Beijing Municipality

Meaning of the name
"Northern Capital"

Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China and it is China's political and cultural center. It covers an area of 16,808 square kilometers and has a population of over 11 million, among which urban dwellers amount to 73.1 percent.

Beijing is located on the west coast of the Pacific, stands at the northern tip of the North China plain. It is situated at 3956 north latitude and 11620east longitude, with the Shanxi and Inner Mongolian plateaus to the west and northwest, and with Bohai Sea to the east.

Beijing is surrounded by the Yanshan Mountains on the west, north and east while the small alluvial plain of the Yongding River lies to its southeast. Beijing stands on his terrain and faces the Bohai Sea, which is also called the Beijing Bay.

In China, Beijing is one of the four municipalities directly under the central government, and it is divided into 12 districts and 6 counties.

Beijing enjoys a moderate continental climate. The average yearly rainfall is about 600 to 700 millimeters. Much of it falls in the late June, July and August. Spring in Beijing is dry and dusty, summer rainy, winter long, sunny and dry. The best season to visit Beijing, as many other parts of China, is autumn.

Archaeological discovery has shown that Beijing is a cradle of the Chinese nation. It is here that the "Peking Man" -- an ancestor of the ancient Chinese nation -- multiplied about half a million years ago. About 3,000 years ago, Beijing became an important town in North China. In the 11th century B.C., a northern kingdom called Yan established its capital in Beijing, which was then known as "Yanjing". Later, the Kin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties (1115-1911) all made Beijing their capital, so that it served as China's political center for 700 years. Construction during various feudal dynasties has left Beijing a host of historical and cultural relics, imperial palaces and gardens, imperial residences, temples, pavilions, archways and stone carvings. These, unique in the world, have earned Beijing the name of a historical and cultural treasure house. Since New China was founded in 1949, Beijing has undergone new changes and become a modern city.

Geographical location:
Beijing, which is also abbreviated as "Jing," is the capital of the People's Republic of China. The political and cultural center of the country, it is also one of the international communication hubs of China. Beijing is located at 39056' N and 116020' E, on the northwest edge of the North China Plain, adjoining Tianjin City to its east and Hebei Province to its north, west and south. The Bohai Sea lies about 150 km to its southeast. Beijing has 16 districts and two counties under its jurisdiction, covering an area of 16,807.8 square kilometers, including 87.1 square kilometers of urban area.

The capital of the People's Republic of China, the political, economic, cultural, and transportation center of the nation.

Neighboring Areas: Hebei province, Tianjin municipality

Attractions in Beijing

Beijing Package Tour

Population:
By the end of 2000, Beijing had a stable population of 13.819 million, with 7.206 million (52.1 percent) males and 6.613 million (47.9 percent) females.

Population growth rate: 9 per thousand.

Life expectancy: 76 years.

Area: 2738 sq km

Ethnicity:
People of all of China's 56 ethnic groups are found in Beijing. The vast majority, 95.7 percent (13.229 million), of the city¡¯s population belongs to the Han ethnic group. The total population of ethnic minorities is 590,000, with the Hui, Manchu and Mongolian being the major ethnic groups.

Literacy:
Among the Beijing residents of six years old or older, 2.328 million, or 17.5 percent, have a college educational background; 3.199 million, or 24.1 percent, have received high school (including technical secondary school and vocational school) education; and 4.753 million, or 35.8 percent, have an education of junior high school. Those who have only primary education are 2.343 million, 17.7 percent. The illiteracy rate is 4.9 percent.

Unemployment rate:
By the end of 2001, the registered unemployment rate in the city¡¯s urban districts and towns was 1.35 percent (62,000 persons).

Elevation extremes:
Mountains stand in the west, north and northeast of Beijing; the 10,417.5 square kilometers of mountainous areas, with an average elevation of 1,000-1,500 meters, account for 62 percent of its total territory. In its southeast lies the vast North China Plain of 6,390.3 kilometers, with an average altitude of 20-60 meters above sea level. The 2,303-meter-high Mount Lingshan on the border between Beijing and Hebei is the highest peak of the city.

Climate:
Beijing has a semi-humid climate with clearly cut four seasons: short spring and autumn and long winter and summer. The average annual temperature is 130C (averaging 25.20C in July, the hottest month, and 3.70C in January, the coldest month). The average annual rainfall is 507.7 millimeters and the frost-free period is 180-200 days. The average annual sun radiance is 135 Cal/square centimeter.

Average Temperature: -7 to -4C in January, 25 to 26C in July

Rainfall: 600 mm annually; over 700 mm on the seaward side of mountains; 75 percent of the rain falls in summer

Mountains: Western Hills, which belong to the Taihang Range; Mt. Jundushan, in the north, which is part of the Mt. Yanshan

Rivers: Yongding River, a branch of the Huaihe River

Natural resources:
Five rivers flow across the city, including Chaobai and Beiyun rivers in its east and the Yongding and Juma rivers in its west. Most of the rivers originate from the city's northwestern mountainous areas and, after winding southeastwards across the plain areas, flow into the Bohai Sea. The 174 km Yongding River running through southwest Beijing is the city's biggest river. Beijing has 30 big and small lakes, including such major ones as Kunming, Yuyuantan, Beihai, Zhonghai, Nanhai, Qianhai, Houhai, Xihai, Longtan, Taoranting and Zizhuyuan. Beijing's surface water totals 2.53 billion cubic meters and its ground water reserve is 2.63 billion cubic meters.

Beijing's mountainous areas produce various minerals such as coal and iron ores as well as building materials such as granite and marble.

Tourism resources:
Human activities began in the Beijing area some half a million years ago. The recorded history of Beijing as a city can date back to more than 3,000 years ago. In 1271 Kublai Khan renamed the city and decided to build it as the capital of his empire, and since then, Beijing served as a national capital for more than 700 years, being one of China's seven great ancient capitals. In this famed historical and cultural city, cultural heritage sites and scenic spots are found everywhere. Ancient palace groups, temples, parks, ancient pagodas with rock carvings, imperial gardens and tombs, former residences of historic personages throng the city side by side with modern buildings of museums and memorial halls.

Beijing has a total of 7,309 cultural heritage sites, including 42 under state protection and 222 under municipal protection. The Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian are on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Beijing has over 200 scenic spots open to visitors, such as the Forbidden City, the Beihai Park, the Summer Palace, the Ming Tombs (Shisanling), the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan Park), the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, the Great Wall, Yonghegong Lamasery, Tanzhe Temple, Fragrant Hills, the Ruins of the Yuanmingyuan, the Eight Great Sites, Longqing Gorge, Shihua Cave and etc.

There are 456 tourist hotels, including 407 star-rated hotels offering a total of 84,000 guest rooms. Serving travelers to Beijing are 456 travel agencies with 5,000 tour guides speaking 21 major world languages. Beijing is one of the "Excellent Chinese Tourist Cities" awarded by the China National Tourism Administration.

Environment and current issues:
In recent years Beijing has managed to control dust pollution through afforestation and the efforts have proved effective. In 2001, 50.7 percent of the 365 days had air of grade 2 or better. All industrial pollutants reached required standards for environmental protection and up to 42 percent of the city's sewage were treated. About 85 percent of the city's urban trash was received harmless treatment. The city is making steady progress in harnessing its urban water systems. As a result, now the waters are clear, the water-flow is smooth, the watersides have turned green and waterway navigations have been resumed. Forest coverage has reached 44 percent in the city and 38.2 percent in its urban area.

Food
Beijing (or Mandarin) cuisine is one of the four famous cuisines in China. Some of the well-known dishes include Beijing duck (Peking duck), beggar's chicken and Mongolian hotpot.

Transportation

High ways and subways:
The city has more than 20,000 km of highways with the nation¡¯s top highway density of over 60 km per 100 square kilometers.

Twelve state highways radiate from the city to other major cities such as Shenyang, Tianjin, Harbin, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Nanjing, Fuzhou and Kunming. The city has six expressways, namely, the Badaling, Capital Airport, Beijing-Shenyang, Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu, Beijing-Shijiazhuang and Beijing-Zhangjiakou expressways.

The city has an urban highway mileage of 4,125.8 km with a total road surface of 4,921.4 square meters. It has two metro lines with a combined mileage of 54 km.

Airports:
The city¡¯s Capital International Airport has opened over 200 domestic and international air routes to reach most Chinese cities as well as major cities in other countries and regions. As one of Asia¡¯s busiest airports, the airport handles some 21.69 million person-times annually.

Telecommunications
Beijing¡¯s postal communications service can reach every country and region in the world. The city¡¯s domestic direct dial (DDD) telephone service reaches some 2,300 other Chinese cities and its International Direct Dial (IDD) service links the city with some 260 countries and regions in the rest of the world.

By the end of 2002, the city had installed 5.855 million household telephones and the popularization of telephone has reached 51.6 sets per 100 persons; the number of mobile phone users had reached 9.4 million, an increase of 49 percent over the preceding year and the popularization has reached 82 sets per 100 persons.