Beijing Attractions

Beijing is packed with sights, ancient and modern, and it is China's most popular city for tourists, the majority of them from China itself. If your time is quite short, it is wise to book a day tour of the highlights through your hotel's tour desk, since getting around on your own, even by taxi or on the subway, can be time-consuming at first. There are 2,666 temples, 551 cultural relics, and 189 cultural sites under national protection in Beijing now . Beijing's most famous attraction, the Great Wall, is quite a way out of the city proper. The Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, the Western Hills, and several other sites require excursions from Beijing. The many treasures of the city itself - its temples, ancient houses, museums, and parks - are described in this section, with a special focus on Beijing's four top attractions: Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace.