Top 10 Sceneries in China - No2

Forbidden City

Location: Beijing, China
Ticket price:
From Nov 1 to Mar 31: 40￥ ( 6 US$ Approximately)
From Apr 1 to Oct 31: 60￥ ( 9 US$ Approximately)

Official website:

http://www.beyondspaceandtime.org/FCBSTWeb/web/index.html#

Synopsis:
Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is the world’s largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall are 9,999 buildings.
The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Until 1924 when the last emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, 14 emperors of the Ming dynasty and 10 emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here (from 1420 to 1911).
Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries, it houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities. Listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions world wide.

Main scenic spots:
1. Meridian Gate
2. Five-Phoenix Towers
3. the Hall of Supreme Harmony
4. the Hall of Complete Harmony
5. the Hall of Preserving Harmony
6. the Palace of Heavenly Purity
7. the Hall of Union
8. the Palace of Earthly Tranquility

Legends & Stories:
It is believed that the Forbidden City (also called Purple Forbidden City, or Zi Jin Cheng with Chinese) got its name from astronomy folklore.
The ancient astronomers divided the constellations into groups and centered them around the North Star (named Ziwei Yuan in China). The constellation containing the North Star was called the Constellation of Heavenly God and star itself was called the purple palace. Because the emperor was supposedly the son of the heavenly gods, his central and dominant position would be further highlighted the use of the word purple in the name of his residence.
The last Qing emperor Puyi assumed the throne in 1908, at the age of three, His father carried him to the throne. At the start of the coronation, the sudden drum-beating and loud music caught the young emperor unprepared. He was so scared that he kept crying and shouting, “I don't want to stay here. I want to go home.” His father tried to soothe him, saying, “It'll all soon be finished. It'll all soon be finished.” The ministers present at the event considered this incident inauspicious. Coincidentally, the Qing dynasty collapsed three years later and there with concluded China’s feudal system that had lasted for more than 2,000 years.

Top 10 Sceneries in China - No1

The Great Wall

Location: North of China

Ticket Price:

at Badaling：45￥(7 US$ Approximately)

at Mutianyu：35￥(6 US$ Approximately)

at Juyongguan Pass：35￥(6 US$ Approximately)

Synopsis:

In the north of China, there lies a 4,161-mile-long ancient wall. Now well-known as the Great Wall of China, it starts at the Jiayuguan Pass of Gansu Province in the west and ends at the Shanhaiguan Pass of Hebei Province in the east.

There stand 14 major Passes along the Great Wall, the most impressive one is Juyongguan, about 50 kilometers northwest of Beijing.

The most imposing landscapes of the Great Wall are at Badaling and Mutianyu, not far from Beijing and both are open to visitors. The highest watch-tower at Badaling standing on a hill-top, is reached only after a steep climb, like "climbing a ladder to heaven".

As one of the Eight Wonders in the world, the Great Wall of China has become the symbol of the Chinese nation and its culture. In 1987, the Great Wall was listed by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site.

Legends & Stories:

There are lots of beautiful legends and stories about the Great Wall.

Meng Jiangnu's story is the most famous and widely spread of all the legends. The story happened during the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC). Meng Jiangnu's husband was caught by federal officials and sent to build the Great Wall. Meng Jiangnu heard nothing from him after his departure, so she set out to look for him. Unfortunately, by the time she reached the great wall, she discovered that her husband had already died. Hearing the bad news, she cried her heart out. Her howl caused the collapse of a part of the Great Wall. This story indicates that the Great Wall is the production of tens of thousands of Chinese commoners.

Another legend about the Jiayuguan Pass tells of a workman named Yi Kaizhan in the Ming Dynasty (1368BC-1644BC) who was proficient in arithmetic. He calculated that it would need 99,999 bricks to build the Jiayuguan Pass. The supervisor did not believe him and said if they miscalculated by even one brick, then all the workmen would be punished to do hard work for three years. After the completion of the project, one brick was left behind the Xiwong city gate. The supervisor was ready to punish them. However Yi Kaizhan said that the brick was put there by a supernatural being to fix the wall. A tiny move would cause the collapse of the wall. Therefore the brick was kept there and never moved. It can still be found there today on the tower of the Jiayuguan Pass.

There are also plenty of historical events about the Great Wall. A famous one happened during the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-711 BC).King You had a queen named Bao Si, who was very pretty. King You liked her very much, however Bao Si never smiled. An official gave a suggestion that setting the beacon tower of the Great Wall on fire would frighten the King's feudal lords, and might make the queen smile. King You liked the idea. The feudal lords were fooled and Bao Si smiled. Later enemies invaded capital, King You set the beacon tower on fire to ask for help. No feudal lord came to help because they had been fooled once before. The king was killed and Western Zhou Dynasty demise.