The Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, and Gu Gong in Chinese, lies at the city center of Beijing, and once served as the imperial palace for 24 emperors during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was first built throughout 14 years during the reign of Emperor Chengzu in the Ming Dynasty. Ancient Chinese Astronomers believed that the Purple Star (Polaris) was in the center of heaven and the Heavenly Emperor lived in the Purple Palace. The Palace for the emperor on earth was so called the Purple City. It was forbidden to enter without special permission of the emperor. Hence its name ‘The Purple Forbidden City’, usually ‘The Forbidden City’.

The Temple of Heaven Park is located in the Chongwen District, Beijing. Originally, this was the place where emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty held the Heaven Worship Ceremony. It is the largest and most representative existing masterpiece among China’s ancient sacrificial buildings. First built in 1420, the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, it was enlarged and rebuilt during the reigns of the Ming emperor Jiajing and the Qing emperor Qianlong. In 1988, it was opened to the public as a park, Showing ancient philosophy, history and religion. Its grand architectural style and profound cultural connotation give an insight into the practices of the ancient Eastern civilization.

Summer Palace is China existing largest and best preserved imperial garden, also is one of the four famous gardens in China (the other three are Chengde Mountain Resort, Suzhou Humble Administrator’s Garden, Suzhou Lingering Garden). It is a large natural landscape garden which used Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill as based address, modeled on the Hangzhou west Lake scenery, drew some design techniques and the mood of the gardens on the yangtze delta. It is also the best preserved royal palace, known as the Royal Garden Museum.
Yiheyuan (in Chinese) radiates fully the natural beauty and the grandeur of royal gardens. Composed mainly of Longevity Hill (Wanshou Shan) and Kunming Lake, it occupies an area of 300.59 hectares (742.8 acres). There are over 3,000 man-made ancient structures which count building space of more than 70,000 square meters, including pavilions, towers, bridges, corridors, etc. It can be divided into four parts: the Court Area, Front Hill Area, Rear Hill Area and Lake Area.