Beijing section of the Grand Canal
The Grand Canal is a vast waterway system in China, running from Beijing in the north to Zhejiang province in the east. It stretches for nearly 3,200 kilometers and passes through several provinces and municipalities across the country.
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the canal used to be a major transportation artery running through ancient China, with a history dating back some 2,500 years.
The Beijing section of the Grand Canal is 82-km long, passing through six districts — Changping, Haidian, Xicheng, Dongcheng, Chaoyang and Tongzhou. Tongzhou has long been regarded as the northern jewel of this great waterway. Over the centuries, it played a vital role in supporting the construction and prosperity of the capital.
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven is the largest existing complex of ancient sacrificial buildings in China. Built in 1420 during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it is a masterpiece of royal sacrificial buildings complexes and one of the best symbolic illustrations of Chinese cosmology.
Located in southern Beijing, the Temple of Heaven has been one of the most sacred places for more than five centuries, serving as sacrificial buildings for the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) emperors, and is the largest in the city, among several royal altars to Heaven, Earth, the Sun, the Moon and other deities or symbolic forces of Nature.
In 1998, it was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. Today, the Temple of Heaven is not only a cherished leisure spot for citizens and tourists but an important site for studying ancient Chinese architecture, rituals and culture.
Summer Palace
The Summer Palace was an imperial garden constructed in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong in a bid to celebrate his mother's birthday. It was largely destroyed in the war of 1860 and restored, on its original foundations, in 1886. It served four generations of the imperial family, and is now a popular resort for people from all walks of life.
The site in Beijing is an outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design, incorporating the works of man and nature in a harmonious manner. In 1998, the Summer Palace was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
