1.
Simplified Chinese characters
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Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
2.
Traditional Chinese characters
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Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
3.
Beijing
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Beijing is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China and the worlds third most populous city proper. It is also one of the worlds most populous capital cities, the city, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by population after Shanghai and is the nations political, cultural. It is home to the headquarters of most of Chinas largest state-owned companies, and is a hub for the national highway, expressway, railway. The citys history dates back three millennia, as the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political centre of the country for much of the past eight centuries. Beijing was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium A. D, the city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. Its art treasures and universities have made it centre of culture, encyclopædia Britannica notes that few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China. Siheyuans, the traditional housing style, and hutongs, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing. The city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, many of Beijings 91 universities consistently rank among the best in China, of which Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked in the top 60 universities in the world. Beijings Zhongguancun area is known as Chinas Silicon Valley and Chinas center of innovation. According to the 2016 InterNations Expat Insider Survey, Beijing ranked first in Asia in the subcategory Personal Finance Index, expats live primarily in urban districts such as Dongcheng and Chaoyang in the east, or in suburban districts such as Shunyi. Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had other names. The name Beijing, which means Northern Capital, was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming Dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing, the English spelling is based on the pinyin romanisation of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin. Those dialects preserve the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 京 as kjaeng, the single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京, which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing is BJ, the earliest traces of human habitation in the Beijing municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived more recently, about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality, including in Wangfujing, the first walled city in Beijing was Ji, a city from the 11th to 7th century BC
4.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
5.
Beijing Ancient Observatory
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The Beijing Ancient Observatory is a pretelescopic observatory located in Beijing, China. The observatory was built in 1442 during the Ming dynasty, and it received major reorganization and many new, more accurate instruments from Europeans in 1644. As one of the oldest observatories in the world, the Beijing Ancient Observatory grounds cover an area of 10,000 square meters. The observatory itself is located on a 40 by 40 wide meter on a 15 meter tall brick tower, several of the bronze astronomical instruments are on the platform, and other armillary spheres, sundials, and other instruments are located nearby at ground level. It is operated as a museum in affiliation with the Beijing Planetarium and it was said that in 1227, the Jin dynasty transferred the ancient astronomical instruments from Kaifeng to the first observatory in Beijing. In 1279, the succeeding Mongols under Kublai Khan built a new observatory just north of the current observatory. Kublai Khan made his chief adviser of hydraulics, mathematics and astronomy, Guo Shoujing, director of the observatory in 1283 after the death of Guos friend, after the Mongols, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding Ming Emperor, transferred the instruments from Beijing to Nanjing. When the Yongle Emperor came to power, he had craftsmen make copies of the instruments in Nanjing, the current observatory was completed in 1442. It assisted the Ming and Qing astronomers in their reports for the Emperor. As he was considered the Son of Heaven, the movements of the bodies were an important affair. Another function was to assist sea navigation, with Muslim scholars recruited for their expertise in the area, in the mid-17th century, after winning an astronomy contest, the Jesuit Ferdinand Verbiest was awarded complete charge of the astronomy observatory by the emperor. In 1673, he supervised the rebuilding of some of the instruments and he and other Jesuits helped to further develop the observations of the stars and the planets. During the later stages of the Qing dynasty, members of the Eight-Nation Alliance stole some of the instruments, however, as World War I drew to a close, the instruments were returned to China by the French and German governments. An early seismograph of Zhang Hengs design used to be housed at the observatory, some of the instruments from the Ming era are now at Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing. The Beijing Railway Station and the Ming City Wall Relics Park are a short walk to the south
6.
Beijing Liao and Jin City Wall Museum
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The Beijing Liao and Jin Dynasty City Wall Museum is a museum built over the ruins of Beijings Liao and Jin dynasty city wall. The museum is located in Yulin neighborhood, near Youanmenwai in Fengtai District of southwestern Beijing, during the 12th century, the city of Beijing was centered to the southwest of the present day metropolis in southern Xicheng District and Fengtai District. The city known as Zhongdu was the capital of the Jin Dynasty, in 1990, the remnants of a water gate in the city wall of Zhongdu was discovered at the site. The museum built over the gate opened in 1995. The museums display space of 2,500 square meter is primarily underground, the renmants of the water gate, a wood and stone structure, is 43.4 m in length with a tunnel that is 21 m long and 7.7 m wide. The museum also showcases Liao and Jin era artifacts unearthed in, admission to the museum is free. The nearest city bus stops are Youanmenwai,500 m to the east, history of Beijing Beijing city fortifications List of museums in China Ming City Wall Relics Park
7.
Beijing Museum of Natural History
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The Beijing Museum of Natural History is located at 126 Tian Qiao Nan Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing,100050, and is the most popular natural history museum in China. It was founded in 1951 as the National Central Museum of Natural History, the BMNH is the first large scale natural history museum created in China. The BMNH has total floor space of 24,000 square meters, of which 8,000 square meters are available for display, the major display area is the Tian Jiabing Building. The collections include paleontology, ornithology, mammals and invertebrates, and include a collection of dinosaur fossils. The BMNH also engages in significant scientific research in these areas, List of museums in China List of natural history museums Official website
8.
Capital Museum
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The Capital Museum is an art museum in Beijing, China. The Beijing Capital Museum today contains over 200,000 cultural relics in its collection, only a small fraction of the collection is exhibited, and a significant percentage of the museums art collection comprises artifacts unearthed in Beijing. The Capital Museum was established in 1981 with a collection of some 83,000 objects, list of museums in China Capital Museum website Capital Museum Gets Modern Look in Beijing This Month
9.
China Railway Museum
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The China Railway Museum is a Chinese museum preserving locomotives built in the Peoples Republic of China since 1949. The museum offers an exhibition space of 16500m² and 8 exhibition tracks. The museum is located in Chaoyang District of Beijing City, some 15 km northeast of downtown Beijing and it also has a branch in downtown Beijing, in the former Zhengyangmen East Railway Station near Tiananmen Square. In 2008, the Beijing Railway Museum was opened in 2008 in the former Zhengyangmen East Railway Station of the Jingfeng Railway, in October 2010, Beijing Railway Museum was renamed to the Zhengyangmen Branch of the China Railway Museum. List of museums in China Ministry of Railways of the Peoples Republic of China
10.
China Science and Technology Museum
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The China Science and Technology Museum is a major science museum established in 1988 in Beijing, China. The museum contains two buildings, Hall I & II. The Hall I was completed in 1988, and the museum exhibits ancient Chinese technology such as devices, the compass, gunpowder, bronze smelting and casting. Hall II, completed in 2000, displays topics concerning astronautics, energy, communications, material science and mechanics, information technology, life science, the museum is accessible within walking distance to the southeast of South Gate of Forest Park Station of Beijing Subway. List of museums in China Official website
11.
Chinese Aviation Museum
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The Chinese Aviation Museum, sometimes referred to as the China Aviation Museum and the Datangshan Aviation Museum, is an aviation museum close to Beijing in China. The museum was first opened to the public on 11 November 1989, the museum is located 40 km north of Beijing city. Part of the museum is located inside a cave in the side of Datangshan Mountain, the cavern was originally part of the tunnels and underground bunker system of Shahezhen Airbase, and is 586 metres long by 11 metres high by 40 metres wide. The road leading to the museum is also used as a taxiway between the base and bunker system. The entrance fee is RMB ¥50 for the displays, and some smaller exhibits inside the museum, such as the Orbis flying hospital airplane or Maos airplane. However, the displays are free to enter. There are more than 200 aircraft on display, with an emphasis on the Korean War, the collection includes many unique machines, including a 1903 Wright Flyer replica
12.
