This is a course that visits three World Heritage Sites in the city that you should definitely see when sightseeing in Beijing.
The Palace Museum
The Palace Museum, which was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1987, was formerly known as the Forbidden City. A total of 24 successive emperors lived within the palace from 1421, when the Ming Dynasty moved its capital from Nanjing to Beijing, until the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
It is also known as the setting for the film "The Last Emperor," which depicts the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and Jiro Asada's "Sora no Subaru," which was also made into a TV drama.
A Japanese guide will explain the highlights.
Keizan
A small hill located opposite the North Gate and Shenwu Gate of the Forbidden City.
Beijing is a symmetrical city, and Jingshan is located on its central axis.
Looking south from the top of the mountain, the yellow lapis lazuli roofs of the Forbidden City towers line up like waves.
Wanchun Pavilion, located on a mountain about 45 meters above sea level, offers a magnificent view of Beijing city.
During the Yuan dynasty, it was a small hill called "Green Mountain," but in the 14th year of the Yongle era during the Ming dynasty (1416), when the Forbidden City was being built, the soil left over from the demolition of the old Yuan dynasty city and the excavation of the Forbidden City's guard river was piled on top of it, and it was named Banzai Mountain. It was in the 12th year of the Shunzhi era during the Qing dynasty (1655) that it was renamed Jingshan.
On the eastern foot of the mountain stands the locust tree where Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself after fleeing the Forbidden City on March 19, 1644 (the 17th year of the Chongzhen era) when Li Zicheng (leader of the peasant uprising, 1606-1645?) led a peasant army into Beijing.
Summer Palace
It was registered as a World Heritage Site (cultural heritage) in 1998.
It had been used as an "Imperial Garden" since the Ming Dynasty, but was later converted into a villa by Emperor Qianlong to celebrate his mother's 60th birthday, and was renamed Qingyi Garden.
In 1860 (the 10th year of the Xianfeng era), it was destroyed by British and French troops during the Second Opium War, but from 1884 it was renovated to serve as a retirement home for Empress Dowager Cixi and renamed the Summer Palace.
The vast grounds include the artificial lake "Kunming Lake" and "Wanshou Mountain," a mountain made up of piled-up soil dug from the lake. The gardens, which are modeled after Hangzhou's West Lake and the gardens of the Jiangnan region, are lined with various palaces, including the "Le Shou Hall," the residence of Empress Dowager Cixi, the "Ren Shou Hall," where government affairs were conducted, and the "Yulan Hall," and atop Wanshou Mountain stands the "Foshan Pavilion," the symbol of the Summer Palace. The "Long Corridor," built along Kunming Lake, is 728 meters long, and its beams are decorated with 14,000 paintings of flowers, birds, the wind, the moon, history, and classics.
This tour will take you to the East Palace Gate, Jinju Hall, Gyokuran Hall, Tokuwaen Garden, Rakuju Hall, Long Corridor, Stone Floating Gate, and Buddhist Incense Pavilion (exterior).
Temple of Heaven Park
The site is vast, covering approximately 2.7 million square meters, and it is the largest surviving ritual structure in China.
This was the place where the emperor literally prayed to the heavens for a bountiful harvest.
It was built in the 18th year of the Yongle era during the Ming Dynasty (1420) and was originally called the Temple of Heaven and Earth. However, in the 9th year of the Jiajing era (1530), the system of dividing the shrine into four suburbs was established, and the Temple of the Moon, the Temple of the Sun, and the Temple of Earth were constructed. Therefore, it was renamed the Temple of Heaven, and was renovated during the Qianlong and Guangxu eras of the Qing Dynasty.
The overall structure is based on the idea that the heavens are round and the earth is square, with the north side being round and the south side being square.
The Temple of Heaven is a collective term for the Round Hill Altar and the Altar of Prayer and Grain.
There is a circular altar to the south and a prayer altar to the north, both located on the central axis, and the two are connected by a road called Danjie Bridge.
In 1998, it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
