Visited in June 2024 just before the site was added to the WH list. On this review I will focus on the parts of the axis that are not inscribed otherwise, so I'm skipping Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City and Wanning Bridge in this review.

After visiting Temple of Heaven I exited it through the western gate. From here starts Yongdingmen Park and I was surprised to see almost immediately a map of the Beijing Central Axis that showed the core zone and the buffer zone of the WH site! On the map Yongdingmen Park was marked as "Southern Section Road Archeological Sites". Walking bit further into the park there were other maps showing the exact spots of these archaeological sites. Of those 3 marked sites I only saw the one titled as "Stone Road Site North of the Yongdingmen Gate" which according to the information sign is "the material evidence that irrefutably show the location, orientation, engineering techniques, and history of continuous use of the central road, and bear witness to the state ritual traditions that has continued on Beijing Central Axis to this day." Big words for what is essentially now couple stone slabs on the ground. Next to this these stone slabs is however the magnificent Yongdingmen Gate. I was then surprised to learn that this gate was rebuilt in 2005 and nothing around it is original construction (except those stone slabs). Best part of visiting the park and the gate was that there was almost no one around and it was very nice experience after the crowded Temple of Heaven.

On the day of my visit to the Forbidden City I entered it via Tian'anmen Gate and the Outer Jinshui Bridges. This is where the famous picture of Mao is hanging. After the Tian'anmen Gate you pass through the Upright Gate and then walk past the Altar of Land and Grain and the Imperial Ancestral Temple before entering the Forbidden City. I have to say that I didn't really pay attention to these buildings and I only have photo of the Upright Gate. After visiting the Forbidden City I climbed on top of the Jingshan Hill. You need to buy a ticket to enter the Jingshan Park where the hill is located. The hill is man-made from the the soil excavated in forming the moats of the Forbidden City and the hill was made to protect the palace from evil spirits and dust storms. The view from the top of the hill over the Forbidden City is magnificent and you get 360 degree views of whole Beijing. Definitely a place worth of visit!

On another day I visited the northernmost section of the Central Axis which is the Bell and Drum Towers. Most sites in Beijing are closed on Mondays but these towers however were open. You can buy the ticket to visit both towers at the Drum Tower entrance. The stairs to climb up these towers are very steep so visit is not for the faint-hearted. I arrived perfectly inside the Drum Tower to experience a drumming session. I guess it happens multiple times during the day but I didn't see a schedule anywhere so I was grateful to be there on time. Both towers offer great views over Beijing and the surrounding hutongs. Attached to this review is a photo from the Drum Tower towards Jingshan Hill.

As a whole Beijing Central Axis is an amazing site as it includes the stellar sites of Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven, and I can't give it lower score than 4 stars for that. The sites do demonstrate the linear city planning, especially when you're on top of the Jingshan Hill or the Drum and Bell Towers, and you can see the axis going through the city. It was fun to visit the different components of this site and China seems to be proud of this site as there were information signs and maps of the Central Axis on all the sites I visited.