Dictionaries offer final word on buildings

Three volumes examine Chinese and Western architecture in detail, Huang Zhiling reports.

Beijing hosts a number of architectural styles from soaring skyscrapers to ancient buildings. It has married the modern with the traditional. Visitors to the Forbidden City in the city center can sample and appreciate the delights of master craftsmen with their ancient skills on show amid the rumble of traffic.

Likewise, visitors to the Summer Palace in the capital's western suburbs are also in for a treat, not least in its winding gardens.

The Forbidden City, which was included on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list in 1987, was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911). Its construction started in 1406 and was completed in 1420.