BEIJING
Beijing is a metropolis in northern China and the capital of the People's Republic of
China. Beijing is a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and motorways
passing through the city. It is also the focal point of many international flights to China.
Beijing is recognized as the political, educational, and cultural center of the People's
Republic of China. The best times to visit Beijing are spring (April and May are nicest) and fall
(September and October can be beautiful). Beijing or Peking means "northern capital". The
term Peking originated with French missionaries four hundred years ago and corresponds to
an older pronunciation. The city has been renamed several times: (Jin Dynasty) Zhongdu,
(Mongol Yuan Dynasty) Dadu, (Ming Dynasty) Hongwu, Beiping (Peiping)= ''northern peace’’,
Nanjing, Yanjing. October 1st 1949. Communist Party Of China, under the leadership of Mao
Zedong announced in Tiananmen the creation of the People's Republic of China and renamed
the city back to Beijing.
Beijing is situated at the northern tip of the roughly triangular North China Plain, which
opens to the south and east of the city. Mountains to the north, northwest and west shield the
city and northern China's agricultural heartland from the encroaching desert steppes. The
city's climate is a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate, characterized by hot, humid
summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and generally cold, windy, dry winters that reflect
the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone.
Television and radio: CCTV, Beijing Television(BTV), China Radio International, Radio 774.
Press: Beijing Evening News (Beijing Wanbao), The Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao), the Beijing
Star Daily, the Beijing Morning News, and the Beijing Youth Daily (Beijing Qingnian Bao),
Beijing Weekly, Beijing Today, Youth Daily, People's Daily, City Weekend, Beijing This Month,
Beijing Talk, That's Beijing, MetroZine.
Sports: Chinese Super League, Beijing Guoan, Chinese Football Association Jia League,
Beijing Hongdeng, Beijing Institute of Technology FC, Chinese Basketball Association,
Beijing Ducks, Women's Chinese Basketball Association, Beijing Shougang, Asia League Ice
Hockey, China Sharks, China Baseball League, Beijing Tigers.
The Forbidden City (Zijin Cheng)
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The Forbidden City was the Chinese
imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to
the end of the Qing Dynasty.
It is located in the middle of Beijing, China,
and now houses the Palace Museum.
For almost five centuries, it served as the
home of the Emperor and his household,
as well as the ceremonial and political
centre of Chinese government.
The complex consists 980 surviving
buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and
covers 720,000 square meters.
Forbidden City, which is located north of
the Tiananmen Square, and to whom is
going through the same gate, UNESCO
declared World Heritage in 1987. year.
Building forbidden city started the 1406th
year.
It took 14 years and about 200,000 workers
to complete the complex.
It is protected by UNESCO.
Part of his name - Forbidden refers to the
fact that no one could enter or leave the
palace without the permission of the
emperor.
The design of the Forbidden City, from its
overall layout to the smallest detail, was
meticulously planned to reflect
philosophical and religious principles, and
above all to symbolize the majesty of
Imperial power.
The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall Of China is a
series of stone and earthen
fortifications in China, built,
rebuilt, and maintained between
the 5th century BC and the 16th
century to protect the northern
borders of the Chinese Empire
from Xiongnu attacks during the
rule of successive dynasties.
 It stretches over approximately
6,400 km (4,000 miles) from
Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop
Nur in the west, along an arc that
roughly delineates the southern
edge of Inner Mongolia, but
stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160
miles) in total.
 It was guarded by more than one
million men.
 Notable Areas: "North Pass" ,
"West Pass" , "Pass".
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Beijing Kaoya- Beijing Duck
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Peking Duck: a delicious,
lightly-smoked, rich meal
complimented by pancakes,
dipping sauce, vegetable
filling and irresistible slivers
of juicy meat, fat and crispy
skin.
Peking Duck is said to
originate from Inner
Mongolia and was first
served in a Peking
restaurant in 1855.
The original recipe for
Peking Duck includes a
description of how to build
and fire the oven for
smoking the bird!
Tiananmen Square
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The heart of modern China beats in
Tiananmen Square, the symbol of the
People's Republic and the center of
Beijing's landmarks.
The flagstones of Tiananmen cover a
staggering 440,000 square meters,
enough space to allow a million
people to gather there.
The Tiananmen Gate Tower sites at
the north, the Five-Star Red Flag flies
high on the square, the Monument to
the People's Heroes dominates the
center, the Great Hall of the People
and the Museum of the Chinese
Revolution and the Museum of
Chinese History to the east and west
of it, as well as The Chairman Mao
Memorial Hall and the Qianmen gate,
sit in the south of the square.
Over several hundred years, in front
of the Tiananmen, many democracy
meetings and demonstrations are
held.
Five Star Red Flag-the Chinese
national flag, flies high in the sky
above the Square.
Summer Palace
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It is one of the best parks in the city.
Originally it was a retreat for
emperors to escape the scorching
summer heat of Beijing.
The Summer Palace is huge, most of
it being taken up by Kunming Lake.
The dirt that was dug up to make the
lake was piled up and made into
Longevity Hill.
On top of Longevity Hill are several
Buddhist temples, which, on clear
days, offer good views of the lake.
Small boats are available for rent and
you can motor or paddle about the
lake.
Another part of the park, called
Suzhou street, which is supposed to
be a model of what the city of Suzhou
looked like in the Qing Dynasty.
The “street”encircles a short canal,
which you can go up and down in a
gondola-like boat.
Temple Of Heaven
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Built between 1409 and 1420, the
Temple of Heaven is one of Beijing"s
most impressive parks in terms of
Heaven is one of Beijing"s most
impressive parks in terms of
architecture, color and significance.
