Beijing, as the capital of China, has a long history and splendid culture. At the same time, it has beautiful mountains, rivers, numerous sceneries, and four seasons! What's the best way to tour Beijing? This may be the question most first-time tourists want to ask.
One-day tour tips are as follows:
1. Visit the flag raising ceremony
Tian'anmen Square, located in the center of Beijing, is 880 meters long from north to south, 500 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of 440,000 square meters. It can hold a grand gathering of 1 million people. It is the largest city square in the world.
The national flag at Tian'anmen Square is the symbol of the People's Republic of China. The national flag is 5 meters long and 3.3 meters wide, and the height of the flagpole is 30 meters. The base of the flagpole is made of white marble. Tian'anmen Square holds a solemn ceremony of raising and lowering the national flag every day. In 1997, the national flag at Tian'anmen Square was rated as one of the first 100 patriotic educational bases by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.
The raising and lowering flag schedule in Tian'anmen Square is contingent on when the sun rises and sets on the Square, implying the prosperity of the great motherland.
Reminder: To get to know the exact time for the flag raising and lowering, please pay close attention to the relevant articles in the "authoritative release" column on the homepage of our website every day.
Note: it is necessary to carry a personal ID card, and it is strictly prohibited to carry dangerous goods.
Transportation:
Bus routes to view flag raising:
· take No. 1 night bus (direction: Sihui hub station to Laoshan bus station, first departure time: 23:20, last departure time: 04:50) to "Tiananmen East" or "Tiananmen West" station;
· take No. 2 night bus (direction: Wanyuan road to Qijiahuozi, first departure time: 23:20, last departure time: 04:50) and arrive at "Tiananmen East" or "Tiananmen Square East" station;
· take No.17 night bus (direction: from Beijing South Station to Beijing Station East, the first one: 23:20, last departure time: 04:50) arrive at "Tiananmen East" or "Tiananmen Square East" station, and then walk.
Bus routes to view flag lowering:
· take bus No.1, No.2, No.52, No.82, No.120, or sightseeing No.2 to "Tiananmen East" or "Tiananmen West" station;
· take Metro No.1 to "Tiananmen East" or "Tiananmen West" station, and then walk.
2. Tian'anmen Tower
The Tian'anmen Tower was built in the 15th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty (1417), formerly known as "chengtianmen". It has been called "Tian'anmen" since it was rebuilt in the 8th year of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty (1654).
Tian'anmen is composed of a platform, a tower whose base is made of white marble, a city building with 60 vermilion columns paved with gold bricks, and fourteen rooms throughout, all with symbolic meaning. The roof of the main hall has straight and horizontal ridges, with each containing glaze decorations in the shape of dragons at both ends, often referenced as the "dragon's kiss". The Dragon kiss is also known to be shaped like a moon, fish's, or a bird's tail. In ancient times, it was crafted as such with the intention of eliminating disasters. The windows on the tower are exquisitely made, on which there are golden lines outlining on the red tone, which is extraordinarily royal and noble.
How are tickets purchased?
Search and follow the "Tour Park" WeChat official account. The ticket can be bought in the section of "e-ticket" for Tian'anmen Tower. Visitors must make an appointment one day in advance. The daily appointment time is from 4:00 to 23:20. After the reservation is made, visitors must change their tickets at the ticket office of the South Gate of Zhongshan Park with a QR code on the date of reservation. Then, take valid ID card and ticket to Tian'anmen ticket office and visit. The adult fare is CNY ¥15, and the discount ticket is CNY ¥5. (Note: the Tian'anmen Tower has been closed since January 24, 2020, and the reopening will be notified separately; Tian'anmen Square will remain open as usual. For details, please follow the official website of Tian'anmen District Management Committee)
Tel: (8610)63095630
Transportation: Metro Line 1 to Tian'anmen East Station or Tian'anmen West Station.
3. The Forbidden City
The Imperial Palace, once called the Forbidden City, located in the center of Beijing, is the palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was built in 1420. It has lasted for 600 years and has experienced 24 emperors. It covers an area of more than 720,000 square meters, with more than 9,000 palaces, and a building area of 150,000 square meters. The Forbidden City is the largest and most complete wood structure palace complex in the world. It is the pride of the Chinese people and a precious cultural heritage of all mankind. Today, the Imperial Palace is not only a treasure house for collecting the treasures of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but also a fresh archive for recording the history of that timeframe.
