Buildings

The Great Wall
The Great Wall, located in northern China, is 6,700 kilometers long and thus as the "10,000-li Great Wall" (2 li = 1 kilometer). Construction of the wall went on for more than 2,000 years, from 7th century BC to 14th century AD. The wall has become a symbol of both China's proud history and its present strength.

The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City, also called the Palace Museum, is located in the center of Beijing. The imperial palace sued by emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is the largest and most complete ancient wooden-structure building complex in the world. Construction of the Forbidden City started in 1406 and lasted 14 years. Twenty-four emperors were enthroned there. The Forbidden City has become one of the symbols of the ancient Chinese architecture.

Temple
Temple was a very special building type in ancient China, which includes the kinds of Taoism and Buddhism. The Chinese temples' buildings are grand and with the traditional architectural style. Some were built on the great mountains and some are built on the cities. They are considered the sacred places and are not allowed to disturb. Today, the temples have become an heir of the traditional Chinese culture.

Landscape garden
The world-famous Chinese landscape gardens can be divided into two categories, namely, imperial and private gardens. The former are seen mostly in northern China, while the latter are easily found in the south, especially in Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi. The streams, bridges, unique rockeries, water landscapes, archaic style buildings, calligraphy and paintings of a private Chinese garden are small and delicate, cleverly laid out and pleasing to the eye, exhibiting a natural beauty of their own.

Currently, four landscape gardens of China were listed into the World Heritage Sites: two imperial gardens namely the Summer Palace (Beijing) and the Chengde Summer Resort (Hebei Province); two private gardens consist of the Humble Administration Garden (Suzhou) and the Lingering Garden (Suzhou).

Tiananmen Gate
A national symbol which pops up on everything from airline tickets to policemen's caps. Tiananmen Gate (aka the Gate of Heavenly Peace) was built in the 15th century and restored in the 17th. From imperial days it functioned as a rostrum for dealing with or proclaiming to the assembled masses. There are five doors to the gate and in front of it is seven bridges spanning a stream - each of these bridges had restricted use, and only the emperor could use the central door and bridge.

Potala Palace
Potala Palace in Lhasa is situated on Red Hill 3,700 meters above the sea level. The palace was built by Tibetan Kingdom Songtsan Gambo in the 7th century for Tang Princess Wencheng. Potala features the essence of ancient Tibetan architectural art and houses many artifacts of the Tubo Kingdom.

Read more Chinese culture info at See China-Global Chinese Culture