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It was designed eight centuries ago as a hot-season getaway for the royal and twice suffered extensively at the hands of Western troops but it retains its considerable beauty today.
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Considered the center of Beijing and the heart of the Chinese nation, Tian'anmen Square covers 44 hectares (102 acres) and is regarded as the world's largest public area, capable of holding 500,000 people.
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With adjacent Tian'anmen Square, this has been Beijing's centerpiece attraction since more than 200,000 laborers built it for the third Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle in the early 1400s.
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Tiantan Park is an icon of such enduring value that it shorthands the entire city. It originally functioned as a vast stage for solemn rites and rituals.
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Despite the common assumption, the Great Wall can not be seen from the moon; it can, however, be viewed from astronauts in passing orbiters.
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The 13 tombs of the Ming Dynasty emperors are living monuments, with all except the one opened the public still containing the remians of their emperor.
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It is centered on Qionghua (Gem) Island, where the white pagoda that symbolizes the park sits beautifully amid trees, pavilions, platforms and delicate design houses.
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A newly built park, opened in 1986 on the site of the Imperial Vegetable Garden, Grand View is a reproduction of the classic family garden described in one of China's most famous novels.
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Also called Meishan (Coal Hill), this promontory overlooking the Forbidden City was created from the excavations of the imperial moat in 1420.
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The Imperial Observatory has been here, atop the Jianguomen gate in the city wall, since 1442, even if it is now surrounded by expressways, skyscrapers, and the city's busiest avenue.
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