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Optional Tour Program
Download APEMC2010 Optional Tour Registration Form
One-Day Tours during Conference
Beijing is an ideal place to explore ancient China's magnificent
civilization and stately history, which has many buildings still
standing from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties like the Imperial
Palaces, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven.
Tour 1: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Old Beijing Hutong and Prince Gong's Mansion
 
 
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The
Tiananmen Square is the large plaza near the centre of Beijing, China,
named after the Tiananmen (literally, Gate of Heavenly Peace) which
sits to its north, separating it from the Forbidden City. It has
great cultural significance as it was the site of several key events in
Chinese history. Tiananmen Square is the largest city square in
the world.
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The
Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to
the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of
Beijing, China, and how houses the Palace Museum. For almost five
centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as
well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.
Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8707 bays of rooms and covers 720000sqm
(7800000sqft) The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese
palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural
developments in East Asia and elsewhere. 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.
Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the
Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were
built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
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Hutongs
are a type of narrow streets or alleys, most commonly associated with
Beijing, China. In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of
siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods
were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and
then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used
to refer to such neighbourhoods. Since the mid-20th century, the
number of Beijing hutongs has dropped dramatically as they are
demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More
recently, some hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an
attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history.
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The
Prince Gong's Mansion was constructed in 1777 for minister He Shen
during the Qianlong-reign in the late Qing Dynasty. Consisting of
large mansions in the typical "siheyuan" layout and gardens, it is
known as one of the most ornate and extravagant residence compounds in
all of Beijing.
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The Wangfujing, a seven hundred-year-old commerical street located to the east of Tiananmen Square, will also be visited
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Tour 2: The Badaling Great Wall and the Ming Dynasty Tombs
 
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The
Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in
northen China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century
BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese
Empire during various successive dynasties. Since the 5th century
BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great
Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220-206 BC
by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall
remains; the majority of the existing wall were built during the Ming
Dyansty.
Badaling is the site of the most visited sectino of the Great Wall of
China, approximately 50miles (80km) northwest of urban Beijing city.
The portion of the wall running through the site was built during
the Ming Dyansty, along with a military outpost reflecting the
location's strategic importance. It was here that President
Richard Nixon visited on 1972 during his historic journey to China, and
President Obama visited last year. It was also the part of the
Wall climbed by Mao Zedong and other hunderds of international
dignitaries and celebrities.
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The
Ming Dynasty Tombs are located some 50 kilometers due north of urban
Beijing at a specially selected site. The site was chosen by the
third Ming Dynasty emperor YongLe (1402-1424), who moved the capital of
China from Nanjing to the present lcoation of Beijing. He is
credited with envisioning the layout of the ancient city of Beijing as
well as a number of landmarks and monuments located therein.
After the construction of the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden
City) in 1420, the Yongle Emperor selected his burial site and created
his own mausoleum. From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming
Dynasty Emperors were buried in this area.
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Tour 3: The Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace
 
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The
Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex of Taoist
buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing.
The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing
Dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest.
It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven
worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, pre-dates
Taoism.
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The
Summer Palace started out life as the Garden of Clear Ripples in 1750
(Reign Year 15 of Emperor Qianlong) and was rebuilt in 1886 and 1902.
In 1888, it was given the current name, Yihe Yuan, and served as
a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, who diverted 30 million taels
of silver into the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace.
Artisans reproduced the garden architecture styles of various
palaces in China. Kunming Lake was created by extending an
existing body of water to imitate the West Lake in Hangzhou.
The Summer
Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (60 meters high) and the
Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers,
three quarters of which is water. The central Kunming Lake
covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated
soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In the Summer Palace, one
finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style
architectural structures. In December 1998, UNESCO included the
Summer Palace on its World Hertiage List. It declared the Summer
Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The
natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial
features such as paviliions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to
form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value."
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Download APEMC2010 Optional Tour Registration Form
Tours around China after Conference
Tour 1: Xi'an (3 - 5 Days)
As
one of the oldest cities in Chinese history, Xi'an is one of the Four
Great Ancient Capitals of China because it has been the capital of some
of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including the Zhou,
Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties. Xi'an is the starting point of
the old "Silk Road" and crowned with more than 20 cultural sites of
importance, including tombs and architectural relics that are still
being unearthed. The Terracotta Warrior Tomb of Emperor Qin Shi
Huang, with thousands of clay warriors, is one of the most stupendous
sights in the world.
Tour 2: 2010 Shanghai World Expo (3 - 5 Days)
Shanghai
is the largest city in China, and one of the largest metropolitan areas
in the world, located on China's central eastern coast just at the
mouth of Yangtze River. The city is a tourist destination
renowned for its historical landmarks such as the Bund and City God
Temple, its modern and ever-expanding Pudong skyline including the
Oriental Pearl Tower, and its new reputation as a cosmopolitan center
of culture and design. Today, Shanghai is the largest center of
commerce and finance in mainland China, and has been described as the
"showpiece" of the world's fastest-growing major economy.
During May 1 to Oct
31, 2010 Shanghai World Expo will be held there. The theme of
Expo 2010 is "Better City, Better Life", representing the common wish
of the whole humankind for a better living in future urban
environments. Moreover, Hangzhou and Suzhou, two of the most
beautiful cities in China, are neighbors of Shanghai.
 
Tour 3: Kunming, Lijiang and Shangri-La in Yunnan Province (5 - 7 Days)
The
special geological and climatic conditions, numerous ethnic groups and
long history and splendid culture have created the exceptionally rich
tourism resources in Yunnan. The whole province enjoys 11
state-level tour routes, 57 state and provincial scenic areas, 22
states and provincial forest parks, 5 nature reserves, 9 state and
provincial famous cities of history and culture and 187 relics units
under key protection. A batch of tourism development zones have
been preliminarily formed, which are featured with mountain gorges,
modern glaciers, plateau lakes, stone forest, Karst caves, volcanoes
and geothermal phenomena, primitive forest, tropical rain forest,
flowers, relics and historic sites, traditional gardening and ethnic
folklores etc.
 
 
 
Download APEMC2010 Optional Tour Registration Form
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