Great Wall at Badaling section—one of the Seven Wonders of the World
Two thousand, five hundred (2500) years ago, China was divided into 7 independent kingdoms who were fighting constantly. Three kingdoms started the first construction of the Great Wall to protect their territories. In 221 BC, after the unification of the country, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty had the walls linked up and extended. Over one million people spent 10 years to complete this 300-mile defense work by the northern border of China. Renovation and reconstructions to the original wall continued through out Chinese feudal system except for the Yuan and the Qing dynasties. During the Ming Dynasty in early 15th century, the Great Wall reached its maximum length—4000 miles from the northeast coast to the Gobi Desert in the northwest. An estimated 30% of the construction labors died during the backbreaking work and were just buried under the wall.

Badaling, with a top elevation of 3000 feet, is more than 70 kilometers from the center of Beijing City. It is the most important strategic mountain pass at the northwest of Beijing. The wall of Badaling is a total length of 3,741 meters with an average height of 8 meters. This section of the Great Wall was made by huge bar stones. Some of the stones have a height of two meters with a weight of hundreds of kilograms. Inside the Wall is made of mud and stone block. The top floor of the Great Wall was paved with square bricks which made the floor very orderly and smooth. On the highest place, signal fire platforms were set to send warning signals in the ancient China. One fire with one smoke meant the enemy was about 100 men; two fires with two smoke meant 500 men, and three fires with three smoke meant more than 1,000 men... By this way, the persons who were warned were able to know the state of the enemy. In 1987, Badaling became ' World Cultural heritage' by the UNECO

Summer Palace
Situated in the western outskirts of Beijing, the Summer Palace is 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from the city center. The Summer Palace is the archetypal Chinese garden, and is ranked amongst the most noted and classical gardens of the world. In 1998, it was listed as one of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. After its first construction 800 years ago, it was extended continuously. By the time of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it had become a luxurious royal garden providing royal families with rest and entertainment. Like most of the gardens of Beijing, it could not elude the rampages of the Anglo-French allied force and was destroyed by fire. In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi embezzled navy funds to reconstruct it for her own benefit, changing its name to Summer Palace. She spent most of her later years there, dealing with state affairs and entertaining. In 1900, it suffered again, being ransacked by the Eight-Power Allied Force. After the success of the 1911 Revolution, it was opened to the public and composed mainly of Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake, Long Corridor, Marble Boat and Empress Dowager Cixi’s court and living quarter, The Summer Palace occupies an area of 294 hectares (726.5 acres), three quarters of which is water.