Cultural Palace of Nationalities
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The Cultural Palace of Nationalities is located in Beijings Xicheng District, on West Changan Avenue. It was built in September 1959 and is one of the Ten Great Buildings and it was registered as the first of 55 museums in the city. It consists of a museum, gallery, library, art institute, theater, guesthouse, as a cultural institution, it is under the administration of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of the Peoples Republic of China. The buildings architecture was praised when it was unveiled. The building has an area of 32,000 m², the main building for the tower has 13 floors. East and west sides are surrounded by wings, stretching north central exhibition hall, house body are white, with peacock blue glazed tile roof eaves decoration. Central Hall 2 entrance letter solidarity, progress, the mission of the Culture Palace is to serve and educate the various minority cultures of the country. The collection of National Culture Palace includes literature and science text books of more than 60 million copies, the basic display for the Chinese Traditional Culture Series exhibition, and theater performances will be from time to time various national art. In recent years, the community also to provide space to other types of exhibitions organized. National Palace Museum in 1979 has been changed to the National Palace Hall, the museums collection of cultural relics protection of ethnic minorities in China, of promoting minority cultures
13.
Dabaotai Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum
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The two tombs are over 2,000 years old and were discovered in 1974. Also discovered in the vicinity are remnants of a residence from the Jin dynasty, the museum opened in 1983 and has been closed since 2012 for renovation and expansion. Liu Jian was the Prince of Guangyang who ruled the Guangyang State and his father Liu Dan, also a prince, was stripped of his royal title for conspiring against the Han Emperor Zhao and the State of Guangyang was demoted to a prefecture. During the reign of Han Emperor Xuan, the royal status was restored. He ruled for about 29 years from 73 BC to 45 BC and his descendants continued to rule as princes of Guangyang until Wang Mang overthrew the Western Han dynasty. Liu Jian’s tomb was discovered in 1974 by workers of the East is Red Petrochemical Refinery who were digging inside two mounds of earth in Dabaotai village to bury storage tanks and they discovered charcoal, plaster and ancient coins. Chinese archaeologists called to inspect the site discovered Tomb No.1, the tomb had been looted and burned in antiquity. Charred bone remnants indicates that the entombed was a male of about 45–55 years old, archaeologists identified the tomb as belonging to Liu Jian using artifacts and historical records. Based on the scale of the tomb, they determined that the buried was a royal prince, inscription on a piece of lacquerware found inside the tomb indicates that the ware was made in the 24th year of the reign of the owner. According to historical records, only four princes in the Han dynasty ruled the Beijing region for as long as 24 years, based on coins found in the tomb that date to 118 BC, two of the princes who died prior to that date were eliminated. The tomb of a prince, Liu Dan who was Liu Jian’s father had already been found in Shijingshan District. 2, belonging to Liu Jian’s wife, was excavated, during the excavation, archaeologists also found Jin-era artifacts including a brick well between the two tombs and remnants of a residence. Jin dynasty records indicate that Dabaotai, located about 15 km south of the Jin capital Zhongdu, was a retreat for Consort Li of the Emperor Zhangzong. The name Dabaotai, which means Grand Terrace for Convalescence, is derived from Consort Lis visits, Jin-era coins found at the site dates to Zhangzongs reign. Based on these facts, archaeologists believe the Jin residence and well may have part of Consort Lis country retreat. The Jin-era artifacts were incorporated into the mausoleum, which opened on December 1,1983 and was designated a major historical landmark of Beijing in 1995. The museum covered an area of 18,000 m2, the museum closed in July 2012 due to flooding damage from torrential rains and briefly reopened in September before closing for extensive repairs. Due to drainage problems, the museum was flooded in the summer of 2013 and 2015, in October 2015, the Beijing Cultural Bureau announced extensive expansion for the museum
14.
Geological Museum of China
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The Geological Museum of China, built in 1916, is a geological museum, boasting 200 thousand specimens. This museum is located in the Xisi area of Beijing and opened on October 1,1959 and it is the earliest geological scientific museum of China. At present, the Geological Museum of China has more than 100,000 geological specimens, list of museums in China China Geological Survey Bureau China University of Geosciences Geological Museum of China information in English Geological Museum of China home page
15.
Guanfu Museum
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Guanfu Museum is an art museum in Beijing, China. It was founded by Ma Weidu in 18th 1997, and it was among the first private museums in the Peoples Republic of China, the Guanfu Museum is a non-profit organization and it has a qualification of Independent Legal Entity. The museum was moved to Nanxiaojie Street and again to Dashanzi in 2004. The Ceramics Hall exhibits are masterpieces of antique Chinese ceramics that span more than 1,000 years, within this exhibition, the categories include celadon, monochrome glaze and polychrome glaze, tri-colored pottery, under glaze cobalt-blue and under glaze copper red, famille-rose. China has a history of furniture-making. Furniture from the Ming and Qing periods in many ways represent the culmination of Chinese furniture-making skills, Ming furniture features simple, smooth, and flowing lines, and plain and elegant ornamentation, fully bringing out the special qualities of frame-structure furniture. Because of the level of development of Chinese furniture in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Furniture gallery in Guanfu Museum contains 6 smaller exhibiting halls, on the second floor there is an exhibition of finely carved doors and window frames. There is also new addition of a collection of oil paintings, a adult ticket to this museum costs 50 RMB. Half-price ticket,25 RMB per person includes seniors, students, teachers, soldiers, the disabled and the staff in museum and heritage institution. Free admission for children under 1. 2m in height, group tour and English tour are available everyday. Making reservation is recommended at least one day in advance, with prior appointment, the museum offers authentication with a price on objects such as ceramics and wood furniture. With extra fees, certificate can be provided on objects authenticated, the museum does not offer financial appraisal or evaluation. The Guanfu Museum now has branches in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Xiamen, with branches planned in Haerbin, List of museums in China List of museums in Beijing
16.
Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
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Military Museum of the Chinese Peoples Revolution or China Peoples Revolution Military Museum is located in Haidian District, Beijing, China. The museum displays restored military equipment from the history of the Peoples Liberation Army, up to and including modern-day machinery. One of the Ten Great Buildings erected in celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, construction of the museum began in October 1958. The museums four floors include ten halls, the largest of which is the Hall of Weapons, in addition, the Hall of Weapons displays equipment from Chinas space program, such as satellites and a two-seat orbital capsule. With two exceptions, the halls are largely historical exhibits, combining plaster sculptures, maps, paintings, artifacts, movies. The museum is accessible by Line 1 of the Beijing Subway at the Military Museum Station and city bus routes 1,4,21,65,68,205,308,320,337,617,728, and 802. List of museums in China http, //www. china. org. cn/english/kuaixun/73574. htm
17.
National Art Museum of China
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The National Art Museum of China is located at 1 Wusi Ave, Dongcheng District, Beijing, Peoples Republic of China. It is one of the largest art museums in China, and is funded by the Ministry of Culture, the construction of the museum started in 1958, and concluded in 1962. It has a land area of 30,000 square metres. The museum was renovated between May 2004 and January 2005, and has given an additional area of 5,375 square metres. Its permanent collection includes ancient and contemporary Chinese artworks as well as notable Western artworks. It has a building of four stories, the first three being display areas. There are 21 exhibition halls at the museum, the museum will be built in collaboration with the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design. List of museums in China Official website of NAMOC
18.
National Museum of China
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The National Museum of China flanks the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The museums mission is to educate about the arts and history of China and it is directed by the Ministry of Culture of the Peoples Republic of China. It is one of the largest museums in the world, the building was completed in 1959 as one of the Ten Great Buildings celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. It complements the opposing Great Hall of the People that was built at the same time, the structure sits on 6.5 hectares and has a frontal length of 313 metres, a height of four stories totaling 40 metres, and a width of 149 metres. The front displays eleven square pillars at its center and it has a total floor space of nearly 200,000 m2 to display. The renovations were designed by the German firm Gerkan, Marg, the museum, covering Chinese history from the Yuanmou Man of 1. However Yves Carcelle, Chairman and Chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton Malletier defended the exhibition by stating, I think before money, theres history,157 years of creativity and craftsmanship
19.
