The Peking Man Site is just on the west side of Zhoukoudian Village, which is a small village, situated 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Beijing. It is a large natural cave. Some 700,000 years ago, a species of Homo sapiens lived here for about 300,000 years, leaving several layers of ash as evidence of the use of fire. In addition, a number of stone tools were excavated here.

The site was discovered in 1921 by the Swede John Gunnar Andersson. Intensive excavation began in 1927. The site yielded nearly 200 pieces of Peking Man fossil (representing around 40 individuals), over 10,000 stone artifacts, several layers of ash as evidence of fire use, and more than 100 specimen of fossil animal. The site was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

Ten-Thousand-Happiness Pavilion (Wanfuge) is the largest pavilion in the temple. In the center of the pavilion is a huge standing statue of Maitreya Buddha of the Future carved out of a single trunk of white sandalwood tree presented by the Seventh Dalai Lama. It is 26 meters (85 feet) high 18 meters (59 feet) above the ground and 8 meters (26 feet) under the ground and 8 meters (26 feet) in diameter. According to the Guinness Book of World Records the Maitreya is the tallest and biggest in the world today. Behind the Great Buddha there are ten thousand small Buddhist statues on three storey hence the name Ten-Thousand-Happiness Pavilion.

Entrance Feet: CNY 25

Opening Hours: 09:00 - 16:00

Transportation:
A. Bus Routes:
Take Bus No. 13, 44, 116,117, 684 or 807 and get off at Yonghegong (Lama Temple)
B. Subway:
Take Subway Line 2 or 5 and get off at Yonghegong Station.

Covering an area of 66,000 square meters (16.3 square miles), it is a combination of mainstream Han and ethnic Tibetan Buddhist architectural styles. The temple has a total of 1,000 rooms, featuring five large halls and five courtyards with beautifully decorative archways, unturned eaves and carved details. It houses a treasury of Buddhist art, including sculptured images of gods, demons and Buddhas, as well as Tibetan style murals.

The temple is arranged along a north-south central axis, which has a length of 480 meters (525 yards). The main gate is at the southern end of this axis. Along the axis, there are five main halls which are separated by courtyards: the Hall of the Heavenly Kings (Tian Wang Dian or Devaraja Hall), the Hall of Harmony and Peace (Yonghegong), the Hall of Everlasting Protection (Yongyoudian), the Hall of the Wheel of the Law (Falundian), and the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses (Wanfuge). The Hall of the Heavenly Kings is the southernmost of the main halls, it served originally as the main entrance to the monastery. In the center of the hall stands a statue of the Maitreya Buddha, along the walls statues of the four Heavenly Kings are arranged.

As the largest and best-preserved lamasery in Beijing, the Lama Temple (Yonghegong) is located in the northeast part of the city, on the eastern side of Lama Temple Street. Yonghegong, meaning 'Palace of Eternal Harmony', was built in 1694 originally as a residence for Prince Yongzheng before he ascended the throne. After Yongzheng's death in 1735, his coffin was placed in the temple. Emperor Qianlong, his successor, upgraded Yonghegong to an imperial palace with its turquoise tiles replaced by yellow tiles (yellow was the imperial color in the Qing Dynasty, 1644 - 1911). During the 9th year of Emperor Qianlong's region (1744), it was converted into a lamasery and became a residence for large numbers of monks from Mongolia and Tibet.

The east and west auxiliary halls of the Biyong Hall originally housed the Qianlong Stone Scriptures. In the middle of the 18th century, Emperor Qianlong ordered to have the Thirteen Classics engraved in stone. To carry out his order, a scholar named Jiang Heng spent 20 years carving the 630,000 Chinese characters onto 189 stone tablets. Today these tables are located to the east of the Taixue Gate.

Behind the Biyong Hall stands the former Chongwen (Exalted Literature) Pavilion, this used to be a library during the Yuan Dynasty. Later its name was changed to the Yilun (Ethics) Hall. Here the emperor and other noted scholars gave lectures during the period before the Biyong Hall was built. Now it is one of the reading rooms of the Capital Library.