The Forbidden City [Photo via tuchong.com]
The Palace Museum is a special museum. It was founded in 1925 on the basis of the Forbidden City. After 600 years of history, the palace of emperors is finally open to the public.
The lifeline of the Palace Museum, attached to the palaces in it, grows and extends along its cultural context. Entering the Palace Museum and going along the central axis, you can feel the majesty of the royal family from these ancient buildings; you can feel the elegant of ancient palace life through the exquisite furnishings and patterns in the palace; you can learn about the historical vicissitudes of the Chinese people a hundred years ago from the yellow curtain of Dong Nuan Ge.
There are 1,862,690 collections in the Palace Museum, which are very unique. In its nearly one hundred years of development, the Palace Museum not only carefully keeps the treasures left over from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but also greatly enriches the collection of cultural relics by means of state allocation, social collection and private donation, forming a series of ancient calligraphy, paintings, ancient artifacts, palace cultural relics, books and archives, with a total of more than 1.86 million precious collections. Strolling in the Cultural Relics Museum of the Palace Museum, or enjoying the cultural relics exhibition, you can further fully understand the great achievements of Chinese arts and crafts.
The main features of the Palace Museum Library are the books left over from the Qing Dynasty; in the audio-visual Museum, you can see what it was like and listen to the actual voices from that time; in the game hall, you are invited to explore it entirely and experience the mystery behind it all; in the creative hall, you can take the culture of the Palace Museum home.
Since the new century, the Palace Museum has carried out the largest ancient construction and maintenance project, which not only revitalizes the old Forbidden City, but also vividly shows you the precious traditional architectural arts. At present, the researchers of the Palace Museum are doing more in-depth and detailed research on ancient buildings, historical and cultural relics, Ming and Qing archives, books, etc. The establishment of a complete "imperial palace study" system is intended to reveal to you its profound wisdom and spirit.
The Palace Museum, China's largest museum of Chinese ancient culture and art, is inviting you to enter this mysterious land and the paradise of traditional Chinese culture with an increasingly open attitude.
Reminder:
The one-way tour from south to north is carried out in the Forbidden City: Wu Men (South Gate) is only used as the entrance for visitors, and all tourists should enter the Forbidden City from here; Shen Wu Men (North Gate) is only used as an exit for visitors and visitors can leave through Shen Wu Men and Dong Hua Men (East Gate) after visiting. In addition to legal holidays, it is closed all day on Monday.
Ticket Prices:
The peak season is from April 1st to October 31st every year, and the ticket is CNY ¥60/person
The off-season is from November 1st to March 31st each year, and the ticket price is CNY ¥40/person
Treasure Hall (i.e. enter Ning Shou Palace, including Opera Hall and Stone drum Hall): CNY ¥10/person
Clock Exhibition Hall (i.e. entering Feng Xian Hall) Admission: CNY ¥10/person
Ticket purchase: all tickets should be purchased online.
Please click to purchase tickets: https://gugong.ktmtech.cn
Address: No.4, Jingshanqian Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing
Transportation:
Public transport station near Wu Men:
"Tiananmen East" stop: bus No.1, 120, 2, 52, 59, 82, 99, Night 1, Night 2, Night 17, Sightseeing line 1, Sightseeing line 2 and No.1 metro line;
"Tiananmen West" stop: No.1, 5, 52, 99, Night 1, Sightseeing line 1, Sightseeing line 2, and No.1 metro line.
Tel: (8610)65132255, (8610)85007938, (8610)85007421
Note: according to the requirements of the COVID-19 infection prevention and control work, in order to avoid cross infection caused by crowd gathering, the Palace Museum will to be closed from January 25, 2020 (January 1st on the Chinese lunar calendar) and the resumption of operations will take place with further notice.
4. Qianmen Street
During the day, if you still have energy, you can go to Qianmen Street or Wangfujing Street. It is recommended to choose one for one night.