Forbidden City
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The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty—the years 1420 to 1912. It is located in the center of Beijing, China, and it served as the home of emperors and their households as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government for almost 500 years. Constructed from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings, the palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, part of the museums former collection is now located in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Both museums descend from the institution, but were split after the Chinese Civil War. With over 14.6 million annual visitors, the Palace Museum is the most visited art museum in the world, the common English name, the Forbidden City, is a translation of the Chinese name Zijin Cheng. The name Zijin Cheng first formally appeared in 1576, another English name of similar origin is Forbidden Palace. The name Zijin Cheng is a name with significance on many levels, zi, or Purple, refers to the North Star, which in ancient China was called the Ziwei Star, and in traditional Chinese astrology was the heavenly abode of the Celestial Emperor. The surrounding celestial region, the Ziwei Enclosure, was the realm of the Celestial Emperor, the Forbidden City, as the residence of the terrestrial emperor, was its earthly counterpart. Jin, or Forbidden, referred to the fact no one could enter or leave the palace without the emperors permission. Today, the site is most commonly known in Chinese as Gùgōng, the museum which is based in these buildings is known as the Palace Museum. When Hongwu Emperors son Zhu Di became the Yongle Emperor, he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, construction lasted 14 years and required more than a million workers. Material used include whole logs of precious Phoebe zhennan wood found in the jungles of south-western China, the floors of major halls were paved with golden bricks, specially baked paving bricks from Suzhou. From 1420 to 1644, the Forbidden City was the seat of the Ming dynasty, in April 1644, it was captured by rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, who proclaimed himself emperor of the Shun dynasty. He soon fled before the armies of former Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu forces. By October, the Manchus had achieved supremacy in northern China, the Qing rulers changed the names on some of the principal buildings, to emphasise Harmony rather than Supremacy, made the name plates bilingual, and introduced Shamanist elements to the palace. In 1860, during the Second Opium War, Anglo-French forces took control of the Forbidden City, in 1900 Empress Dowager Cixi fled from the Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion, leaving it to be occupied by forces of the treaty powers until the following year. Under an agreement with the new Republic of China government, Puyi remained in the Inner Court, while the Outer Court was given over to public use, the Palace Museum was then established in the Forbidden City in 1925
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Paleozoological Museum of China
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The Paleozoological Museum of China is a museum in Beijing, China. The same building houses the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. The museum containing exhibition halls with specimens aimed at the public, the main building consists of three floors, with the first floor devoted primarily to fishes and amphibians, with reptiles and birds represented on the second floor, and mammals on the third floor. Many of the specimens on display are of extinct animals examples of which have only been found within the boundaries of modern-day China. It also has examples of the evolutionary precursors to birds, including specimens of Confuciusornis and Microraptor. An adjoining gallery to the main floor looks at the origins of man, including information on Peking Man and it also contains a number of stone tools used by paleolithic peoples, and examples of other, later fossil skulls from early homonids who once inhabited the area. The collection is significant as it contains many holotypes that were used in scientific journals to describe a number of ancient extinct lines of creatures unique to China. List of museums in China The Paleozoological Museum of China The Paleozoological Museum of China Paleozoological Museum of China USA Today Forget Indiana Jones, Dinosaur hunter Xu digs it
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Prince Kung's Mansion
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The Prince Gong Mansion or Prince Kung Mansion is a museum and tourist attraction located in Xicheng District, Beijing, just north of the Shichahai Lake. It consists of large mansions and gardens. The Prince Gong Mansion was constructed in 1777 during the Qing dynasty for Heshen, in 1799, the Jiaqing Emperor, successor to the Qianlong Emperor, accused Heshen of corruption and had him executed and his property confiscated. The mansion was given to Prince Qing, the 17th and youngest son of the Qianlong Emperor, in 1851, the Xianfeng Emperor gave the mansion to his sixth brother, Prince Gong, whom the mansion is named after. In 1921, after the collapse of the Qing dynasty, Prince Gongs grandson, Puwei, the Benedictines invested significant resources into restoring the dilapidated mansion for use as a university. It was then known as Furen Catholic University until the priests were evicted from China in 1951, during the Cultural Revolution, the mansion was used by the Beijing Air Conditioning Factory until it experienced a revival in the 1980s. In 1982, it was declared a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in Beijing, since November 1996, the buildings and the gardens have become a tourist attraction. Renovation works on the mansion were completed on 24 August 2008 during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The Prince Gong Mansion is one of the most exquisite and best-preserved imperial mansions in Beijing and used to house several families, the mansion buildings are located in the south, the gardens are in the north. The buildings include several siheyuan courtyards, two buildings, and a grand Beijing opera house. Some of the courtyards house permanent exhibitions on the history of the mansion as well as art exhibitions. In addition to the mansion, there is a 28, 000-square-metre garden, with 20 scenic spots, pavilions, artificial hills including rock originating from the Lake Tai in Jiangsu, and ponds. There is a stele which bears the Chinese character 福 based on the calligraphy of the Kangxi Emperor. Since 2005, the mansion has undergone renovation worth 200 million yuan, in November 2006, restoration works started on the buildings. The mansion reopened as the Prince Gong Mansion on 24 August 2008 and it showcases the lives of Manchu nobles and aspects of the Qing dynasty. The Beijing opera house inside the mansion not only stages Beijing operas, in August 2008, the kunqu performance group from the Jiangsu Kunqu House performed at the Prince Gong Mansion for a week with their programme Floating Dreams. Prince Gong Mansion Official website Geographic data related to Prince Gong Mansion on OpenStreetMap
22.
Tuancheng Fortress
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The Tuancheng Fortress or Tuan Cheng Fortress is a historic 18th-century fortress located near the Fragrant Hills in the Haidian District of Beijing, China. Today, the fortress is a museum and is also known as the Tuancheng Exhibition Hall. The fortress was built in the 14th year of the Qianlong Emperors reign, Tuancheng was a castellated military training compound used by the Qing to train, inspect, and honor their troops. The site is well preserved. Today, the fortress frequently holds large-scale martial arts events and attracts fans from all around China, the Tuang Cheng Fortress at Beijing government website
23.
Western Zhou Yan State Capital Museum
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The Western Zhou Yan State Capital Museum is an archaeological museum in southwestern Beijing Municipality at the site of the capital of the ancient State of Yan during the Western Zhou Dynasty. The site is located in Dongjialin Village, just north of Liulihe Township, in Fangshan District,43 km south of Beijings city centre. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, over 3,000 years ago, the settlement at Liulihe, as the site is also known, served as the capital of the Yan. The discovery of the site in 1962 is considered to be one of the 100 major archaeological discoveries in China during the 20th century, artifacts from the site including engraved bronze ware and chariots provide the earliest archaeological evidence of urban settlement in Beijing Municipality. The museum at the site, operated by the municipal government, the ancient city at Liulihe measured 3.5 km from east to west and 1.5 km from north to south, covering an area of 5.25 km2. Some 829 m of the wall and 300 m of the west wall still remain and are visible in the farmland around the museum. A moat 2 m deep surrounded the city, a palace was located inside the city just north of city center with sacrificial sites and living quarters nearby. Cemeteries located outside the city to the southeast are divided by the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway into Sectors I, sector I, from the Shang Dynasty, is smaller in size and contains remnants of human and dog sacrifice. Sector II, possibly from the Zhou Dynasty, contains greater numbers of large- and medium-sized tombs of nobles with chariots, in all,200 tombs have been found, with the largest containing 42 sacrificed horses. Several thousand ceramic, ivory, jade, bone, lacquer and bronze artifacts including bronze ceremonial vessels, the most historically-significant discovery at Liulihe is M1193, the tomb of the Marquis of Yan, which yielded two inscribed bronzes. These two bronzes memorialize exchanges between Yan, the state, and the Kings of the Zhou Dynasty. The inscriptions on the bronzes describe investiture ceremony and the enfeoffment of the vassal State of Yan to the Duke of Shao, among those receiving titles were the rulers of the States of Ji and Yan, two states located in modern-day Beijing Municipality. The capital of Yan at Liulihe has been established with certainty through archaeological evidence at Liulihe. The capital of Ji, is believed to be located further north, the artifiacts unearthed Liulihe demonstrate the Yan capitals wealth and political importance during the Western Zhou Dynasty dating back to at least the 11th century B. C. During the subsequent Eastern around in the 7th century B. C, the ancient city at Liulihe was discovered in 1962. Four major archaeological excavation were undertaken from 1972 to the early 1990s, the site was named a National Level Cultural Heritage Protection Site in 1988 and planning for a museum began in 1990. The Western Zhou Dynasty Yan Capital Site Museum opened on August 21,1995, in 1996, a tortoise shell was discovered in H108 with the initials of King Cheng of Zhou, the second ruler of the Zhou Dynasty who ruled from 1042 to 1020 B. C. This artifact has been used in the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project, the museum complex occupies 18,000 m2 of land at the Liulihe Site
24.
