Beijing
This modern museum, on the north side of the main road in Wanping Town, is dedicated to the July 7th Incident (also known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident), which happened in the vicinity and sparked the ensuing war with Japan. Despite the propaganda, considerable thought has gone into the presentation. You'll need your passport for entry.
Take bus 339 from the subway exit.
10.19 MILES
Enclosed by 3.5km of citadel walls at the very heart of Beijing, the Unesco-listed Forbidden City is China’s largest and best-preserved collection of…
10.13 MILES
An oasis of methodical Confucian design, the 267-hectare Temple of Heaven Park is unique. It originally served as a vast stage for solemn rites performed…
10.41 MILES
A marvel of Chinese garden design and one of Beijing's must-see attractions, the Summer Palace was the royal retreat for emperors fleeing the suffocating…
9.79 MILES
Flanked by triumphalist Soviet-style buildings, Tian'anmen Sq is an immense void of paved stone (440,000 sq metres, to be precise) at the symbolic centre…
10.11 MILES
Beihai Park, inside the old Imperial City, looks much as it would have done in the 18th century when it served as Emperor Qianlong's private gardens. The…
11.63 MILES
This immense fortress, part of the Ming City Wall Ruins Park, guarded the southeast corner of Beijing's city walls. Originally built in 1439 but repaired…
9.9 MILES
Instantly recognisable by its giant framed portrait of Mao, and guarded by two pairs of Ming dynasty stone lions, the double-eaved Gate of Heavenly Peace …
16.72 MILES
Contemporary art meets communist history at this thrilling enclave of international galleries installed within China's model factory complex of the 1950s…
0.1 MILES
An astonishing sight, given that you're still within the confines of Beijing’s 5th Ring Rd, this double-gated, Ming dynasty walled town was built during…
0.36 MILES
Described by the great traveller himself in the 13th century, this 266m-long bridge spanning the (mostly dry) Yonding River dates to 1189 and the Jin…
3. Military Museum of the People's Revolution
6.52 MILES
Bristling with Cold War–era planes, guns and bombs, this cavernous museum shows China at its most hawkish. Expanded in 2018, many of the side exhibits…
6.74 MILES
Descend into the final abode of Tian Yi (1534–1605), a Ming dynasty court eunuch given the unprecedented honour of an imperial mausoleum, thanks to the…
7.03 MILES
Dating back to the Liao dynasty (around 1120), the pagoda in this little-visited temple is reputedly the oldest structure in Beijing. The octagonal tower…
7.1 MILES
White Cloud Temple is an active, vast and fascinating maze of halls, shrines and brightly painted immortals, tended by Taoist monks with their hair…
7.21 MILES
It's a case of 'so near and yet so far' for Beijing's flagship museum, which, on architecture alone, promises so much. A neat timeline exhibit charts the…
7.68 MILES
Dating from around the 10th century when Chinese first began converting to Islam, Beijing's oldest mosque appears more like a Chinese temple with Islamic…