Qianmen Street was formed in 1436. It is located outside Zhengyang Gate, the main gate of the ancient Beijing. It was the only way for emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties to perform celestial worship at Xiannongtan.
Qianmen Street [Photo via tuchong.com]
With 600 years of history, it has become a characteristic symbol of Beijing architectural, merchant, guild hall, Liyuan, and folk cultures. Emperor Qianlong also had a poem to describe it. Thus, Qianmen Street is also called Yulu Tianjie (heavenly street for emperors). With 600 years of historical accumulation, Qianmen Street has become a characteristic historical block with a profound accumulation of architectural culture, merchant culture, guild hall culture, opera culture, and folk culture in Beijing.
In the middle of Ming Dynasty, due to the fast development of commerce, there were many shops on both sides of the street, which gradually became a commercial street. Its long history made it possible to have many time-honored shops, such as Dabei photo studio, Laozhengxing restaurant, Shengxifu hat shop, Liubiju sauce shop, Tongrentang drugstore, Ruifuxiang silk cloth shop, Changchun Tang drugstore, Neiliansheng shoe shop, Zhangyiyuan tea shop, and Yueshengzhai braised pork shop, and Duyichu sumai shop, which stand on both sides of the street.
Since 2005, it has been renovated. After restoration, the architectural style of the 1920s and 1930s has been restored, and the charm of the traditional architectural culture of old Beijing has reappeared. 76% of the buildings on both sides of the street have been built as they were and 24% have been slightly modified. With a total length of 840 meters, the street has restored the landmark buildings of "Wupai Archway" and "Baishiyu Road", and "Dangdang bus" has also reappeared in the world. In terms of the design of furniture and lighting, Beijing elements were adopted, such as street lamps in the shape of birdcages, rattle-drums, flower bowls in the shape of stone drums, Taiping cylinders, and Chinese-style long narrow tables matching the historical buildings on both sides, all of which adds to the beauty of Beijing.
On September 28, 2009, before the 60th birthday of the People's Republic of China, 103 businesses opened here, 79% of which are Chinese brands, 21% of which are internationally famous brands, including 21 old brand businesses. It realizes its goal of“combining the ancient and the new”. The old street is gradually entering a very prosperous new period.
According to the data, the time-honored food here in 2012 includes Pianyi workshop, Quanjude, Donglaishun, Zhangyiyuan, Yueshengzhai, Yitiaolong, Wuyutai Neifu cuisine, Wuyutai, Tianyuan sauce shop, Tianxingju, Qinglinchun, Duyichu, Lili restaurant (Sichuan cuisine), Kaorouji, Jiulongzhai, Jinfang snack, Wonton Hou, Hongluo food, Guotie Wang, Tianfu Hao, etc.
In 2008, the "Dangdang bus" reemerged in the streets. It is actually a tram, which is a historical memory of this city. It is called "Dangdang bus" because it is equipped with a copper bell, which will make a "Dangdang" sound. It appeared in 1921 and disappeared in 1956.
The original type was a large carriage, with the lower body brown and the upper body yellow. It depended on two things to run. One was the track, which is different from the track on the railway. It was embedded in the ground, where the wheels of the "Dangdang bus" were placed on this track as it moved forward. The second was the power equipment on its roof, which was connected to suspending wires arranged in the air to generate its power. Because the power equipment on the roof was like a girl's braids, people also called it "braids on the roof". When it moved, it still swayed left and right although it was comparatively steady. If there was a pedestrian or vehicle on the way, the driver would step on a pedal and the bell would make a "Dangdang" sound.
Today's "Dangdang bus" has been restored to its original structure. It can run for 16 kilometers in one charge, with more than 50,000 cycles of charge and discharge. The long "braids" on the roof are also removed. The remaining is just a decoration.
Here are two "Dangdang buses". Their names are "Qianmen No.1" and "Qianmen No.2". It takes less than 10 minutes to drive on an 840-meter long track. There are two stations, Wupai Archway and Zhushikou. The two separated tracks at Yueliangwan lead to the east and west respectively. They are specifically used for maintenance. The track adopts resin fixation technology.
The operation time is from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and the ticket price is CNY ¥50 each way.