Probably one of the greatest public squares in the world, Beijing’s Tiananmen Square covers all of 40 hectares. Paved throughout, it has been, in the 20th century, a place for public demonstrations. The venue of some historical mass movements, in 1919, in 1935, in 1966, and most recent of all, in 1989- the square has witnessed mass demonstrations and public protests. It has railings on all sides, and is surrounded by some of Beijing’s most important buildings. These include the Great Hall of the People (the parliament), the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (the masoleum of the Communist leader), the Museum of the Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History.

The Forbidden City is virtually synonymous with China's capital, even though the time when it was the heart ofimperial China is long past. The core of Beijing, occupying 30 sq km, is Gugong, or the Imperial Palace, unofficially called `The Forbidden City’, as no outsider was allowed even close to the magnificent complex. 

Comprising around 800 buildings, the Imperial Palace is essentially of Ming design and even now, nearly a century after the last emperor vacated it, (after 5 centuries of continuous occupation by Chinese royalty), it is still imperious and impressive. The Palace is a maze of courts, parks and gardens, temples, palaces and waterways.

Worth seeing among these are the Imperial Garden, the three ceremonial halls, the spectacular Taihedian, the Zhonghedian and the Baohedian (‘Halls of Supreme Harmony, Middle Harmony and Preserving Harmony’) Hall- which was used for state banquets and imperial examinations- and the Imperial Living Quarters. It’s all quite awesome. The palaces have been adapted as museum galleries and display furniture, paintings, bronzes, ceramics, jade jewellery and objets d’art and Ming and Qing arts and crafts.

 Tiantan, or the Temple of Heaven, sits in the midst of a beautiful park, and though more than 5 centuries old, is one of the most spectacular and well-maintained examples of Ming architecture.

A medley of stone, marble, coloured glazed tiles and wood, the temple was constructed at about the same time as the Forbidden City and was the venue for ceremonial annual prayers by the emperor. It was designed as the meeting point of earth and heaven, the famed Yin and Yang. The cosmos was integral to all Chinese architecture and is apparent here, as well.

The hall of Prayers for Good Harvests is a circular wooden structure, built without one single nail. It was rebuilt in 1889 from the original Ming design, after it was struck by lightning. The temple’s usually quite crowded with tourists, but the surrounding park has some secluded and peaceful corners among its copses of thuja trees (which are as old as the temple). The Chinese come here to unwind, or to learn traditional martial swordplay, tai’ji, or to drink tea and chat.

Situated in the heart of the posh and busy Jianguomen Dajie sector of town, the Ancient Observatory was established under the aegis of Kublai Khan. Over the following centuries, it was occupied, first, by Muslim astronomers,later by the Jesuits, who remained in charge till the 1830s, and used the observatory for their astronomical predictions. Today, the building is a quiet little place with a nice garden, a museum and some interesting Ming astronomical instruments. Combine a shopping trip with your visit to the observatory as it lies near the main malls.

The Palace of Prince Gong (father of the last Qing emperor) was, at one time, one of the many palaces in Beijing. The Palace is still a beautiful one, with a quiet, leafy garden surrounding it (the Beijing Opera holds occasional concerts in the garden, and if you’re interested in cultural performances, you should keep a lookout for these).

The Yonghe Gong, or the Tibetan Lama Temple, is one of the most colourful (literally- it has yellow tiles) temples in Beijing. Built at the end of the 17th century as the residence of PrinceYin Zhen, it was converted into a lamasery in1744; the temple houses an 18 metre high statue of the Buddha carved from a single log of sandalwood. The Yonghe Gong is an important Tibetan Buddhist Centre, but its main attraction for most tourists is its beauty- rather than it’s spirituality. It is also famous as the Chinese sex manual as the statutes here were used to educate the Emperor’s sons.

The Dazhong Si, or the Great Bell Temple is a rather unusual building: a converted temple, it is now a museum for bells. It has hundreds of bells, nearly all of bronze, of all sizes and fantastically decorated. The largest (which is also the world’s largest) is the `King of Bells’, dating back to the Ming dynasty and weighing in at a staggering 50 tons. It’s said that its tolling can be heard 40 km away. The smallest is the size of a wine glass. The museum has a section on the history of bell making and how they were constructed; it’s one of Beijing’s most interesting museums.

The Yihe Yuan, or Summer Palace, was built in the 1700s. The Royal Gardens sprawl over 290 hectares of landscaped parks, a lake, hills, towers and pavilions, and together form one of Beijing’s most picturesque monuments. The palace is mainly associated with the ruthless Dowager Empress Cixi, who was particularly fond of it and spent much of her time here. A gallery or corridor, painted with mythological scenes stretches for over 900 m, lies beside a lake and binds the entire palace complex into a harmonious whole. The lake is very popular for boating.

Beijing, with a history of 3000 years, obviously has many more sights to see- palaces, temples, parks and museums. The Beijing Zoo is worth a visit only to see the panda enclosure; they live in the animal version of a luxury hotel. If you have the time, it’s also a good idea to spend some time just walking around the area- it’s an interesting way to come to know the city and its people, better.