Designed and built in 1651, the Tiananmen Square is not only an important site of political and historical events of China but also one of the largest city squares in the world with 44 hectares in size. The historical events like May Fourth Movement in 1919 and the proclamation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong in 1949 all happened here. Tiananmen Square is the central focus of Beijing. To its west stands the Great Hall of People while the National Museum is located in the east. The Monument to the People’s Hero stands high in the middle of the square and the memorial hall of Chairman Mao is located on the south.

As the royal residences of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties from the 15th to 20th century, the Forbidden City used to be the centre of State power in late feudal China. It was constructed between 1406 and 1420 by the Ming emperor Zhu Di and witnessed the enthronement of 14 Ming and 10 Qing emperors over the following 505 years. There are over a million rare and valuable works of art in the permanent collection of the Forbidden City including paintings, ceramics, seals, steles, sculptures, inscribed wares, bronze wares, enamel objects, etc. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

The Summer Palace is the largest and best-preserved royal garden in China and also in the World. It was first built in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong, largely destroyed in the war of 1860 and restored on its original foundations in 1886. Constructed around the Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, Summer Palace is a vast complex of gardens, palaces, lakes, and hills. The landscaped gardens, temples, and pavilions were designed to achieve harmony with nature and to please the eye. In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design.