Among the great tourist attractions are:

The Forbidden City. The city was off limits to outsiders for over 500 years, which is how it got its name. Today the Forbidden City is one of China's premier tourist attractions boasting of its biggest and best preserved ancient buildings. The city is flanked by two impressive ceremonial structures - the Gate of Heavenly Peace to the south and the Divine Military Genius Gate to the north.

The Great Wall of China represents the height of Chinese architecture. It was constructed 2,000 years ago during the Qing Dynasty when China was unified under Emperor Qin Shihuang. Hundreds of thousands of workers and about 180 million cubic meters of earth were used to create the core of the original wall. Later on, additional walls were constructed and linked to the original Great Wall as China bulked up its defenses against wandering nomads.

Army of Terracotta Warriors.  Archaeologists consider the army to be one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. Discovered in 1974, the Army of Terracotta Warriors consists of over 6,000 life size terracotta soldiers and their horses, all facing east and arraigned in a rectangular battle formation. Each soldier bears unique facial features and is dressed in full war regalia.

Summer Palace. Located in Beijing, the Summer Palace is exceptionally popular and exploring its entity takes half a day. Once the favorite summer hideaway of China's royalty, the Palace boasts of great temples, gardens, pavilions and a lake.
 
The Grand Buddha is the largest Buddha in the world. It is a stunning monument standing 71 meters high (233 feet) and carved into the face of a cliff overlooking two rivers. His ears alone are 7 meters (23 feet) long while his feet are 8.5 meters (28 feet) wide. First started in 713 AD, construction of the Grand Buddha took over 90 years to finish.