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Sights

It offers such a wide array of attractions that one can easily spend a whole week without getting bored. Some of the main attractions are:

Tiananmen Square
'The Square of the Gate of Heavenly Peace' is reportedly the largest square of the world, with 1 km2. It is framed by the 'Great Hall of the People' on its west side and the 'Museum of Chinese History' and 'Museum of the Chinese Revolution' on the east. On the south part is 'Chairman Mao's Mausoleum'.
At the north side is the entrance to the Forbidden City

Jinshan Park
Just behind the Imperial Palace is the Jinshan Park. On top of the hill is a pagoda where you get a good view over the Imperial Palace and the city.

Bei Hai Park
Located just west of the Forbidden City, this park is set on the shores of a nice lake. Its bright white pagoda on top of a hill is visible quite far and dominates the park.

Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan)
The best time to see this park is when it opens at 6:30. It is a good place to see Chinese people doing their numerous morning activities like Taiqi, martial arts, ballroom dancing, playing musical instruments, Mahjiang and Chinese Chess.
The entrance is CNY 30.

Lama Temple (Yong He Gong)

Located in the north of the city is the Lama Temple.

Summer Palace (Yu He Yuan)
The summer palace has been built be the mother of the last emperor, Xi Qi. It is a pleasant garden with numerous imperial buildings on the shore of a lake. The whole garden has been built out of taxes raised for building a marine for China. o that nobody could accuse her of not building any ships, the Emperor Dowager built one marble ship at a jetty.
It takes about an hour from the center to the Summer Palace. The entrance is CNY 35.