Ten Great Buildings
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The Ten Great Buildings are ten public buildings that were built in Beijing in 1959, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. They were part of an architecture and urbanism initiative of the Great Leap Forward, most of the buildings were completed in a time span of ten months. Two subsequent art campaigns for these buildings were conducted in 1961, the buildings were designed by members of the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, working with the Beijing Planning Bureau and the Ministry of Construction. The Ten Great Buildings transformed Beijing and these monumental new buildings, constructed on a grand scale and providing modern facilities and services, helped to establish and celebrate an image of Mao Zedongs New China. C. and Moscow. The National Museum of China – Originally known as the China Revolutionary History Museum, the Cultural Palace of Nationalities – Located on the north side of West Changan Avenue, the Nationalities Cultural Palace is a medium rise building incorporating traditional Chinese design elements. It has won a number of awards as an example of modern Chinese-style design, the Beijing Railway Station – Designed by architects Yang Tingbao and Chen Dengao, Beijing Railway Station was the largest modern passenger rail terminal in China at the time of construction. Since its construction, it has served as the terminal of a number of domestic and international services, including services to Moscow, Ulan Bator and it replaced the old Beijing Railway Station at Qianmen, near Tiananmen Square, which had been built in 1901. The Workers Stadium – The multi-purpose stadium was last renovated in 2004 and it hosted the first National Games of the Peoples Republic of China. The National Agriculture Exhibition Hall – Premier Zhou Enlai oversaw the planning of this building and it was first used in 1959 to house the Tenth Anniversary National Agricultural Achievements Exhibition. The Diaoyutai State Guesthouse – The hotel and guesthouse complex is built on the site of an 800-year-old garden dating back to the Jin Dynasty, the building incorporates design elements of traditional Chinese garden architecture. Formerly reserved for visiting dignitaries and Party officials, the guesthouse is now open to the public The Minzu Hotel – The Minzu Hotel is located on West Changan Avenue and it has hosted numerous foreign delegations, and is often used for press conferences. The Overseas Chinese Hotel – The original Overseas Chinese Hotel was demolished in the 1990s, a new building on the same site is now part of the Prime Hotel chain. The Chinese Peoples Revolutionary Military Museum – Located on Fuxing Road in Beijing, displays focus on wars of the twentieth century, especially the Chinese Civil War, but also cover other ancient and modern warfare and weapons. The main building is seven storeys high at the centre, and is topped by a central steeple, two four-storey side wings extend on either side. The art program to coincide with the construction of the Ten Great Buildings was vast in its scope—including some 345 paintings, murals, many were done in the modes of traditional Chinese painting, and others were in the socialist realist style. The Great Hall of the People received much of the commissions attention, one aspect of the decoration in the Great Hall was the correlation of rooms for representatives from each province with regional art by artists from these respective provinces. The artistic centerpiece of this building was a painting by Fu Baoshi. Entitled This Land So Rich in Beauty, it is one of the largest paintings on paper in China, the painting was based on the poem Ode to Snow by Mao Zedong, and includes a transcription of Maos calligraphy of the title
25.
Beijing railway station
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Beijing Railway Station, or simply Beijing Station, is a passenger railway station in Dongcheng District, Beijing. The Beijing Railway Station opened in 1959 and was the largest train station in China at the time, though superseded by the larger Beijing West and Beijing South Stations, this station remains the only one located inside the old walled city. Trains entering and leaving the station pass by the Dongbianmen corner tower, with gilded eaves and soaring clock towers, the architecture of the railway blends traditional Chinese and socialist realist influence. Some international lines, also depart from this station, the Beijing Subways first line used to terminate at Beijing Railway Station from 1969 to 1981. The subway station is now a stop on Line 2, more than 30 Beijing bus and Beijing trolleybus routes stop at or near the railway station. In late October 1958, according to the early 1950 Beijing municipal governments construction and planning records, the stations design progressed rapidly and by early December the same year, the whole design proposal was completed. On December 10, the proposal was approved by the Central Committee. In determining the design proposal, Zhou Enlai proposed that turrets be built on each of the two wings of the main building and this suggestion was adopted.82 million yuan. Soviet Union experts were hired to give technical guidance at the construction sites. In just over seven months, the project was completed on September 10,1959, chairman Mao Zedong wrote the calligraphic characters in the station sign. The Beijing Railway Station was one of the largest construction projects in mainland China during that time modern facilities. At the time of completion, the station has a twelve tracks, installed on the roof of the Station House were two marble clock faces and every morning from 7am to 9pm the bell sounded punctually and The East Is Red song is played out. The four sets of escalators were replaced during the 1980 and again during 1990, in 1988, the Shanghai Electric Clock Factory installed Chinas first large screen display system in the Beijing Railway Station Square. Since June 18,2003, the Beijing Railway Station began an expansion of two new sites, comprising an area of 20,513 square meters and includes a large parcel luggage line. Renovations included the removal of the canopy, alterations to the steel arch station pole. Beijing Subway, Line 2 stops at the Beijing Railway Station, bus route numbers in bold denotes bus terminus. South Korea, Seoul Station Japan, Tokyo Station Ueno Station Official site Beijing Train Schedule
26.
Diaoyutai State Guesthouse
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The Diaoyutai State Guesthouse is a historic hotel and guesthouse complex in Beijing, China. It includes a number of buildings, houses and gardens, the hotel complex is mentioned as one of the Ten Great Buildings, a list of landmarks constructed in 1959 for the 10th anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China. The guesthouse is located in Beijings Haidian District, to the west of Sanlihe Road, the guesthouse is used to house visiting foreign dignitaries and provincial government officials. During the Cultural Revolution, it was used as the office of the Central Cultural Revolution Group, since then, the guesthouse has also been open to paying customers. The name Diaoyutai means angling platform, and is so named because the site was a fishing spot of Emperor Zhangzong of Jin. It is not related to the Diaoyutai Islands, list of hotels in Beijing Beijing portal Grand Hotel The Diaoyutai State Guesthouse
27.
