Ba Sing Se University is a major school of thought, serving scholars throughout the Earth Kingdom, he greatest university in the world. The BSSU campus is a major landmark in the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se. It is regarded as a major achievement of engineering, architecture, and science, especially for its famed Kim Astrology Tower and the two-acre Mung-Yi Research Koi Pond. It has classes in Music, Zoology, Architecture, Anthropology, including a class on Desert Cultures, Art, Geography, History, Astrology, Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Drama, Earthbending, and much, much more.

South of Ba Sing Se, the cliffs, one white the other red, stand facing each other with a wide ravine between them. Early Earth Kingdom natives noticed that the ground of the ravine was charred and black and legend holds that the cliffs were created in an ancient battle between Earthbenders and Firebenders, the conflict being awesome that the very ground they fought on soaked up their power and animosity. The cliffs currently are mined for "spark rocks," small, craggy stones used by Earth Kingdom citizens to start fires.

Underneath the palace, and possibly much of the city, lies Old Ba Sing Se, an ancient underground city deep within the earth. These catacombs are the remnants of the first settlement in the area, carved underground by Earthbenders. When the city outgrew the original city and spread to the surface, the caverns were abandoned and eventually buried beneath the new city. Inside the interior of Old Ba Sing Se still lie the ancient stone structures, a waterfall and pool, and the luminescent green crystals that gave Ba Sing Se its fame.

Located in the Lower Ring, this is the most romantic make-out spot in town by night, and hugely popular with moms and toddlers who come to feed the turtle ducks by day.