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There were cities in the vicinities of Beijing by the 1st millennium BC, and the capital of the State of Yan (?), one of the powers of the Warring States Period, was established at Ji (T: ? / S: ?), near modern Beijing. Ji has often been claimed to be the beginning of Beijing; but in reality Ji had been abandoned no later than the 6th century. The exact location of Ji remains unknown despite much effort in recent decades to identify the site.
 Remnants of city walls around Beijing (August 2004 image)
Remnants of city walls around Beijing (August 2004 image)
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, only small towns existed in this area. Numerous ancient poets came here to mourn the lost city, as testified by their compositions.
In Tianningsi, slightly to the southwest of central Beijing.
Mongol forces burned Zhongdu to the ground in China because Beijing was closer to his power base in Mongolia. The decision of the Khan greatly enhanced the status of a city that had been situated on the northern fringe of China proper. Dadu was situated north of modern central Beijing. It centred on what is now the northern stretch of the 2nd Ring Road, and stretched northwards to between the 3rd and 4th Ring Roads. There are remnants of Mongol-era wall still standing.
In Nanjing to Beijing (??), or "Northern Capital", situated in the north. He also gave it its modern name. Beijing during the Ming Dynasty took its current shape, and the Ming-era city wall served as the walls to the city until modern times, when it was pulled down and the 2nd Ring Road was built in its place.
It is believed that Beijing was the largest city in the world from 1425 to 1650 and from 1710 to 1825. It was the first city to reach a population of above 5,000,000.
The Forbidden City was constructed soon after that (1406-1420), followed by the Temple of Heaven (1420), and numerous other construction projects. Tian'anmen, which has become a state symbol of the People's Republic of China and is featured on its emblem, was burned down twice during the Ming Dynasty and the final reconstruction was carried out in 1651.
 The Forbidden City, home to the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties
The Forbidden City, home to the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties
 Beijing's Tian'anmen Square, as seen from the Tian'anmen Chenglou Building (taken in July of 2004)
Beijing's Tian'anmen Square, as seen from the Tian'anmen Chenglou Building (taken in July of 2004)
After the Manchus overthrew the Ming Dynasty and established the Qing Dynasty in its place, Beijing remained China's capital throughout the Qing period.
The Nanjing. After high-ranking Qing official Yuan Shikai forced the abdication of the Qing emperor in Beijing and ensured the success of the revolution, the revolutionaries in Nanjing accepted that Yuan should be the president of the ROC, and that the capital should remain at Beijing.
Yuan gradually consolidated power, culminating in his declaration of a Chinese Empire in late Zhili-Anhui War, the First Zhili-Fengtian War and the Second Zhili-Fengtian War) to take control of the capital at Beijing.
Following the success of the China in 1928, and Beijing was renamed Beiping ("Northern Peace" or "North Pacified") to emphasize that the warlord government in Beijing was not legitimate.
During the China Executive Committee">North China Executive Committee (T: ??????? / S: ???????), a puppet state that ruled Japanese-occupied North China. With Japan's surrender in World War II, on August 15, 1945, however, Beijing's name was changed back to Beiping.
On January 31, 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, Communist forces entered Beiping without a fight. On October 1 of the same year, the Communist Party of China, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, announced in Tian'anmen the creation of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. Just a few days earlier, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference had decided that Beiping would be the capital of the PRC, and that its name be changed back to Beijing.
At the time of the founding of the People's Republic, Beijing Municipality consisted of just its urban area and immediate suburbs. The urban area was divided into many small districts inside what is now the 2nd Ring Road. Since then several surrounding counties have been incorporated into the Municipality, enlarging the limits of Beijing Municipality by many times and giving it its present shape. The Beijing city wall was torn down between 1965 and 1969 to make way for the construction of the 2nd Ring Road.
Following the economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping, the urban area of Beijing has expanded greatly. Formerly within the confines of the 2nd Ring Road and the 3rd Ring Road, the urban area of Beijing is now pushing at the limits of the recently-constructed 5th Ring Road and 6th Ring Road (currently under construction), with many areas that were formerly farmland now developed residential or commercial neighborhoods. A new commercial area has developed in the Guomao area, Wangfujing and Xidan have developed into flourishing shopping districts, while Zhongguancun has become a major center of electronics in China.
As the national capital, Beijing has also been the site of political turmoil in recent years. Tiananmen Square, widely regarded as the spiritual center of China, was the site of first the Tiananmen Square protests of 1976 and then the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, which ended in a military crackdown. Tiananmen Square has also been the site of protests by Falun Gong.
In recent years, the expansion of Beijing has also brought to the forefront some problems of urbanization, such as heavy traffic, poor air quality, the loss of historic neighborhoods, and significant influx of migrants from poorer regions of the country, especially rural areas.
