Three Thousand Images 
Our trip started in Beijing. We stayed in the area for 3 days and saw the major sights. Following is a list of the major sights, with a brief description. Click on the name of the sight below to see more info from Wikipedia.
"The buildings of the Forbidden City are newly painted and the beautiful carved designs were painted blue, gold, green and black against the red wood. There were no nails or glue used in construction. The gates into each inner section are huge, perhaps 20 ft x 20ft and it was hard to imagine anyone locking them at night. The 20 ft. long tree-like bar that went across was hung in the tunnel of each gate."
"There were 9,999 rooms in the Palace. We viewed and visited buildings named Supreme Harmony and Peace. Each gate had 81 studs or 9x9 studs, a lucky number. There were always 3 gates: one for the emperor, one for women, one for men, and I'm not sure where the 7000 eunuchs went."
"Dragons were everywhere (an image reserved for the emperor), and also large golden pots for putting out fires. The City had been trashed many times, including the invasion of the Japanese, the two Opium wars, and the Great Revolution (Mao). Most of the gold was scraped off everything, furniture removed, and at some points, buildings were burned and restored."
"As we drive near the Summer Palace. we are going to one corner so we can walk down the long pavilion along the lake, and then taking a dragon boat to one of the entrances. Since it is the weekend, it is packed with families. Most have a small child and many older people too.All are walking through the Duchess Xixi birthday palace as well as the stone boat she created with the Navy’s money, and the gaily painted pavilion along the lake. She bricked in her son’s house, so that he had to remain in the garden and could not rule. "
"After lunch we headed to the Temple of Heaven - Tiantan, built during Emperor Yongle’s time and completed in 1420. It is in a park with long graveled walkways, reminding me of Paris parks. There were many retired people gathered under the long covered walkways, playing chess, singing in groups, and playing with a hackey sack feathered ball. Grant said his mother came here every morning for Tai chi exercises and to walk. Retirees (age 55 and older) are admitted free to all parks, and they were all happy and fun to watch, many singing the songs they knew from the revolutionary era."
"We drive to the Ming Tombs (Shisan Ling) from the 1600s. Thirteen of the 16 Ming emperors are buried in separate underground tombs in this area. You can see the various temples on tops of hills in the distance. Although you can spend a day walking to each of them (they are far in the distance, but there is a map), we rode through orchard after orchard, and even a 5-year old abandoned Disneyland-like place to get to the Emperor Wanli and his two empresses’ tombs. He started building this tomb when he was twenty-two years old and had a huge party when it was finished. We walked through the usual gates and then around a large area, and then took stairs down seven floors to arrive at 3 very large rooms filled with empty coffins and various statues. Originally there were many trunks with textiles, jewels, robes, and other wealth."
"Suddenly we came to a section of the Great Wall rising on both sides of the road. This was not the Badaling Gate, but you could look up into the mountains and see people, little ants, crawling up and down the Wall. It was shocking so much wall up huge mountains. Who could have possibly built this?! Everything in China has so much history. To think of a wall where one million people died making it. Many of them are buried in the wall, they say. It was started in the Han Dynasty and snakes over the land for 4000 miles."