The Temple is basically a huge
communications terminal which the
Emperor used to communicate directly
with Heaven.
Several times a year, the Emperor would
come here to pray for good harvests,
enough rain and other heavenly boons.
The construction of the Temple is based
around the number nine, the largest of
the single digits, which is divine in
Chinese numerology.
The Temple consists of four basic parts:
the Round Altar, the Echo Wall, the
Imperial Vault of Heaven, and the Hall of
prayer for Good Harvests.
The Round Altar is where the Emperor
would report on the status of the
country to Heaven.
The Altar is constructed in the middle,
anything you say is amplified several
times.
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This is because when the Emperor was talking with Heaven,
his voice was supposed to be amplified so that it was as if
his voice was as loud as the collective voice of a whole
nation.
The Echo Wall is a round structure which if you whisper
along the inner wall, your voice can be heard all the way
around the other side.
However, there is always a crowd of people whispering(and
shouting) so it is very hard to get the desired effect.
Supposedly the Emperor would use this method to secretly
confer with Inner Court members.
The Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for
Good Harvests are both structures which were places of
worship for the Emperor.
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is remarkable because
it is a 38-meter-tall building which does not have a single
nail holding it together.
The original was burnt down in 1889 but has been faithfully
reconstructed.
The hall has 28 wooden pillars supporting a 39-meter tower
of three conical roofs, covered with blue glazed tiles, to
reflect the color of the sky.
The wooden walls are richly decorated, inside and out.
To the west of the complex is the Hall of Abstinence, where
the emperors would prepare themselves for the solemn
occasion by spending a night fasting (and without
concubines!).
If you go to the Temple of Heaven in the early morning , you
can see groups of people practicing all types of kung fu and
taiji.
You can also practice with them if you are so inclined. This
is another good activity for the jetlagged.
Ming Tombs
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Otherwise known as the “13 Tombs”,
this is the burial site of 13 out of 17
emperors of the Ming Dynasty.
However, the only one you can get a
good look at is the tomb of Emperor
Wanli, who reigned from 1537 to
1620.
This tomb was unearthed in 1956.
There are two others that have been
uncovered, but the rest remain
illusive.
The best part of the Ming Tombs is
the road there.
The spirit Way is the path leading to
the mouth of the tomb.
Along the path are bizarre, mythical
stone monsters standing guard.
To get to the tomb itself, you have to
walk down many flights of stairs till
you are deep inside the mountain.
But the actual tomb chambers are a
little disappointing.
It's just a couple of stone rooms,
excavated treasures.
Hutong
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According to linguistic experts,
"hutong" originally meant "well"
in the Mongolian, Uygur and
Manchu languages.
A hutong is an ancient city alley
or lane typical in Beijing, where
hutongs run into the several
thousand.
The main buildings in the hutong
were almost all quadrangles--a
building complex formed by four
houses around a quadrangular
courtyard.
The quadrangles varied in size
and design according to the
social status of the residents.
The ordinary people's
quadrangles were simply built
with small gates and low houses.
Hutongs, in fact, are
passageways formed by many
closely arranged quadrangles of
different sizes.
Lama Temple = The Yonghe Temple = Palace of Peace
and Harmony
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Is a temple and monastery of the Geluk
School of Tibetan Buddhism located in the
northeastern part of Beijing.
The building and the artworks of the
temple combine Han Chinese and Tibetan
styles.
Building work on the Yonghe Temple
started in 1694 during the Qing Dynasty.
The Yonghe Temple is arranged along a
north-south central axis, which has a
length of 480m.
Along the axis, there are five main halls
which are separated by courtyards: the
Hall of the Heavenly Kings (Tian Wang
Dian or Devaraja Hall), the Hall of Harmony
and Peace (Yonghegong), the Hall of
Everlasting Protection (Yongyoudian), the
Hall of the Wheel of the Law (Falundian),
and the Pavilion of Ten Thousand
Happinesses (Wanfuge).
The Hall of the Heavenly Kings is the
southernmost of the main halls, it served
originally as the main entrance to the
monastery.
In the center of the hall stands a statue of
the Maitreya Buddha, along the walls
statues of the four Heavenly kings are
arranged
Beihai Park
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Beihai Park is an extremely popular
attraction among Beijingers and
tourists.
It is very large, about 68.2 hectares,
and almost two-thirds of the park is a
lake.
The park sits in the Beijing’s center,
used to be the royal garden of the Jin,
Yuan, Ming and Qing Emperors.
Besides the lake, the main things to
see in Beihai are the Round City,
which contains a jade vase from the
time of Kublai Khan; the Temple of
Eternal Peace, the Nine Dragon
Screen, which is really a 5-meterhigh, 27-meter-long wall covered with
glazed tiles carved into nine
intertwining dragons;and the White
Pagoda on Gem Island in the center
of the lake.
You can paddle around in a bizarre
assortment of boats.
Within Beihai is also the famous
Fangshan Restaurant, the best known
of the Imperial Court style
restaurants where you can eat Qing
Dynasty type food, for a pretty penny.
Capital Museum
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The former Capital Museum,
which was located in the
Confucius Temple, started its
planning stage in 1953 and
formally opened to the general
public in 1981.
The museum is a five-storey
mansion, catering for a maximum
of 13 concurrent exhibitions,
which can be seen in about 5
hours at the cost of 30 Yuan per
visitor.
The architectural design concept
of the Capital Museum is based
on human and cultural heritage
to serve the community and
underlines the harmonious
integration of past and present,
history and modernism, art and
nature.
The construction of the Capital
Museum itself is a piece of
architectural artwork integrating
both classical and modern
beauty.