Beijing Millennium Monument

When you travel to Beijing there are more than enough things to do and see. Beijing's Millennium Monument itself is a great place to see for its unique architectural structure and the interesting exhibitions inside it. But because of its proximity to other cool places you can easily plan one of  your Beijing tours in this area and spend half a day or more there. It is easy to find the monument, it's just around the corner north west of the Military Museum, an interesting museum which can be pretty crowded on the weekend with long lines at the ticket booths. The closest subway station is right in front of the museum (Military Museum station, line 1) and from there it's not more than a few minutes to walk. The monument is at the south entrance of the really nice Yuyuantan Parkwhere you can go for a walk or rent a boat and if you walk through it to the west gate you are very close to the CCTV tower from where you have a great view over the city on clear days. The Millennium Monument has a very unique and modern architecture and was built to welcome the year 2000. The monument includes the main stone building in the north and an open space south of it. The main part is a composition of two elements, the three storey immovable foundation with a two story body on top which is designed to rotate 19 degrees. On top of this rotary element is a 27 feet long pointer in a 45 degree angle. It symbolizes China's people's spirit of creation and the attitude never to give up. With a weight of 3200 tons this rotating altar is the largest and most important of its kind in the world. The monument serves more purposes than welcoming the new millennium. It also contains the Beijing World Art Museum wich researches and exhibits foreign art and shows temporary as well as permanent exhibitions, and it also serves as a center for patriotism and art education as well as cultural communication. The temporary exhibitions which are on the first floor are very interesting. It is unfortunate for foreign visitors that all the information provided is in Chinese, so for people who don't speak Chinese it's hard to learn anything from the descriptions and additional information. When you walk up you can get to the center of the foundation holding the 'masterpiece' which is the circular Millennium Hall. It contains a great 360 degree frieze showing the past, present and future of Chinese history. The center of the hall consists of a very bright and detailed golden construction and the darker ceiling is decorated with stars. This creates the impression of a complete cosmos inside this circular hall, with the sun in the center and the stars in the dark sky at the same time. One level above, on top of the foundation, there is a long hallway going once around the rotary construction. It contains 40 bronze statues of important personalities of Chinese history with a short explication in English and in Chinese. The statues lining one side of the hallway were unveiled in 2011 and give a great overview over personalities and milestones in the country's history. Opposite of the figures there are numerous pictures showing the 56 national minorities of China. South of the monument is the so called 'Plaza of Holy Fire' which is paved with 960 pieces of granite, a symbolic number since China's territory is in total 9,600,000 square kilometers. It also holds a bronze tunnel inscribed with China's history, from very early times to the year 2000. There is a large open-air stage for performances and several thousand people can be seated at the monument for events. Even if your Beijing hotel is not in the vicinity of the monument there is no reason not to see it, especially if the weather is good. And if you're lucky there might even be an event at the Millennium Monument while you're in Beijing. So, maybe you can take the opportunity to turn a memorable visit into an unforgettable experience. from China Travel Blog http://blog.chinatraveldepot.com

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