Beijing

Beijing, China.
Capital of the People's Republic of China
Second largest urban city (first is Shanghai)
 

Summer Palace Entrance

Summer Palace

Although, China had other capitals during it's long history. It was during the Ming dynasty that Beijing became the official capital in 1403 and the imperial family created the Forbidden City and many other historic buildings. Later in 1644, the Manchus invaded and created the Qing dynasty. This dynasty kept Beijing as its capital and also added to the construction of new buildings. However in 1900 China fell to foreign powers and remained in a constant situation of chaos until after the Chinese revolution in 1949 when Mao unified the country. He made China communist and renamed it the People's Republic of China since.

My first trip took one hour plus 3 line changes on the subway to the Summer Palace. It is located northwest area of Beijing and consists of huge hill called Longevity Hill with many structures and Kunming Lake. It was the palace where the imperial Qing dynasty handled their government affairs, spent their summer holiday, celebrated birthdays and relaxed. After I made it back to the hotel and continued to explore the main plaza and pedestrian areas.




The next full day was devoted to leaving the city. First, we visited Sacred Way. It is a part of the Ming tombs and is basically the road the emperor and officials walked up to the tombs. They called this the road to heaven. There were many sculptures and monuments along the road.

Then to the best part the Great Wall Mutianyu section- 70 Km from Beijing. This section was built along steep ridges and deep valleys. It was first built in the mid-6th century. Mutianyu Great Wall is older than the Badaling section of the Great Wall. In 1404, a pass was built in the wall. In 1569, the Mutianyu Great Wall was rebuilt and till today most parts of it are well preserved. The Mutianyu Great Wall has the largest construction scale and best quality among all sections of Great Wall. Built mainly with granite, the wall is 7-8.5 meters high and the top is 4-5 meters wide. Watchtowers are densely placed along this section of the Great Wall - 22 watchtowers on this 2,250-meter-long stretch. Both the outer and inner sections have holes, so that shots could be fired at the enemy on both sides - a feature very rare on other parts of the Great Wall.
The Mutianyu Pass consists of 3 watchtowers, one big in the center and two smaller on both sides. Besides, this section of Great Wall is surrounded by woodland and streams. The forest-coverage rate is over 90 percent. 

The last day was devoted to the Forbidden City. It was built in the 15th century and is located in the center of Beijing, the Imperial Palace is also known as the Forbidden City, It is just north of Tian'anmen square. This palace is the largest piece of ancient Chinese architectural structure still standing, where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing