BEIJING INTRODUCTION

Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, is the nation's political and cultural centre.Some 690,000 years ago, Peking Man lived at Zhoukoudian, 48 kilometres southwest of Beijing.
A small town appeared on the present site of southwestern Beijing in 1045 B. C. It was named Ji and then changed to Yan. At the beginning of the 10th century, it was the second capital of the Liao Dynasty. From then on, the city had been the capital of the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties until 1911.
In the early twenties, Beijing became the cradle of China's new democratic revolution. The May Fourth Movement against imperialism and feudalism began here in 1919.
On October Ist, 1949, Chairman Mao proclaimed to the whole world the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Beijing is situated at 40 degrees north latitude and 116 degrees east longitude. It is 43 metres above sea level and 183 kilometres from the sea. Beijing covers an area of 16,800 square kilometres, 38% of it is flat land and 62% mountains.
Beijing has a continental climate. Annual rainfall averages nearly 700 millimetres, most of it comes in July and August. Winter is dry and cold and has little snow, The frost-free period is 185 days. The best time to visit Beijing is May, September and October, when people enjoy bright sunny sky.

Beijing has a population of 10.855 million, about 5 million live in the city proper and the rest on the outskirts. It is divided into 12 districts and 6 counties.
A long history has left numerous famous historical sites which possess great aesthetic and cultural values. The Great Wall, a huge project begun more than 2,000 years ago, meanders through mountains and valleys for hundreds of kilometers in the region of Beijing. On the Shijing Mountain,there are more than 340 volumes of 15,000 stone tablets carved with Buddhist scriptures. The big Yongle Bell, cast at one go with over 230,000 characters on it , weighs 46.5 tons and shows the exquisite casting technology of ancient China. The Forbidden City, the largest ancient architectural complex extant today, is splendid crystallization of ancient Chinese architectural art. Walking in the city, one may find many places worth a second visit. These include mansions, gardens , gate towers , temples, former residences of celebrities and places where many historical events took place. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people, domestic and foreign, come to Beijing to visit its grand palaces and graceful gardens and to enjoy its marvelous art.

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Beijing also attracts world attention with its growing prosperity,and its closer links with world affairs. Through more than 40 years of construction,Beijing has changed from a consumer-city to a major city with various industries. Beijing ranks second among the top 50 cities in China in terms of comprehensive power, and is the first among the 40 best cities in China in terms of investment environment.
With China's reform and opening up, Beijing is improving urban construction on an unprecedented scale. Its speed of development is astonishing,and it brings about changes day after day. Around this graceful ancient capital, a large number of key national projects, massive infrastructure buildings and modern residential houses have sprung up. Wasteland and low, dilapidated houses are gradually disappearing,replaced by newly-built residential quarters of different styles and surrounded by greenbelts. Wide and smooth highways, magnificent overpasses and expressways link Beijing with its neighboring provinces and cities, and eye-catching green trees and gardens have made Beijing resemble a huge scroll of painting pleasing to both the eye and the mind.

To preserve the space and historic buildings around the Forbidden City, nearby buildings must remain single-storey structures, and buildings within the Second Ring Road must be no more than 30 metres in height.
As China's cultural center, Beijing , with a galaxy of talent and a rich culture, has over 70 institutions of higher learning such as the famous Beijing University, Qinghua University, More than 500 scientific research institutions, over 300 publishing houses, as well as hundreds of newspapers and periodicals.
Tian'anmen Square, located in the city center, is a symbol of both Beijing and China. The solemn flag-raising ceremony has become a sacred daily celebration. Standing in the world's largest city square and looking far east and west up and down the Chang'an Avenue, one can see a centuries-old architectural complex standing side by side with newly-built modern-style buildings, pigeons fluttering in the blue sky, large kites flying lazily above, torrents of bicycles flooding by and tows of cars whisking along. Tian'anmen Square embodies Beijing's history and reality, arousing the awareness the while the essence of old Beijing remains splendid, the miracles created by new Beijing add to the city's brilliance.

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Beijing's Gates
Nine inside, seven outside, four in the Imperial City is a phrase used by Beijing residents since Ming Dynasty as an aid to remembering the number of gates in the walls of their city.
Nine Inside
Gate of Exalted Literature, South-Facing Gate or Front Gate, Gate of Universal Prowess, Mound-Forming Gate or Gate of Just Rule, Western Gate or Gate of Harmony & Righteousness, Gate of Virtuous Triumph, Gate of Peace and Stability, Eastern Gate or Gate of Upholding & Benevolence, Gate Facing the Sun or Gate of Uniformity & Affinity.
Seven Outside
Eastern Informal Gate, Broad Canal Gate, Left Gate of Peacefulness, Gate of Eternal Stability, Right Gate of Peacefulness, Gate of Universal Peace, Western Informal Gate.
Four in the Imperial City
Gate of Heavenly Peace, Gate of Earthly Peace, Gate of Eastern Peace, Gate of Western Peace.

On a tour of Beijing, the visitor learns about the different functions of old Beijing's nine city gates, the meaning of the saying "East for the wealthy, west for the noble, north for the poor, and south for the lowly."
Each of the 20 gates had its own functions and has left many touching stories.
Zhengyangmen was the pass the Emperor used for travel to the Temple of Heaven for worshipping ceremonies. Only the imperial sedans and carriages were allowed to use the gate, while funeral ceremonies and carriages were forbidden to pass here.
The most popular carts passing Chongwenmen were those carrying liquor as distilleries were then located in the south and east of the city.

Chaoyangmen was the gate of grain since it linked transportation between the Forbidden City and Tongzhou (present-day Tongxian). Tongzhou (Tongxian) which was the beginning of the Grand Canal linking Beijing and Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. Tribute grain from the south was shipped to the capital on the canal. Warehouses were built close to Chaoyangmen. Today's Nanmencang, Beimencang, Xintaicang and Lumicang were used to store rice in the past.
Xizhimen was the water gate named for its position as the gateway to Jade Spring Mountain which was the source of the imperial drinking water.
Gates were also connected with walls which were used to defend Beijing. On top of the wall, special facilities in the shape of sawtooth were built to shield arrows and other weapons. Other facilities included blockades that prevented soldiers from falling down the wall. Building the walls was a costly project. It was once reported that more than 40 million bricks and great quantities of earth, lime and timber were used to wall the city.
Nowadays, Beijing's city walls have all been demolished. Only a few gate towers are left. The Old Beijing Mini Landscape Park presents a complete picture of the 20 city gates and walls, although in a scaled down version.
The great architect Kuei Xiang of the Ming Dynasty adopted Chinese astrology when he built the city. In the theory, the number Nine represented the divine Heaven, the number Five the Dragon and the Earth in the middle of the Universe. Under such a theory, Kuei Xiang constructed nine gates, five fortresses and a platform in the shape of the Chinese character Earch in the middle of the palace. The design symbolized the Emperor's divinity of both the Nine and the Five.
From the modern point of view, Beijing's arrangement of the axis thoroughfare and four lakes of Nanhai, Zhonghai, Beihai and Houhai is shaped like two dragons raising their heads rivaling for a pearl. We see the dragon and alarming pearl motif often repeated in ancient Chinese ceramics and elsewhere in the artifacts of Chinese antiquity. It is a deeply symbolic as well as artistically fanciful and articulated design.

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