China

Customs and Landmark Locations of the

Major Cities and Regions

Felicia E and Kaitlyn Zhang

Introduction
Beijing
Shanghai
Hong Kong
Taiwan

Introduction
China is a superpower country located in the East where it occupies around 3.70
million square miles of land. It is divided into 23 provinces along with a few
municipalities, autonomous regions, and two special administrative regions. Each
province is unique with its own culture, dialect, mannerisms, and geography. This
guide book will go over the background and famous attractions of some major cities
and autonomous regions such as Hong Kong.

Beijing
Beijing is well known for being the capital city of China. It is located in
Northeastern China in Hebei Province.

Beijing has existed for about 3,000 years and has often taken the role as the
political center of China. It is currently one of the highest populated and industrial
cities in the world.

Attractions

Great Wall
One of the most well known attraction in Beijing is the Great Wall of China.
This is a historical wall that was meant to defend China against nomadic groups. The
wall stretches across China for about 8,900 km! People can walk on the original 700
year old structure, although the wall has undergone many repairs.

To start, there are two ways to get onto the wall itself; you can either climb
up the mountain or pay to ride a cable car up the mountain, both methods will bring
you to an entrance to the wall. Some cable car tours are also offered if you want to
skip walking on the wall altogether and just get an aerial view.
Be careful! In many areas the steps are very steep, narrow, and theyre made of
stone! Its important to look where youre going so you dont fall down the side of a
mountain or a flight of stairs while trying to take pictures. If you do, youre probably
going to take a bunch of people down with you considering how popular the wall is.

Before going to the Great Wall, consider who you are going with; you may need
to start at a section that is closer to an exit if you are bringing children, elderly, or
injured people. Climbing the wall is exhausting and dangerous. There are rests stops,
but they are usually occupied and are few and far between. Its a beautiful place, so
plan to go when theres relatively good weather for the best photos and for the sake
of your health.

Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was Chinas Imperial Palace for around 300 years and covers
over 180 acres of land. It is a World Heritage Site, one of the largest collections of
preserved ancient wood structures, and is a key example of traditional Chinese
architecture.

Exploring this place should take at least 3 to 4 hours just to go through and
take a look at everything. There is an inner court, outer court, and three gates until
you can reach the Palace of Heavenly Purity which used to serve as the Emperors
audience hall.
In the Forbidden city you can rent traditional chinese costumes, including an
Emperor and Empress outfit and take pictures. There are many street merchants
outside the Forbidden city and many of them can be quite persistent and aggressive. In
a few cases, they may try to grab you or crowd you. In such circumstances, the best
course of action is to push through the crowd and completely ignore them.

Shanghai
Oriental Pearl (TV) Tower

The Oriental Pearl Tower is an iconic place that is renowned for its city views.
It is was built in 1994 and is the fifth highest tower in the world, rising up 1,535 ft (468
m). The tower contains three spheres to allow visitors to view Shanghai at different
altitudes.
The lowest sphere rises 295 ft (90m). The middle sphere is at a height of 850 ft
(259 m) and contains a three level: the topmost is a revolving restaurant and two
lower ones are viewing platforms. In the middle sphere you can access an elevator
which brings you to a glass-bottom sightseeing platform with a 360 degree view of the
city and two rivers flanking it.

View from the glass-bottomed viewing platform in the middle sphere

The highest sphere is 1,148 ft (350m) in the air and offers a bird eyes view of the
city although it is more difficult to see smaller attractions and buildings.

Nanjing Road

Nanjing Road is a famous shopping street starting at the Bund and stretching
for 3.4 miles. Over 600 businesses occupy the road, ranging from fast food to famous
brands to upscale boutiques.

Hong Kong
Victoria Peak

This mountain rises up 1,818 ft in the western half of Hong Kong. It is famous
for its view of the city and landscape to the north. The most popular time to visit the
peak is just before sundown to watch the city lights turn on.

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Ocean Park
Ocean Park is a major attraction in Hong Kong and is a world famous sea park

that uses 170 acres of land. Aqua city is marine themed with a three story Grand
Aquarium of over 5,000 fish belonging to 400 species. Lagoon district is another
attraction in Aqua city containing a fountain show, carnival themes, and a helium
balloon 22 meters in diameter which rises 100 meters in the air.
Ocean Park also has a Giant Panda exhibit, Rainforest trail, amusement park,
Polar Adventure, and many other theatres including the Ocean theatre which can be
considered the most famous spot for its sea lion and dolphin shows.

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Taiwan
National Palace Museum

The museum is located in Shilin District in Taipei City. It boasts a collection of

around 700,000 pieces of ancient Chinese imperial artifacts and artworks that span
over 10,000 years of history. It is likened to the Forbidden City in Beijing but should
NOT be confused as Taiwan is not part of mainland China. Taiwans relation to the
rest of China is a very touchy subject to mention to any natives!
There are quite a few imperial pieces and various bronzes, enamels, jades,
textiles, porcelains, calligraphies that make the collection really unique in the entire
world. The collection showcases the development of Chinese art since the Neolithic
Age. The museums contents are rarely showcased outside of Taipei.

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The three priceless treasures (left to right): Century old cabbage carved out of jade, a layered rock
carved as steamed pork, and a dukes bronze cauldron completely inscribed on the inside from 771 BC

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