Top 1: The Forbidden City(紫禁城/故宫)

Also known as the Imperial Palace, or the Palace Museum, the Forbidden City was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties carried out their administration and lived. Now it is open to the public as a palace museum where people can see the great traditional palace architecture, enjoy the treasures kept in the palace, and learn of the legends and anecdotes of the imperial family and the court.

The Forbidden City is the largest and best-preserved mass group of palaces in China. The palaces are fully walled on four sides by 10-meter-high walls which extend 760 meters (0.47 miles) from east to west and 960 meters (0.6 miles) from north to south. It has 720,000 square meters (72 hectares) of courtyards, pavilions, great halls, flourishing gardens and nearly 10,000 rooms. Built by tens of thousands of people, it took over 14 years and 32 million bricks to complete.

The entire complex sits on a north-south axis, with halls and houses symmetrically arranged on the side. It consists of three parts: the outer court where the emperor received high officials and administered state affairs; the inner court where the emperor, empress and concubines lived; and the private Imperial Garden for the imperial family to entertain and relax.

The Forbidden City became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Admission: 60 yuan (US$9.46)/person (summer);

40 yuan (US$6.31)/person (winter)

Top 2: Tian'anmen Square(天安门广场)

Tian'anmen Square measures 500 meters (0.31 miles) from east to west and 880 meters (0.55 miles) from north to south. Covering an area of 44 hectares, the square is big enough to hold half a million people. It is the largest city square in the world.

It was named after the Tian'anmen (literally, Gate of Heavenly Peace) which stands on its north side. Tian'anmen is the front gate of the Forbidden City, the gate leading to the supreme power in imperial times. The tower over the gate was used for grand ceremonies in the Ming (1638-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, for instance, issuing imperial edicts. In modern China, it is also a symbol of power. From the tower of Tian'anmen, on October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In the square stand the 38-meter high Monument to the People's Heroes completed in 1958, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong completed in 1977. The square lies between two ancient, massive gates: the Tian'anmen to the north and the Zhengyangmen, better known as Qianmen, to the south. Along the west side of the square is the Great Hall of the People. Along the east side is the National Museum of China.

Admission: Free

Top 3: The Great Wall(长城)

"You are not a true man if you have not been to the Great Wall." So the saying goes in China. The Great Wall, it is said, is one of the few man-made objects on earth visible from space.

From Shanhaiguan, northeast of Qinhuangdao City in Hebei Province on the east coast, the Great Wall rises and falls with the contours of the mountains spanning westwards, crossing nine provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions over 6,700 kilometers (4163.19 miles), to end at Jiayuguan, southwest of Jiayuguan City in Gansu Province.

The Great Wall was a daunting defensive project used in ancient times as early as in the 7th century B.C. For self-protection, rival kingdoms built walls around their territories, laying the foundation for the present Great Wall. When Emperor Qin Shihuang unified the whole country in 221 B.C., the existing walls were linked up and new ones added to counter attacks by the remnants of defeated states.

The Great Wall comprises walls, passes, watchtowers, castles and fortresses. The walls are made of large stone blocks. From east to west, the sections at Shanhaiguan, Jinshanling, Mutianyu, Badaling and Jiayuguan have become popular tourist attractions.

Most of The Great Wall that we see today dates back to the Ming Dynasty. The best-preserved and most imposing section is at Badaling in Beijing. This section, located at the head of the Juyongguan Pass, is made of large blue bricks and has an average height of 7.8 meters. Five to six horses can be ridden abreast along it. At regular intervals there is an arched door giving access to the top of the wall. The walls feature regular lookout holes, window embrasures and castellated crenels. Beacon towers for passing on military information also appear at fixed intervals. All of these emphasize the important role of the Great Wall in military defense.

As one of the most magnificent ancient defense works, the Great Wall was included in the World Cultural Heritage List in 1987.

Admission (Badaling Great Wall): 45 yuan (US$7.09)/person (summer);

40 yuan (US$6.3)/person (winter)

Top 4: The Summer Palace(颐和园)

The Summer Palace lies in the northwestern outskirts of Beijing, about 5 kilometers (3.11 miles) northwest of Beijing University. Occupying an area of 290 hectares, the park consists mainly of a hill, called Longevity Hill and a lake, Kunming Lake, with halls, towers, galleries, pavilions, bridges and islands dotted all over the land, hill and lake. Blending southern China-style garden architecture with northern China's natural landscapes, the gardens are probably the best of their kind in Chinese garden architecture.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace an "outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese Landscape Garden Design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole."

The Summer Palace began as the Garden of Clear Ripples in 1750. Artisans reproduced the Garden Architecture styles of various palaces in China. The palace complex suffered two major attacks - during the Anglo-French allied invasion of 1860, and during the Boxer Rebellion, in an attack by the eight allied powers in 1900. The garden survived and was rebuilt in 1886 and 1902. In 1888, it was given its current name. It served as a summer resort for the Empress Dowager Cixi, who diverted 30 million taels of silver, said to be originally designated for the Chinese navy, into the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace.

Admission: 30 yuan (US$4.73)/person (summer);

20 yuan (US$3.15)/person (winter)