Great Hall of the People
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The Great Hall of the People is a state building located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the Peoples Republic of China government and it is also the meeting place of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which, since 1982, has occurred once every five years. The Great Hall of the People is also an attraction in the city frequented by tourists visiting the capital. The Great Hall of the People was designed by Zhang Bo and it was opened in September 1959, and was one of the Ten Great Constructions completed for the 10th Anniversary of the PRC. The structure was built in 10 months by construction workers and volunteers, the building covers 171,801 square metres of floor space, it is 356 metres in length and 206.5 metres in width. The centre peaks at 46.5 metres, at the eaves of the main gate hangs the national emblem of the PRC. The Great Hall of the People consists of three sections, the central section principally includes the Great Auditorium, the Main Auditorium, the Congress Hall, the Central Hall, the Golden Hall and other main halls. The northern section consists of the State Banquet Hall, the Salute State Guest Hall, the North Hall, the East Hall, the southern part is the office building of the Standing Committee of the Peoples Congress of China. Each province, special administrative region, autonomous region of China has its own hall in the Great Hall, such as Beijing Hall, Hong Kong Hall, each hall has the unique characteristics of the province and is furnished according to the local style. The Great Auditorium, with volume of 90,000 cubic metres, government leaders make their speeches, and the representatives do much of their business. It can simultaneously seat 10,000 representatives, the ceiling is decorated with a galaxy of lights, with a large red star is at the centre of the ceiling, and a pattern of a water waves nearby represents the people. Its facilities equipped with audio-visual and other systems adaptable to a variety of meeting types and sizes, a simultaneous interpretation system is also provided with a language booth. The State Banquet Hall with an area of 7,000 square meters can entertain 7,000 guests, the Great Hall of the People is the political hub of Beijing and home of the National Peoples Congress. The Communist Party of China also holds its National Congress every five years in the Great Hall of the People, the Great Hall has been used for meetings with foreign dignitaries on state or working visits, as well as large anniversary celebrations attended by top leaders. The Great Hall has been used for the funerals and memorial services for several top leaders. Former President Liu Shaoqi was purged during the Cultural Revolution and died in the ensuing struggles and he was posthumously rehabilitated after 1978. In 1982 Liu was granted a funeral held at the Great Hall. The Great Hall also held the funerals of General Secretary Hu Yaobang in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square protests, mao Zedongs funeral ceremony was not held at the Great Hall, it was held at Tiananmen Square
28.
Minzu Hotel
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The Minzu Hotel, located in Xicheng District, Beijing, Peoples Republic of China, is one of the Ten Great Buildings of Beijing. The Minzu Hotel is located on West Changan Avenue, having opening in 1959, it has hosted numerous foreign delegations, and is often used for press conferences. The 10-storey hotel has 507 rooms, list of hotels in Beijing Beijing portal Minzu Hotel
29.
Workers' Stadium
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The Workers Stadium, often called Gongti or Gong Ti, is a multi-purpose stadium in the Chaoyang District of north-eastern Beijing, China. It is mostly used for football matches, the stadium was built in 1959 and was last renovated in 2004. It has a capacity of 66,161 and covers a area of 350,000 square meters. It is one of the Ten Great Buildings constructed in 1959 for the 10th anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China, the stadium was the main venue for the 1990 Asian Games, where the opening and closing ceremonies were held. Some high attendance matches of the Beijing Guoan football club are held at the stadium. The stadium holds claim to the fastest womens 1500 m time ever recorded of 3,50.46, the fastest womens 3000 m of 8,06.11 and these world records still stand today and are arguably the stadiums biggest claim to fame. The next year, the stadium was demolished and renovated as part of Chinas bid for the 2000 Olympic Games - a bid which ultimately failed. The stadium continued to be a mainstay of Beijing sport into the 21st century, for the 2008 Summer Olympics it hosted the football quarter-finals and semi-finals, and the womens gold medal final. The stadium was scheduled to host the first ever NFL game played in China, however, the China Bowl was canceled in April 2007. The stadium was the host for the 2009 Barclays Asia Trophy on 29 July and 31 July 2009, featuring Beijing Guoan, the areas north, east and west of the stadium are popular nightlife destinations. The xi men offers a strip of nightclubs, the Workers Indoor Arena is located to the west of the stadium. Contrary to the usual sports occasions at the stadium, global superstar Mariah Carey began her sold-out five-show tour at the Workers Stadium, the stadium hosted FC Bayern Munichs pre-season China Tour of 2012, during which the Bundesliga club had a friendly match with Beijing Guoan. Linkin Park played The Hunting Party Tour at July 26,2015 in front of 60，000 audience. August 61999, A-mei - Mei Li 99 October 132002, Glay - Glay One Love In Beijing, audience,35,000 August 282004, Faye Wong - No Faye
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Olympic Green
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The Olympic Green is an Olympic Park in Chaoyang District, Beijing, China constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since then, the streets around the park have been used for a street race of the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011. It will again serve as an Olympic Park when Beijing hosts the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Beijing National Stadium or Birds Nest is the centerpiece of this project. It hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, and football finals of the Games, the stadium has room for 91,000 spectators, but the capacity was reduced to 80,000 after the Olympics. It will be the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Beijing National Aquatics Center or Water Cube hosted the swimming, diving and synchronized swimming events. It has a capacity of 6,000 and is located next to the National Stadium and it will be the site of the curling competitions during the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Beijing National Indoor Stadium or the Fan held the handball, artistic gymnastics, with a capacity of 19,000, it was the main indoor arena used during the Games. The National Speed Skating Oval is an arena that will be built for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Olympic Green Convention Center, also called the National Convention Center, held fencing and, the shooting and fencing disciplines of the modern pentathlon. It is also used as the International Broadcast Center and the Main Press Center, the center covers an area of 270,000 square meters. The Olympic Green Hockey Field hosted the hockey events. It covered an area of 11.87 hectares with 2 courts and it was deconstructed after the Games. The Olympic Green Archery Field hosted the archery events, the field occupied 9.22 hectares and had a capacity of 5,000. It was dismantled after the Games, the Olympic Green Tennis Center hosted the tennis and wheelchair tennis events. It has 16 courts and a capacity of 17,400 and it opened on October 1,2007. The park itself, outside of the venues constructed on the Olympic Green and these included the racewalk events, where the loops occurred on the Olympic Green, and the portion of the marathons just outside the National Stadium. The Beijing Olympic Village housed all the participating athletes, the village is made up of 22 6-story buildings and 20 9-story buildings. The Digital Beijing Building served during the Games as the data center and it was the only building on the Green at the time of the Olympics that was not an event venue. Since then it has converted into a museum of the Digital Olympics
31.