Entrance Fee: CNY 30 (through ticket including the Confucius Temple and the Imperial College)

Transportation:
A. Bus Routes:
Take Bus No. 13, 116,117 or 684 and get off at Yonghegong (Lama Temple).
Take Bus No. 104, 108, 113, 124, 758 or 850 and get off at Fangjia Hutong.
B. Subway: Take Subway Line 2 or 5 and get off at Yonghegong Station.

Opening Hours: 08:30 - 16:30

The college is located to the west of the Confucian Temple and connects with the temple through a side gate. Established in 1287 during the Yuan Dynasty and subsequently enlarged several times, it attains its present dimensions during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, the Imperial College was completely renovated and the Capital Library was incorporated within its grounds.

Upon entering the main gate, visitors will be confronted by a pair of wells as well as the Taixue (Highest Scholarship) Gate, also known as the Jixian (Assembled Virtue) Gate. Inside this gate is a glazed tile memorial archway with bell and drum towers standing to the east and west. In front of the gate is the famous Biyong (Jade Disc) Hall. The square pavilion, which lies in the center of a circular pond, has a double-eave roof surmounted by a gilded sphere. The pond is crossed by four marble bridges and provided on four sides with stone spouts in the shape of dragon's heads. It was here that the emperor came occasionally to expound the classics to an audience consisting of civil and military officials from the imperial court and students of the Imperial College.

The Imperial College (Guo Zi Jian), also called the Imperial Central School or Imperial Academy, was the highest learning institute in the traditional educational system of ancient China after the Sui Dynasty (581 - 618). The Imperial College was usually located in the capital city of the dynasty such as Beijing, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Nanjing and Xian.

The Imperial College situated in the Guozijian Street (or Chengxian Street) in the Dongcheng District of Beijing was the Imperial College during the Yuan (1271 - 1368), Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644 - 1911) Dynasties (although most of its buildings were built during the Ming Dynasty). It was the last Imperial College in China and is an important national cultural asset.

The Bell Tower and Drum Towers provide an overview of central Beijing and before the modern era, they both dominated Beijing's ancient skyline. They were listed among the first batch of cultural relics under municipal protection in 1957 and listed as a cultural relic under state-level protection in 1996.

Opening Hours: 9:00 - 17:00

Entrance Fee: Bell Tower: CNY 15 Drum Tower: CNY 20

Transportation:
A. Bus Routes: Take Bus No. 5, 60, 815, 834, 819, 124, 107 and get off at Drum Tower bus stop.
B. Subway: Take Subway Line 2 (Loop-line), get off at Drum Tower Street station, get out of the station from Exit B in the southwest, and walk south.

Bell Tower
The Bell Tower stands closely behind the drum tower. It was also built in the 9th year of the Zhi Yuan period of the Yuan Dynasty. Later it was burnt down. It was rebuilt in the 10th year of the Qian Long period of the Qing Dynasty (in 1745).

The Bell Tower stands 47.9 meters (157 feet) high and 63 tons in weight, thus is the biggest ancient bell in china. It is an ancient domed, double-eaved tower made of stones and bricks covered with black glazed tiles and edged with green glazed tiles with no beam in the building. It appears a semi-sphere in the center of the roof over the second floor. Under the octagonal bell rack, there hangs a big bell which was inscribed with 'It was built on a lucky day, month and year under the reign of Emperor Yongle'.

Drum Tower
The Drum Tower was built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan, when it stood at the very heart of the Yuan capital Khanbaliq. At that time it was known as the Tower of Orderly Administration (Qizhenglou), which means seven administrations- gold, wood, water, fire, earth, sun and moon. Later it was burnt down by fire. Then it was rebuilt in the first year of the reign of Emperor Cheng Zong of the Yuan Dynasty. In the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Yong Le of the Ming Dynasty it was rebuilt again.

Being 46.7 meters (153 feet) high, the Drum Tower is an arched wooden structure with three layers of upturned eaves, covered with grey tube-shaped tiles and edged with green glazed tiles. In the past there was a Bronze Clepsydra, 24 drums and one main drum on the second floor, but now only the drumhead remains there.