Beijing Must-sees: Private Tour to the Forbidden City and Summer Palace

The Forbidden City (Palace Museum) was the main imperial palace used by the Ming and Qing dynasties. Originally built between 1406 and 1422 by the third Ming emperor Yongle, the palace complex houses 980 buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms. After the last emperor, Puyi was finally evicted in 1924, and the Palace Museum was established to watch over the Forbidden City. 

The Forbidden City is the most exceptional example of classical Chinese architecture in all of China and is a can’t miss attraction when visiting Beijing. 

The largest open public square in the world at 440,000 square meters, Tian’anmen, has long been seen as the political center of China. It was from the Gate of Heavenly Peace overlooking the square wherein 1949, and Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China.  
 

On the east side it is flanked by the National Museum of China (presently closed but due to re-open in late 2010), on the west side by the Great Hall of the People (home to the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference) to the south by the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, and to the north by the Gate of Heavenly Peace, the iconic symbol of New China. North the middle of the square stands the Monument to the People’s Heroes. 

The Summer Palace is China's largest and most preserved royal garden, one of the four famous gardens in China (the other three are Chengde Mountain Resort, Suzhou Humble Administrator's Garden, and Suzhou Lingering Garden). It is located in the Haidian District, Beijing, 15 kilometers from Beijing urban area, and covers an area of about 290 hectares. 

 
This royal park is a large-scale natural landscape garden built using Kunming Lake and Wanshoushan as the base, taking the West Lake scenery of Hangzhou as a model, and drawing on specific design techniques and artistic conceptions of Jiangnan gardens, is also the most intact royal palace royal garden and is known as Royal Garden Museum.