Beijing National Stadium
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Beijing National Stadium, officially the National Stadium, also known as the Birds Nest, is a stadium in Beijing. The stadium was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the stadium is currently mostly unused, after having been unsuccessfully suggested as the permanent headquarters of the Beijing football team. The Birds Nest sometimes has some extra temporary large screens installed at the stands of the stadium, located at the Olympic Green, the stadium cost US$428 million. The design was awarded to a submission from the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in April 2003 after a process that included 13 final submissions. The design, which originated from the study of Chinese ceramics, implemented steel beams in order to hide supports for the retractable roof, leading Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was the artistic consultant on the project. The retractable roof was removed from the design after inspiring the stadiums most recognizable aspect. Ground was broken on 24 December 2003 and the stadium opened on 28 June 2008. A shopping mall and a hotel are planned to be constructed to use of the stadium. In 2001, before Beijing had been awarded the games, the city held a bidding process to select the best arena design, multiple requirements including the ability for post-Olympics use, a retractable roof, and low maintenance costs, were required of each design. The entry list was narrowed to thirteen final designs, the model was approved as the top design by a professional panel and later exhibited to the public. Once again, it was selected as the top design, the nest scheme design became official in April 2003. During their first meeting in 2003, at Basel, the decided to do something unlike Herzog. China wanted to have something new for this very important stadium, in an effort to design a stadium that was porous while also being a collective building, a public vessel, the team studied Chinese ceramics. This line of thought brought the team to the nest scheme, the stadium consists of two independent structures, standing 50 feet apart, a red concrete seating bowl and the outer steel frame around it. Twenty-four trussed columns encase the inner bowl, each one weighing 1,000 tons, despite the random appearance of the Stadium, each half is nearly symmetrical. After a collapse of a roof at the Charles de Gaulle Airport and it was decided to eliminate the retractable roof, the original inspiration for the nest design, as well as 9,000 seats from the design. The removal of the elements helped to bring the project under the construction budget of $290 million. With the removal of the roof, the building was lightened, which helped it stand up to seismic activity, however
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Beijing National Aquatics Center
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Despite its nickname, the building is not an actual cube, but a cuboid. Ground was broken on December 24,2003, and the Center was completed and handed over for use on January 28,2008, swimmers at the Water Cube broke 25 world records during the 2008 Olympics. After the 2008 Olympics, the building underwent a 200 million Yuan revamp to turn half of its interior into a water park, the building officially reopened on August 8,2010. It will host the curling at the 2022 Winter Olympics, in July 2003, the Water Cube design was chosen from 10 proposals in an international architectural competition for the aquatic center project. The Water Cube was specially designed and built by a made up of PTW Architects, Arup international engineering group, CSCEC. Contextually the cube symbolises earth whilst the circle represents heaven, hence symbolically the water cube references Chinese symbolic architecture. Comprising a steel frame, it is the largest ETFE clad structure in the world with over 100,000 m² of ETFE pillows that are only 0.2 mm in total thickness. The ETFE cladding, supplied and installed by the firm Vector Foiltec, allows more light and heat penetration than traditional glass, the outer wall is based on the Weaire–Phelan structure, a structure devised from the natural pattern of bubbles in soap lather. Using the Weaire–Phelan geometry, the Water Cubes exterior cladding is made of 4,000 ETFE bubbles, some as large as 9.14 metres across, the structure had a capacity of 17,000 during the games that is being reduced to 7,000. It also has a land surface of 65,000 square meters. Although called the Water Cube, the center is really a rectangular box 178 metres square and 31 metres high. The buildings popularity has spawned many copycat structures throughout China, for example, there is one-to-one copy of the facade near the ferry terminal in Macau – the Casino Oceanus by Paul Steelman. The Aquatics Center hosted the swimming, diving and synchronized swimming events during the Olympics, Water polo was originally planned to be hosted in the venue but was moved to the Ying Tung Natatorium. Many people believed the Water Cube to be the fastest Olympic pool in the world and it is 1.314 meters deeper than most Olympic pools. The London 2012 Aquatics Centre is the depth, which leads many to believe the London pool is as fast as, if not faster than. Up to a limit, beyond which swimmers will lose their sense of vision, deeper pools allow the waves to dissipate to the bottom. The pool also has perforated gutters on both sides to absorb the waves. After the Olympics, the Water Cube was opened to the public on days of the week beginning in June 2009
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Beijing National Indoor Stadium
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The National Indoor Stadium, is an indoor arena that is located in the Olympic Green in Beijing, China. The stadium was constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics and it is nicknamed the Fan due to its design resembling a traditional Chinese folding fan. It is also used for basketball, the stadium opened its doors on November 26,2007 for the artistic Gymnastics test event. At the 2008 Olympics, it hosted the Artistic Gymnastics, Trampolining, after the Olympics, the stadium is used for sports competition, cultural and entertaining purposes, and serves as a multi-functional exercise center for local residents. The stadium has a capacity of 18,000 people, media related to Beijing National Indoor Stadium at Wikimedia Commons Beijing National Indoor Stadium Official Website
34.
China National Convention Center
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The China National Convention Center, previously known as the Olympic Green Convention Center is a convention center located in the Olympic Green in Beijing. It was designed by RMJM and was used for the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. It covers an area of 270,000 square metres and it was one of the four principal buildings of the Olympic Green. The International Broadcast Centre was located in this venue, the nearest subway station is Olympic Green on line 8 Official website
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Digital Beijing Building
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The Digital Beijing Building is located northwest of the intersection of Beichen West and Anxiang North roads, on Olympic Green, in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, China. It is a 57-metre-tall block-shaped building erected to serve as a data center during the 2008 Summer Olympics, since then it has served as both a museum devoted to the use of computing in the Olympics, and exhibition space for digital technology companies. It was the major facility on Olympic Green not to be an event venue for the games. That architect, Pei Zhu, was interested in the connections between traditional Chinese design and digital technology and it has been both praised for its avoidance of kitsch and criticized as resembling Orwells Ministry of Truth. At the 2008 World Architecture Festival it was shortlisted in its category, guihua Third Street is to the north, and Tianchen West Road is to the west. East of the building is the Beijing National Indoor Stadium, where gymnastics, another important Olympic venue, the China National Convention Center, takes up several blocks to the northeast. Directly to the south are several blocks of lightly planted open space buffering the Aquatics Center from Beichen West, on the north a parking lot separates Digital Beijing from National Stadium Road and the InterContinental Beichen Beijing Hotel high-rise on the other side. Water surrounds the buildings 16,000 square metres on all sides, all are connected by pedestrian bridges at various heights, those nearer each other have larger bridges, with the two on the west having a two-story glass hyphen. They are faced in a stone quarried in northern China. At night a series of green LEDs blink in a descending fashion down the 1, the flat roof has a rainwater collection system. Inside the rooms and hallways are floored in a translucent fiber-reinforced plastic, images can be, and are, projected on the undersides of interior pedestrian bridges. There is 98,000 m2 of space, including two underground levels, lighting is provided by an LED system that uses 60% less energy than other forms. One theme of the Olympics was to be the Digital Olympics, early in 2002, the citys Municipal Informatization Office called for a landmark building to use as the main data center during the Games and for other, related purposes afterwards. A contest was held, and the design by Pei Zhu, then with the Chinese firm Urbanus and it was the only major facility among the 31 new buildings to have been designed by a Chinese architect. It was also the only Olympic Green building that was not an Olympic event venue, if the industrial revolution resulted in modernism, contemporary architecture needs to explore what will form out of the current revolution of information, Zhu wrote later. Conceptually, Digital Beijing was developed through reconsideration and reflection on the role of Chinese architecture in the information era. Helps to develop a new aesthetic, a language that is thoroughly contemporary. To that end, the building he designed echoes the tools it was designed to house, from the ends it resembles a bar code, rising from the water
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National Tennis Center, Beijing
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The National Tennis Center, is a tennis centre located in the Olympic Green. It opened on 1 October 2007 and it hosted the tennis preliminaries and finals of singles and doubles for men and women at the Beijing 2008 Olympics as well as the Paralympic wheelchair tennis competitions. The Center is located in Beijing, just 1.7 mi from the Beijing National Stadium, the tennis centre covers an area of 41.22 acres with a floor space of 285,394 sq ft. The centre currently has 12 competition hard courts and 35 training courts, including 20 hard courts,10 indoor hard courts,2 artificial grass courts,2 indoor clay courts, the main court, named Diamond Court, has a capacity of 15,000. The Lotus court, Moon court, and Brad Drewett Court, each represent a lotus flower, each have 12 stands, each one representing a petal of the lotus flower. Center court has a capacity of 10,000, Court one 4,000, the courts have been specially designed for natural air ventilation to reduce the amount of air pollution entering the courts, ensuring optimal health for both athletes and spectators. It also allows the courts to be cooled and with an installation of cooling machines, curtains attached to the roofs of the courts also allows them to be cooled in the heat of the sun. The project embodies the concepts of Green Olympics, Hi-Tech Olympics and it integrates design experience of world sport architecture and will be a tennis competition venue of the state of the art design in keeping with international standards. In 2009 the China Open, which is an ATP World Tour 500 series event and a WTA Premiere Mandatory tournament, moved its location to this center from its former location, the Beijing Tennis Center. The National Tennis Center was named as The Olympic Green Tennis Center or Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Court, since it started to host the China Open, the venue was renamed to National Tennis Center in 2009. The courts were opened on 1 October 2007 and were tested between 6 and 20 October 2007 in the Good Luck Beijing 2007 ITF Pro Circuit, where 36 men and 44 women competed, the Courts hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. These were played between 8 and 15 September 2008,112 athletes were classified into disability group. It did not host the 2008 China Open Tennis tournament, despite rumours it would, however, it became the new home of the China Open from 2009 onwards. A new center court was completed in 2011, featuring a retractable roof, this new court possesses a capacity of 15,000 spectators, making it the worlds fourth largest tennis stadium by capacity. Lincuiqiao Station on Beijing Subway Line 8 opened on the same year, Tennis in China List of tennis stadiums by capacity Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Center venue site World stadiums Wikimapia
37.
