Xicheng District

Forbidden City (Imperial Palaces)
Probably best known as the Forbidden City, the Imperial Palaces were built in the Yongle Reign Years (1406-1420) of the Ming Dynasty. The city, some 580 years old, today stands as the world's best-preserved imperial palace. Home to 24 successive emperors of China's Ming and Qing dynasties, it was designated a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO in 1987. The city covers a total area of 720,000sq.m and has floor space of 150,000sq.m with more than 9,000 rooms. Its four city gates are named Meridian (South), Godly Prowess (North), Eastern Elegance and Western Elegance. Surrounding the Forbidden City is a 10-meter-high city wall, while at its four corners are elegant, intricately designed watchtowers. It is a true city within a city.
Open: 9am-4pm
Admission: 30 yuan.
Tel: 6513-2255

Jingshan Park
The 23-hectare park was an imperial garden during the Ming and Qing dynasties. One of its knolls, known as Blue Hill during the earlier Yuan Dynasty, was later renamed Longevity Hill (subsequently Coal Hill) in the Ming period. In the 12th Xunzhi Reign Year of the Qing Dynasty (1655) it was renamed Jingshan. The central summit of Jingshan is its 108m peak, atop which the Spring Pavilion affords a superb panoramic view of the Forbidden City and other of Beijing's beautiful scenic attractions.
Open: 6.30am-8pm
Admission: 2 yuan
Tel: 6403-1102
Fax: 6403-3225

Beihai Park
North-west of the Forbidden City and Jingshan Park, Beihai Park represents a masterpiece of ancient Chinese horticulture. Dating back about 800 years, it incorporates the basic form of Chinese palace gardening at its zenith for the way it integrates Chinese temple gardening, scholars' horticultural gardening and the ancient, stunning artistic landscaping attainments found South of the Yangtze River.

Centering on Qionghua Island, Beihai Park has a row of temples and compounds set against its southern hills, extending to the Table Pavilion on a lakeside bank at the foot of a hill. A bridge links this architecture with Chengguang Hall in the park's Circular City. The hills� northern aspects contain serene pavilions and towers set between huge rocks, buildings which criss-cross each other in what, architecturally, seems a deliberately disorderly manner. At the foot of the hills is a corridor through an isle which links Clear Day Tower in the East and the Cool Air Pavilion in the West. Of delicate design, the corridor provides an intriguing zig-zag stroll for visitors. The northern bank of the park's beautiful lake offers two further important sites, the Five-Dragon Pavilion and Nine-Dragon Wall.
Open: 6.30am-8pm
Admission: 5 yuan
Tel: 6403-1102 Fax: 6403-3225

Miaoying Temple (White Pagoda)
Located on the northern side of Fuchengmennei Avenue, the temple is perhaps better known as the White Pagoda due to an inner temple of that shade. Built in 1271 during the Yuan Dynasty, this temple was burnt down in 1368, and rebuilt in 1433 during the Ming Dynasty. Most of the buildings to be seen today were built in the Qing Dynasty. The White Pagoda, which escaped the fiery fate of surrounding buildings, dates back more than 700 years. Including its foundations and a Buddhist temple, it is 51m in height. Construction of this typical Tibetan Buddhist pagoda was aided by a famous Nepalese craftsman of the time.

During a 1978 facelift, many cultural relics were discovered inside the small gilded pagoda which at the apex of the High Pagoda. Among them was a voluminous Tibetan Buddhism scripture, a carved wooden Goddess of Mercy, a decorated monk's robe, and Emperor Qianlong's inscription for the Pineapple Paranoid Scripture. All had originally been presented in tribute to the pagoda in the 18th reign year of Qing Emperor Qianlong. The temple's main building is now open to the public, but repairs to the western compound are currently taking place. Work is planned for completion by 2003, when it will reopen to visitors.
Open: 9am-5pm
Admission: 10 yuan
Tel: 6616-6099 Fax: 6613-3317

Lu Xun Museum No.19
Xi'ertiao, Fuchengmennei, was the home of Lu Xun from 1924-1926, and where this highly satirical writer produced best-selling works such as Volume of Canopy, Wild Grass, and Hesitation. His stature is reflected in the fact that in the years immediately following the birth of New China, his former residence was the only Beijing tourism site open to the public. Building of the museum of today was completed in 1956, and expanded during the 1990s. It contains a collection of more than 31,000 cultural and other items, including some 21,000 directly connected with Lu Xun. In addition, visitors can view many of his manuscripts, and private letters from notable friends of the author who were well known in their own right.
Open: 9am-4pm
Admission: 5 yuan
Tel: 6615-6549 Fax: 6616-2462

Residence of Prince Chun, and Former Residence of Madam Soong Qingling
These two buildings at the northern shore of the Back Lake are key national units for the protection of valuable cultural relics. The prince's residence was also once the home of Prince Regent Chuan Zaifeng, father of China's last Emperor, Pu Yi, of the Qing Dynasty. The Former Residence of Soong Qingling was originally the garden of the Residence of Prince Regent Chun. Madam Soong, former honorary president of the People's Republic of China, lived here from 1963 until her death. Photographs and more than 300 valuable cultural relics are on display here, most showcasing aspects of her extraordinary life.
Open: 9am-4pm
Admission: 8 yuan
Tel: 6404-4205

Former Residence of Guo Moruo
To be found on the Qianhai Xijie of Shichahai Lake, this site is a serene Beijing-style siheyuan compound. Guo was acknowledged as a great man of letters in modern China, and lived here from 1963 until his death in 1978. In their seasons, the compound's pines and cypresses are green and luxuriant. Also inside the courtyard is a screen wall on which Guo Moruo wrote a lyrical poem which reads:

"A hundred flowers blossom and a hundred birds sing, I treasure weeding through the withered to let emerge the budding."

The residence's layout is preserved as it was left in 1978. On display are Guo Moruo's works, including handwritten manuscripts, inks and brushes.
Open: 9am-5pm (closed Mondays)
Admission: 8 yuan
Tel: 6612-5894

Beijing Strange Stones Museum
Sited to the East of Deshengmen on a bank of the city moat, this museum was constructed in the shape of "mountains� bisected by large trees and green meadows, the latter featuring various unusual stones. The museum area totals almost 30,000sq.m., roughly one-sixth of which is taken up by a three-story main exhibition hall.

A huge collection of unusual, rarely-seen stones can be viewed in the museum, for example lingbi from Anhui Province; leihu from Jiangsu Province; and colored pebbles found in Nanjing City.
Open: 9am-4pm
Admission: 30 yuan
Tel: 6235-1489, 6204-8190