The Great Wall, the Summer Palace, Tian Tan ("Temple of Heaven") and the site of 500,000-year-old Peking Man are just a few of Beijing's most famed landmarks.
At the city's centre is the formidable Forbidden City, the stunning imperial palace to the Ming and Qing dynasties, China's last emperors.
Fronted by the Tiananmen Gate, it was from here that Chairman Mao inaugurated the People's Republic in 1949.
His portrait hangs here still, looking out across Tiananmen Square,
home of the Great Hall of the People and seat of the present Chinese government.