THE BEST Sights and Attractions in Beijing
From iconic landmarks to hidden gems — explore the best sights and attractions in Beijing with curated picks, local tips, and free itinerary planning tools.
🏛️ Sights and Attractions in Beijing
- Great Wall of China — The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. The first walls date to the 7th century BC; t
- Forbidden City — The Forbidden City is the imperial palace complex in the center of the Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming and Qing dynasty Emperors, and the center of political power in China for over 500 years from 1420 to 1924. The palace is now administered by th
- Tiananmen Square — Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square is a city square in the city centre of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City imperial palace complex. The square holds the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. They were inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2024 as a part of the Beijing Central Axis.
- Temple of Heaven — The Temple of Heaven is a complex of imperial religious Confucian buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and then later restored by the Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest and other seasonal rites. The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world's great civilizations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries."
- Summer Palace — The Summer Palace or Yihe Garden was built by the Chinese Empress Cixi as a pavilion for quiet retreat. It is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. An imperial garden during the Qing dynasty, it includes Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake, and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres (1.1 sq mi), three-quarters of which is water.
- Beihai Park — Beihai Park is a public park and former imperial garden immediately northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.
- Hutongs — Hutong are a type of narrow street or alley commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, especially Beijing.
- Lama Temple — The Yonghe Temple is a temple and monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism located on 12 Yonghegong Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China. The building and artwork of the temple is a combination of Han Chinese and Tibetan styles. This building is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in China proper. The current abbot is Lama Hu Xuefeng. Yonghe Temple was the highest Buddhist temple in the country during the middle and late Qing dynasty.
- Jingshan Park — Jingshan Park is an imperial park covering 23 hectares immediately north of the Forbidden City in the Imperial City area of Beijing, China. The focal point is the artificial hill Jingshan. Formerly a private imperial garden attached to the grounds of the Forbidden City, the grounds were opened to the public in 1928. The park was formally established in 1949. It is listed as a Key State Park and is administratively part of Xicheng District in downtown Beijing.
- Olympic Park — The Beijing Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Olympics, featuring the Bird's Nest Stadium, the Water Cube, and the Ling Long Pagoda, now a public park and entertainment district.
- 798 Art District — 798 Art Zone, or Dashanzi Art District, is a complex of 50-year-old decommissioned military factory buildings boasting a unique architectural style that houses a thriving artistic community in Dashanzi, Chaoyang District, Beijing. The area is often called the 798 Art District or Factory 798 although technically, Factory #798 is only one of several structures inside the complex formerly known as 718 Joint Factory. The buildings are within alleys number 2 and 4 on Jiǔxiānqiáo Lù (酒仙桥路), south of the Dàshānziqiáo flyover (大山子桥). The area is anchored by the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, the largest and most visited venue in the area. In recent years, it has been the main venue for the annual Beijing Queer Film Festival and Beijing Design Week.
- Ming Tombs — is an ancient or historic site with archaeological remains and cultural heritage.
- National Museum of China — The National Museum of China is an art and history museum located on the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The National Museum of China has a total construction area of about 200,000 square meters, a collection of more than 1.4 million items, and 48 exhibition halls. It is the museum with the largest single building area in the world and the museum with the richest collection of Chinese cultural relics. It is a level-1 public welfare institution funded by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
- Drum Tower — The Drum Tower of Beijing, or Gulou, is situated at the northern end of the central axis of the Inner City to the north of Di'anmen Street. Originally built for musical reasons, it was later used to announce the time and is now a tourist attraction.
- Bell Tower — The Drum Tower of Beijing, or Gulou, is situated at the northern end of the central axis of the Inner City to the north of Di'anmen Street. Originally built for musical reasons, it was later used to announce the time and is now a tourist attraction.
- Prince Gong's Mansion — Prince Gong's Mansion, also known as the Prince Kung Mansion, is a museum and tourist attraction located in Xicheng District, Beijing, just north of the Shichahai Lake. It consists of large siheyuan-style mansions and gardens. Originally constructed for Heshen, an official renowned for being the most corrupt official in Chinese history, it was later renamed after Prince Gong, a Manchu prince and influential statesman of the late Qing dynasty, who inhabited the mansion in the late 19th century.
- Capital Museum — The Capital Museum is a public municipal art museum in Beijing, China. It opened in 1981 and moved into its present building in 2006, which houses a large collection of ancient porcelain, bronze, calligraphy, painting, jade, sculpture, and Buddhist statues from imperial China as well as other Asian cultures
- World Park — Beijing World Park is a theme park that attempts to give visitors the chance to see the world without having to leave Beijing. The park covers 46.7 hectares and is located in the southwestern Fengtai District of Beijing. It is about 17 km from Tiananmen, the City center, and 40 km from the Capital International Airport. The park opened in 1993 and is estimated to receive 1.5 million visitors annually.
- Red Gate Gallery — Red Gate Gallery, founded by Brian Wallace, is Beijing's first private contemporary art gallery. Located in the historic Southeast Corner Tower at Dongbianmen, one of the few Ming dynasty towers to survive the destruction of the city wall, the gallery presents articles of China's contemporary artistic expression in conjunction with the traditional. The gallery is open for business all days of the week and charges no admission fee.
- National Zoological Museum of China — The National Zoological Museum of China is located on the campus of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing in the Chaoyang District. It is the largest zoological museum in China. It has three floors of exhibits that surround a central exhibit area that contains a large hangin
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