Olympic Park Observation Tower
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The Olympic Park Observation Tower is located on Kehui Road South, part of the Olympic Green in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, China. Construction began in 2008, to coincide with that years Summer Olympics and it is used strictly for observation, there is no provision for offices or apartments. The design was by a Chinese firm, China Architecture Design & Research Group, at 258 metres in height it is the second tallest tower in the city after the Central Radio & TV Tower, and the fourth-tallest structure in the city. Its design, with four smaller circular floors at different heights, the overall design was inspired by blades of grass, however it has also been likened to huge nails. The tower sits on a 7. 5-hectare landscaped parcel at the northeast corner of the intersection of Kehui South Road and Tianchen Road, the surrounding terrain is level, consisting mostly of urban open space such as planted parkland or open plazas. On the west similar medium-rises begin after two large blocks, one block to the north is the South Gate of Forest Park Station on Line 8 of the Beijing Subway. North of it is the 680-hectare Olympic Forest Park, a nature preserve that extends to the citys Fifth Ring Road. To the south, after another block, are the former Olympic sport venues such as the China National Convention Center and Beijing National Stadium. The south boundary of the Olympic Green, the Fourth Ring Road, is just beyond, the five separate towers rest on an extensive concrete foundation with 30,000 square metres of exposed surface. A slight landscaped rise surrounds their base, from all five circular steel towers rise. The largest and tallest,258 metres in height, is surrounded by the other four. The lesser towers reach different heights, with the lowest at 186 metres, large diagonal members connect the lesser towers to the main structure. All the towers widen at their tops to allow the use of the space inside as observation platforms. The lesser tower tops spiral up to the main one, the solid steel exterior parts into latticework to allow views from the glass behind them. Two elevators, operating independently of other, carry visitors up the central tower. A competition was held in the mid-2000s to select the design, the winning design was by Cui Kai and Li Cundong of the Chinese Architecture Design and Research Group. Zhao Wenbin, another architect at the firm, designed the landscaping at the towers base and their design was inspired by blades of grass. The five circular tops of the towers are also meant to echo the Olympic rings, and provide space for observation decks, as it neared completion, Internet commentators compared it to five huge nails, as well
38.
Tiananmen Square
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Tiananmen Square is a city square in the centre of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen located to its north, separating it from the Forbidden City. The square contains the Monument to the Peoples Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in the square on October 1,1949, Tiananmen Square is within the top ten largest city squares in the world. It has great significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history. Outside China, the square is best known for the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the Tiananmen, a gate in the wall of the Imperial City, was built in 1415 during the Ming dynasty. In the 17th century, fighting between Li Zichengs rebel forces and the forces of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty caused heavy damage to, or even destroyed, Tiananmen Square was designed and built in 1651, and has since been enlarged by four times its original size in the 1950s. Near the centre of the square stood the Great Ming Gate, the gate to the Imperial City, renamed Great Qing Gate during the Qing dynasty. This gate had a status as the Gate of the Nation. It normally remained closed, except when the Emperor passed through, commoner traffic was diverted to side gates at the western and eastern ends of the square, respectively. Because of this diversion in traffic, a marketplace, called Chess Grid Streets, was developed in the big. In 1860, during the Second Opium War, when British and French troops invaded Beijing, they pitched camp near the gate and briefly considered burning down the gate and they decided ultimately to spare the Forbidden City and instead burn down the Old Summer Palace. When the forces of the Eight-Nation Alliance besieged Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, they damaged the office complexes. After the Boxer Rebellion ended, the became a space for the foreign powers to assemble their military forces. In 1954, the Gate of China was demolished, allowing for the enlargement of the square, in November 1958, a major expansion of Tiananmen Square started, which was completed after only 11 months, in August 1959. This followed the vision of Mao Zedong to make the square the largest and most spectacular in the world, in that process, a large number of residential buildings and other structures have been demolished. On its southern edge, the Monument to the Peoples Heroes has been erected, the year after Maos death in 1976, a mausoleum was built near the site of the former Gate of China, on the main north-south axis of the square. In connection with this project, the square was further increased in size to become fully rectangular, the urban context of the square was altered in the 1990s with the construction of National Grand Theatre in its vicinity and the expansion of the National Museum. Used as a meeting place since its creation, its flatness is contrasted by the 38-metre high Monument to the Peoples Heroes
39.
Mausoleum of Mao Zedong
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Although Mao had wished to be cremated, his body was embalmed and construction of a mausoleum began shortly after his death. This highly popular attraction is located in the middle of Tiananmen Square in Beijing and it stands on the previous site of the Gate of China, the southern gate of the Imperial City during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The remains of the Great Helmsman, as he is known, are on display for public viewing. The mausoleum was built soon after Maos death on September 9,1976, the groundbreaking ceremony took place November 24,1976, and the mausoleum was completed on May 24,1977. Hua Guofeng, who supervised the project, has his handwriting on the mausoleums sign. Water and sand from the Taiwan Straits were also used to emphasize the Peoples Republic of Chinas claims over Taiwan. The mausoleum was closed for renovations for nine months in 1997 before reopening on January 6,1998, in the wake of the Sino-Soviet split, the Soviet process of embalming had to be learned through Vietnam and a crystal coffin for displaying the body had to be locally developed. When the excavated quartz powder was processed, an issue arose from the fact that large pieces of quartz glass would require three years of gradual cooling to remove any internal stress. Xu Zhaocai, a technician of the 605th Factory, solved this problem by developing a technique of welding twenty square centimeter pieces into a larger two square meter plate. This was carried out by a technician named Shi Weicheng. The issue of illuminating the coffin was dealt with in a project, with Ren Fuguang as its manager. Optical engineer Wang Daheng was enlisted to devise the proper angles for the coffin, preventing any reflections and helping it maintain its structural integrity. The precision of the work meant the plates would not collapse, even without any adhesives or other methods of connection, nearly two dozen crystal coffins from all over China were also there for the competition, including six from Shanghai and one from Sichuan. The design of the 608th factory, after being subject to various tests, was selected on the spot as Maos crystal coffin. Mao Zedongs surviving family members visit the mausoleum biannually on Maos birthday. According to one of Maos granddaughters, Kong Dongmei, Maos third wife He Zizhen was initially banned from visiting the mausoleum and she was allowed to be photographed with her ex-husbands statue in the mausoleum by Lu Xiangyou, Maos personal photographer since the late 1950s. However, his own visit on September 8,1979, was barred from the book, by order of the Chinese government, in, Tilemann Grimm, Peter M. Kuhfus, Gudrun Wacker, Collected Papers of the XXIXth Congress of Chinese Studies. Satellite photo of the Mausoleum on Google Maps
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Monument to the People's Heroes
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It is located in the southern part of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, to the north of Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. The architect of the monument was Liang Sicheng, with elements designed by his wife. The civil engineer, Chen Zhide was also instrumental in realising the final product, the monument has also served as the centre of large-scale mourning activities that later developed into protest and unrest, such as the deaths of Premier Zhou Enlai and Hu Yaobang. The monument has an height of 37.94 metres. It weighs over 10,000 tonnes and contains about 17,000 pieces of marble and granite from Qingdao, Shandong Province, and the nearby Fangshan District. Eternal glory to the heroes of the people who laid down their lives in the war of liberation. The conduct of activities at the Monument to the Peoples Heroes is regulated by the Major Events Administration Office of the Tiananmen Area Administrative Committee. Strict rules apply to conduct within the vicinity of the monument, since the protests of 1989, the government has prohibited climbing the monument beyond the protective barrier without prior approval, as well as photography and filming. Today, those intending to lay wreaths at the monument must apply five days in advance, certain domestic groups, such as police and military units, would also sometimes lay wreaths at the monument. History of Beijing Satellite photo of the Monument