Early 2005 saw the approval by government of a plan to finally stop the sprawling development of Beijing in all directions. Development of the Chinese capital would now proceed in two semicircular bands just outside of the city centre (both west and east) instead of being in concentric rings.
Beijing has been chosen to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, an event that has sparked nationalistic pride across China.
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Neighbourhoods
 Southern end of Wangfujing Road (July 2004 image)
Southern end of Wangfujing Road (July 2004 image)
 Beijing by night.
Beijing by night.
 Beijing Bookstore at Xidan.
Beijing Bookstore at Xidan.
Major neighbourhoods in urban Beijing include the following. Neighborhoods may overlap across multiple districts (see below):
Andingmen ???
Beiyuan ??
Chaoyangmen ???
Dongzhimen ???
Fangzhuang ??
Fuchengmen ???
Fuxingmen ???
Guomao ??
Hepingli ???
Wangjing ??
Wangfujing ???
Wudaokou ???
Xidan ??
Yayuncun ???
Zhongguancun ???
Several place names in Beijing end with men (?), meaning "gate", as they were the locations of gates in the former Beijing city wall. Other place names end in cun (?), meaning "village", as they were originally villages outside the city wall.
Towns
Towns within Beijing Municipality but outside the urban area include:
Changping ??
Huairou ??
Miyun ??
Liangxiang ??
Liulimiao ???
Tongzhou ??
Yizhuang ??wim
Administrative divisions
Beijing Municipality currently comprises 18 administrative sub-divisions, county-level units governed directly by the municipality (second-level divisions). Of these, 16 are districts and 2 are counties.
The urban and suburban areas of the city are divided into eight districts:
Dongcheng District (???: D?ngchéng Q?)
Xicheng District (???: X?chéng Q?)
Chongwen District (???: Chóngwén Q?)
Xuanwu District (???: Xu?nw? Q?)
Chaoyang District (???: Cháoyáng Q?)
Haidian District (???: H?idiàn Q?)
Fengtai District (???: F?ngtái Q?)
Shijingshan District (????: Shíj?ngsh?n Q?)
The other eight districts and the two counties are located further out, and govern more distant suburbs, satellite towns, and some rural areas:
Mentougou District (????: Méntóug?u Q?)
Fangshan District (???: Fángsh?n Q?) — Fangshan County until 1986
Tongzhou District (???: T?ngzh?u Q?) — Tong County until 1997
Shunyi District (???: Shùnyì Q?) — Shunyi County until 1998
Changping District (???: Ch?ngpíng Q?) — Changping County until 1999
Daxing District (???: Dàx?ng Q?) — Daxing County until 2001
Pinggu District (???: Píngg? Q?) — Pinggu County until 2001
Huairou District (???: Huáiróu Q?) — Huairou County until 2001
Miyun County (???: Mìyún Xiàn)
Yanqing County (???: Yánqìng Xiàn)
Beijing's 18 districts and counties are further subdivided into 273 lower (third)-level administrative units at the township level: 119 towns, 24 townships, 5 ethnic townships and 125 subdistricts.
 The Beijing CBD area around Dawangqiao and Dabeiyao, as seen from the Jingtong Expressway.
The Beijing CBD area around Dawangqiao and Dabeiyao, as seen from the Jingtong Expressway.
 A corner of the emerging Beijing CBD.
A corner of the emerging Beijing CBD.
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Three styles of architecture predominate in urban Beijing. First, the traditional architecture of imperial China, perhaps best exemplified by the massive Tian'anmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace), which remains the PRC's trademark edifice, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven. Next there is what is sometimes referred to as the "Sino-Sov" style, built between the 1950s and the 1970s, which tend to be boxy, bland, and poorly made. Finally, there are much more modern architectural forms — most noticeably in the area of the Beijing CBD. Pictured below are some images of Beijing architecture — blending the old and the new.
The ancient Beijing skyline.
The boxy look of buildings made in the 1970s.
The very modern contrast.
Details of traditional architecture.
A mix of 70s and 90s styles.
Mix and match of the old and the new.
Tian'anmen Square
Wangfujing, a major commercial street.
A bizarre and striking mix of both old and new styles of architecture can be seen at the Dashanzi Art District, which mixes 1950s-design with a blend of the new. The influence of American urban form and social values in manifest in the creation of Orange County, China, a suburban development about one hour north of the city.
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People native to urban Beijing speak the Singapore. Rural areas of Beijing Municipality have their own dialects akin to those of Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing Municipality.
stage dialect quite different from modern Standard Mandarin and from the Beijing dialect; this makes the dialogue somewhat hard to understand, and the problem is compounded if one is not familiar with Chinese. As a result, modern theaters often have electronic titles in Chinese and English.
 A Beijing performance of the well-known opera Farewell my Concubine (September 2002).
A Beijing performance of the well-known opera Farewell my Concubine (September 2002).
 A hutong???? in eastern urban Beijing near Dongsishitiao. When photographed in March 2003, the left side was still standing; it has since given way to a new construction project.
A Dongsishitiao. When photographed in March 2003, the left side was still standing; it has since given way to a new construction project.
The Siheyuan (???) is a traditional architectural style of Beijing. A siheyuan consists of a square housing compound, with rooms enclosing a central courtyard. This courtyard often contains a pomegranate or other type of tree, as well as potted flowers or a fish tank. Siheyuans line Hutongs (??), or alleys, which connect the interior of Beijing's old city. They are usually straight and run east-to-west so that doorways can face north and south for Feng Shui reasons. They vary in width — some are very narrow, enough for only a few pedestrians to pass through at a time.
Once ubiquitous in Beijing, siheyuans and hutongs are now rapidly disappearing, as entire city blocks of hutongs are leveled and replaced with high-rise buildings. Residents of the hutongs are entitled to apartments in the new buildings of at least the same size as their former residences. Many complain, however, that the traditional sense of community and street life of the hutongs cannot be replaced. Some particularly historic or picturesque hutongs are being preserved and restored by the government, with the objective that by the 2008 Olympics, only these few will remain. One such example can be seen at Nanchizi.
Manhan Quanxi ("Manchu-Han Chinese full banquet") is a traditional banquet originally intended for the ethnic-Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty; it remains very prestigious and very expensive.
Teahouses are also common in Beijing. Chinese tea comes in many varieties and some rather expensive types of Chinese tea are said to cure an ailing body extraordinarily well.
The Jingtailan is a Beijing lacquerware is well known for the patterns and images carved into its surface.
The Fuling Jiabing is a traditional Beijing snack food, a pancake (bing) resembling a flat disk with filling, made from fu ling (Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf, or "tuckahoe"), an ingredient common in traditional Chinese medicine.
Stereotypes
Beijingers are stereotypically held to be open, confident, humorous, majestic in manner, enthusiastic about politics, art, culture, or other "grand" matters, unconcerned with thrift or careful calculation, and happy to take center stage. They are also stereotypically aristocratic, arrogant, laid back, disdainful of "provincials", always "lording it over others", and strongly conscious of social class. These stereotypes may have originated from Beijing's status as China's capital for most of the past 800 years, and the high concentration of officials and other notables in Beijing that has resulted.
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 The Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven
 Wansong Pagoda
Wansong Pagoda
Main article: Tourist attractions of Beijing
Despite the turmoil of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries — including damage caused by European military intervention, the Japanese invasion of WWII and the Cultural Revolution — and the recent intense urbanisation and transformation, including the demolition of hutongs, Beijing still maintains tourist attractions that are rich in history.
Although more known for its political significance in the West, China and one of the most important tourist sites of Beijing, both by itself and as the main entrance to the Forbidden City. Other world-renowned sites include the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven.
Buildings, monuments, and landmarks
Sections of the Great Wall (World Heritage Site) at:
Badaling
Juyongguan
Mutianyu
Simatai
Jinshanling
Jiankou
Forbidden City (World Heritage Site)
Tiananmen Square, site of the Tiananmen Square protests of May 4, 1919, 1976, and 1989
Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace)
Great Hall of the People (National Legislature)
The National Museum of China
Monument to the People's Heroes
Mausoleum of Mao Zedong
The Summer Palace (World Heritage Site)
Ruins of the Old Summer Palace
Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian (World Heritage Site)
The Ming Dynasty Tombs (World Heritage Site)
Bell Tower and Drum Tower
Historic Hutongs and Siheyuans in many older neighborhoods
Lugou Bridge (Marco Polo Bridge)
Prince Gong Mansion (Gong Wang Fu)
Zheng Yici Peking Opera Theatre
Liulichang Culture Street
Beijing Ancient Observatory
Temples, cathedrals, and mosques
Temple of Heaven (World Heritage Site), situated in the southern area of urban Beijing
Temple of Earth, located in northern Beijing
Temple of Sun, situated in the eastern area of urban Beijing
Temple of Moon, located in western Beijing
Tanzhe Temple
Jietai Temple
Yunju Temple
Yonghegong (Lama Temple)
Guangji Temple
Confucius Temple
Great Bell Temple
Five Pagoda Temple
Temple of Azure Clouds
Temple of Recumbent Buddha
White Dagoba Temple in Beihai Park
Badachu
Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Holy Saviour Church
Niujie Mosque
Parks and gardens
Beihai Park
Shichahai
Jingshan Park
Beijing World Park
The Fragrant Hills (Xiangshan)
The Grandview Garden (Daguanyuan)
Beijing Botanical Garden
Taoranting Park
Shopping and commercial districts
Wangfujing: Beijing's most upscale, globalized shopping district
Xidan
Beijing CBD
Beijing Financial Street
Zhongguancun
Yizhuang
See also Jin Yuan Mall.
