The Old Summer Palace, Beijing

BJ- T08Old Summer Palace - Dazhong Temple

 
The Old Summer Palace is used to be the large-scaled world famous royal garden of Qing Dynasty by covering an area of 5200 mu, which contains of Garden of Eternal Spring and the Elegant Spring Garden with countless precious treasure and the total acreage is 350 hectares. Although things have changed with the lapse of time after experienced the plunder and burn by the Eight-Power Allied Forces, the Old Summer is still shows its charm in large-scaled and the exquisite sceneries. You may take bus No. 331 or 333 to reach. The admission fee is CNY10.00 per person, and the electronic cars are available within the site and the cost is CNY40.00 per hour.

After your visit, you may take bus No. 717, 681 or 365 at the east date of the Old Summer Palace, and then change bus No. 718 at South Zhongguancun and get off at Dazhong Temple stop to visit Dazhong Temple (also known as Ancient Chime Museum). Which was first built in Qing Dynasty and now it is the only museum with the aims of collecting, displaying, researching, developing and making use of ancient bells and their materials and also propagating the knowledge of the ancient bells. With containing of more than 600 various old bells, the most famous one is the Yongle Bell which was founded in Ming Dynasty. This museum holds the display frequently each year and which attracts visitors from all over the world who are interested in the bells. And the Yongle Bell will be striked at every New Year, the Spring Festival or some other important celebration.

The Confucius Temple in Beijing

BJ- T09Temple of Earth - Confucius Temple - Imperial Academy

 
Take bus No. 104, 108, 119, 358, 407, 426 and get off at the west gate of the Temple of Earth to visit this royal temple of ancient China. The Temple of Earth was first built in Ming dynasty and 15 emperors in Ming and Qing dynasties feted the earth which lasted for about 381 years. Now it is a very good place for locals to get relaxed. The national famous activities here are the temple fair and the book fair. During the Spring Festival period, from January 01 to 05 in lunar calendar, the temple fair will be held in the Temple of Earth and it is the largest one in Beijing. During this period, various local flavors, traditional handicraft, and all kinds of performances will gather here and this is a very good opportunity to experience the folk custom of Old Beijing. The book fairs will be held in the Temple of Earth in every spring and autumn, you may buy the books with better price than usual. For the exact date of the book fairs, you may contact the staff of the Temple of Earth, the telephone number is 010-64216870. The admission fee is CNY2.00 per person.

After visit the Temple of Earth, you may walk for about 680m to another famous scenic spot directly, the Confucius Temple. If you do not want to walk, the local bus No. 728, 124, 104, 108 are all available from the west gate of the Temple of Earth, also you may take a taxi. The Confucius Temple was the place to feted Confucius in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. And there is small Hutong named Guanshuyuan Hutong at the outside of southeast wall of the Confucius Temple, you may also go there to explore Hutong life.

The neighbouring site of the Confucius Temple is the Imperial Academy, which was the Education Administrative Organization and the top Nation's Academic Institute in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. You may walk to it and visit this exclusive ancient school.