, 500 square metres of lawn laid out and hundreds of potted plants arranged.

The famous Taihu Lake stones have been used here to pile the rockery in different artistic posture

Guozijian

Beijing Guozijian or the Imperial College was once a stage for the Emperor, who frequently came here to read Confucian classics to thousands of students. The remaining College building is located in a particularly interesting district of old Beijing.

The area around the college is now one of the most colourful and picturesque roads in the city. Beautifully painted archways decorate the gate and the road itself. The Confucious temple, the second biggest temple in China, can be found down a small alley opposite the magnificent Lama Temple.

The arrangement of the road and the buildings in this area are in keeping with ancient Chinese customs which dictate that the Temple should be on the left and the school or college on the right. This area was one of the most important humanist centers in the country and, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the College was the highest educational organ of the Chinese Empire. Today, the College is the only remaining architectural building of the ancient state-run central university.

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