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National Centre for the Performing Arts (China)
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The National Centre for the Performing Arts, and colloquially described as The Giant Egg, is an arts centre containing an opera house in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China. The Centre, a dome of titanium and glass surrounded by an artificial lake. It was designed by French architect Paul Andreu, construction started in December 2001 and the inaugural concert was held in December 2007. The exterior of the theater is a glass dome that is completely surrounded by a man-made lake. It is said to look like an egg floating on water and it was designed as an iconic feature, something that would be immediately recognizable. The dome measures 212 meters in east–west direction,144 meters in north–south direction, the main entrance is at the north side. Guests arrive in the building after walking through a hallway that goes underneath the lake, the titanium shell is broken by a glass curtain in north–south direction that gradually widens from top to bottom. Internally, there are three performance halls, The Opera Hall is used for operas, ballet, and dances. The Music Hall is used for concerts and recitals and seats 2,017, the Theatre Hall is used for plays and the Beijing opera. The initial planned cost of the theatre was 2.688 billion yuan, when the construction had completed, the total cost rose to more than CNY3.2 billion. The major cause of the cost increase was a delay for reevaluation, the cost has been a major source of controversy because many believed that it is nearly impossible to recover the investment. When the cost is averaged out, each seat is worth half a million CNY. The Chinese government answered that the theater is not a for profit venture
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Beijing Capital International Airport
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Beijing Capital International Airport is the main international airport serving Beijing. It is located 32 km northeast of Beijings city center, in an enclave of Chaoyang District, the airport is owned and operated by the Beijing Capital International Airport Company Limited, a state-controlled company. The airports IATA Airport code, PEK, is based on the citys romanized name. Beijing Capital International Airport is the hub for Air China, the flag carrier of the Peoples Republic of China. China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines also use the airport as their hub, Beijing Capital International Airport covers 1480 hectares of land. Beijing Capital has rapidly ascended in rankings of the worlds busiest airports in the past decade and it had become the busiest airport in Asia in terms of passenger traffic and total traffic movements by 2009. It has been the second busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic since 2010. The airport registered 557,167 aircraft movements, ranking 6th in the world in 2012, in terms of cargo traffic, Beijing airport has also witnessed rapid growth. By 2012, the airport had become the 13th busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic, Beijing Airport was opened on 2 March 1958. The airport then consisted of one terminal building, which still stands to this day, apparently for the use of VIPs. On 1 January 1980, a newer, larger Terminal 1 – green in colour – opened, the terminal was larger than the one built in the 1950s, but by the mid-1990s, its size became relatively inadequate. The first International flight to China and Beijing Capital International Airport was of Pakistan International Airlines from Islamabad. In late 1999, to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, Terminal 1 was then temporarily closed for renovation after the opening of Terminal 2. 20 September 2004 saw the opening of a renovated Terminal 1, other airlines domestic and international flights still operated in Terminal 2. Another round of expansion started in 2007, a third runway opened on 29 October 2007, to relieve congestion on the other two runways. Terminal 3 was completed in February 2008, in time for the Beijing Olympics and this colossal expansion also included a rail link to the city-center. At its opening, the new Terminal 3 was the largest man made structure in the world in terms of area covered, the expansion was largely funded by a 30 billion yen loan from Japan and a 500-million-euro loan from the European Investment Bank. The loan is the largest ever granted by the EIB in Asia, fresh from hosting the 2008 Olympic Games and adding its new terminal building, Beijing Capital has overtaken Tokyo Haneda to be the busiest airport in Asia based on scheduled seat capacity
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Beijing South Railway Station
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Beijing South Railway Station is a large railway station in Fengtai District, Beijing, about 7.5 km south of central Beijing, between the 2nd and 3rd ring roads. The old station was in use from 1897 to 2006, the new Beijing South Railway Station is the citys largest station, and is one of the largest in Asia. It joins the main Beijing Railway Station and the Beijing West Railway Station as one of three passenger rail hubs in the Chinese capital. Some CRH sleepers to and from Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, the station integrates two Beijing Subway line stations, bus hubs, and taxi stands, into the same building, and includes a wide variety of restaurants in the station itself. The terminus occupies a 32-hectare site in Fengtai, the enormous oval-shaped station was designed by the British architecture firm of TFP Farrells in collaboration with the Tianjin Design Institute. It was built more than 60,000 tons of steel and 490,000 cubic metres of concrete by 4,000 workers in less than three years. The glass ceiling is outfitted with 3,246 solar panels to generate electricity, the structure spreads out like a ray or trilobite and covers 320,000 square metres, more than the Beijing National Stadiums 258,000 square metres. Its 24 platforms have the capacity to dispatch 30,000 passengers per hour or almost 241 million a year, the 251, 000-square-metre waiting area can accommodate 10,000 passengers. On the elevated concourse, there are designated waiting areas and VIP lounges for passengers travelling in CRH Business Class. There are also a number of counters and an increasing number of retail stores. Ticket machines are available to holders of the PRC ID card,23 sets of ticket gates despatch passengers onto trains. The arrivals level is underground, with 8 arrival gates situated in the vicinity of the Beijing Subway station concourse. To the sides are two stands, and separated West and East parking lots for private cars. Express entrances have been built, and are presently in use for all C trains to Tianjin, ticket machines and a few ticket counters are also available at the arrivals level. As with the level, a variety of restaurants and corner shops are also available at the arrivals level. Two floors below the level are the platforms for Lines 4 and 14, respectively, with Line 4 services available at present. Reconstruction began on 10 May 2006, immediately after services ended at the old station, the station was complete for the 1 August 2008 reopening. In 2011 and 2012, new restaurants, fast food stalls, to cut queues, traditional counters at the arrival level were replaced with ticket machines
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Beijing West Railway Station
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Beijing West Railway Station is located in western Beijings Fengtai District. Opened in early 1996 after three years of construction, it was the largest railway station in Asia with 510, 000m², the station serves in average 150, 000–180,000 passengers per day with a maximum of 400,000 people per day. It was expanded in 2000 and had a vast amount of parking spaces added, regular rail services leave from Platforms 1-11, HSR leaves from Platforms 12-18. A dedicated exit is used for arriving on Platform 18. These passengers will clear customs and immigration at Beijing West and will not leave the train until it arrives at the Kowloon / Hung Hom terminus in Hong Kong, a VIP lounge is available for Business Class passengers travelling HSR. Ticket counters and machines are available beside the main entrances, Beijing West Railway Station is a terminal for both traditional and high-speed trains. It is the Beijing terminal for most trains leaving the city for destinations in western and southwestern China, including Xian, Chongqing, Chengdu, Lhasa, major traditional rail lines beginning at this station include the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and the Beijing-Kowloon Railway. Beijing West is the terminal both for the Beijing-Kowloon Through Train and for the Beijing-Lhasa trains, Beijing West is the northern terminal of the Beijing-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway as of December 2012. High-speed trains leave the station for Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as destinations on the connecting lines. There are, however, plans to new major railway terminal in the southwestern part of Beijing. Beijing Subway, This station is served by Line 9. Passengers are able to change trains using the cross-platform interchange method, the Subway concourse is on the Arrivals level, with all platforms a level further below. Beijing West Railway Station Beijing Huoche Zhan Network Beijing Railways Time Table