Hotels and lodging
In first two decades following the PRC's foundation in 1949, Beijing had virtually no hotels (at least by Western standards), due to economic and social conditions at the time. One system of institution providing a place for individuals traveling to Beijing from other locations to spend the night was the zhaodaisuo (literally, "accommodation centre"). Zhaodaisuo were subordinate to state organisations or state organs. Older ones had communal public conveniences and amenities. Some zhaodaisuos still remain in use today.
In the late 1970s, Beijing, alongside much of China during the period of reform and economic opening under Deng Xiaoping, saw greater attempts at attracting and catering to international business. A large number of hotels and other facilities to accommodate business, tourist, and other visitors began to be constructed. Today, given Beijing's size and status as one of the most frequently visited and economically, politically, and culturally important cities in Asia, a great number of hotels exist, many rivalling the highest international standards.
The most well-known hotel is the Great Wall Sheraton Hotel, the Jianguo Hotel, the China World Hotel, the Grand Hyatt at Oriental Plaza and the Peninsula Palace Hotel, operated by the Hong Kong-based Peninsula Group.
Youth hostels do exist but are few in number. There is one near the centre of Beijing, where accommodations are located four floors below ground level.
Nightlife
Nightlife in Beijing is varied. Most clubs are situated in the area around Gongrentiyuchang West Road.
Wudaokou, in northwestern Beijing, is also a bustling center of nightlife. There are more Koreans and other foreigners, mostly students, in the area.
Bar-wise, the following areas of Beijing are known as hubs for bars which open until late:
Sanlitun
Houhai
Yuandadu
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 Xinhua News Agency.
Xinhua News Agency.
Television and radio
Beijing Television (BTV) broadcasts on numbered channels 1 through 10. Unlike China Central Television (CCTV), there is at present no exclusive English-language TV channel on a citywide level in Beijing.
Three radio stations feature programmes in English: Hit FM on FM 88.7, Easy FM by China Radio International (CRI) on FM 91.5, and the newly launched Radio 774 on AM 774.
Press
The well-known Beijing Evening News (Beijing Wanbao) Beijing Youth Daily (Beijing Qingnian Bao), as well as English-language weeklies Beijing Weekend and Beijing Today (the English-language edition of Youth Daily). People's Daily and China Daily (English) are also published in Beijing.
Nationally-circulated Chinese newspapers are also available in Beijing.
Publications primarily aimed at international visitors and the expatriate community include the English-language periodicals City Weekend, Beijing Talk, that's Beijing and MetroZine.
China version's editorial staff in Beijing.
The international press, including English- and Japanese-language newspapers and magazines, are available in major international hotels and Friendship Stores, and content often appears complete.
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Beijing maintains partnerships or "sister city" status with the following international locations. (Note: some locations are provinces or regional-level units, not cities properly. Beijing itself is not technically a city, being a municipality).
City
Country
Sister City since:
Tokyo
Japan
March 14, 1979
York City">New York City
USA
February 25, 1980
Belgrade
Serbia and Montenegro
October 14, 1980
Lima
Peru
November 21, 1983
Washington, D.C.
USA
May 15, 1984
Madrid
Spain
September 16, 1985
Rio de Janeiro
Brazil
November 24, 1986
Île-de-France[10]
France
July 2, 1987
Cologne
Germany
September 14, 1987
Ankara
Turkey
June 20, 1990
Cairo
Egypt
October 28, 1990
Islamabad
Pakistan
October 8, 1992
Jakarta
Indonesia
October 8, 1992
Bangkok
Thailand
May 26, 1993
Buenos Aires
Argentina
July 13, 1993
Seoul
South Korea
October 23, 1993
Kiev
Ukraine
December 13, 1993
Berlin
Germany
April 5, 1994
Brussels
Belgium
September 22, 1994
Hanoi
Vietnam
October 6, 1994
Amsterdam
Netherlands
October 29, 1994
Moscow
Russia
May 16, 1995
Paris
France
October 23, 1997
Rome
Italy
May 28, 1998
Gauteng[11]
South Africa
December 6, 1998
Ottawa
Canada
October 18, 1999
Canberra
Australia
September 14, 2000
Manila
Philippines
November 14, 2005
Tehran
Iran
Planned
1: ^ A région of France
2: South Africa
Source: www.ebeijing.gov.cn
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Hotels in China - Beijing >>
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