Autumn is the time

Beijing is the capital of modern China. First-time visitors are impressed by the high-rise buildings that have sprouted all over the city over the past decade of rapid economic growth. More impressive is the willingness of the people to embrace new ideas and concepts, particularly foreign ones. The myriad of architectural designs of new megolithic structures are evident as one explores the city. However, what really impresses foreigners are the many cultural sights with links to historical annals of the country.

The Great Wall of China. This structure is an extensive bulwark erected in ancient China and is one of the largest building-construction projects ever carried out. It runs about 4,500 miles (7,300 km) east to west from Shanhaiguan Pass near Bo Hai (Gulf of Bohai) to Jiayuguan Pass (in modern Gansu Province) traversing Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu. The Great Wall is a monument to the history of the Chinese people, a symbol of their labor and wisdom, one of the great miracles of the world, and an eternal treasure of mankind.

The Summer Palace in Beijing is the largest imperial garden in the world, a veritable museum of classical Chinese garden architecture. Its chinese name, YiHeYuan, translates as 'Garden of Nurtured Harmony' or 'Garden for Maintaining Health and Harmony'. The construction of the Summer Palace initiated in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong as a gift for his mother's birthday. It took 15 years to complete. It is the playground of the noble and mighty in ancient China.

The Temple of Heaven. The Temple was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven. It is much bigger than the Forbidden City but smaller than the Summer Palace, with an area of about 2,700,000 square meters. As Chinese emperors called themselves 'The Son of Heaven' , they dared not build their own dwelling, 'Forbidden City' bigger than a dwelling for Heaven. The Circular Altar has three layered terraces with white marble. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 A.D. - 1911 A.D.), the emperors would offer sacrifice to Heaven on the day of the Winter Solstice every year. This ceremony was to thank Heaven and hope everything would be good in the future. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest is a big palace with round roof and three layers of eaves. Inside the Hall are 28 huge posts. The four posts along the inner circle represent four seasons-spring, summer, autumn and winter; the 12 posts along the middle circle represent the 12 months; and 12 posts along the outer circle represent 12 Shichen (Shichen is a means of counting time in ancient China. One Shichen in the past equaled two hours and a whole day was divided into 12 Shichens). The roof is covered with black, yellow and green colored glaze representing the heavens, the earth and everything on earth.

The grandest attraction in Beijing is undoubtedly the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is the best preserved imperial palace in China and the largest ancient palatial structure in the world. It covers an area of about 72 hectares with a total floor space of approximately 150, 000 square meters. It consists of 90 palaces and courtyards, 980 buildings and 8,704 rooms. To represent the supreme power of the emperor given from God, and the place where he lived being the center of the world, all the gates, palace and other structures of the Forbidden City were arranged about the south-north central axis of Beijing.