People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 million residents. It has an administrative area of , the third in the country after
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
and
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
under the direct administration of the
State Council State Council may refer to:
Government
* State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President
* State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...
with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts.Figures based on 2006 statistics published in 2007 National Statistical Yearbook of China and available online at archive . Retrieved 21 April 2009. Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
to the southeast; together, the three divisions form the
Jingjinji
The Jingjinji Metropolitan Region or Jing-Jin-Ji (JJJ),, sometimes rendered in historical context as King–Sin–Peh, also known as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BJ-TJ-HB), Peking–Tientsin–Hopeh and the Capital Economic Zone, is the National Cap ...
megalopolis
A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enoug ...
and the
national capital region
A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...
of China.
Beijing is a global city and one of the world's leading centres for
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
,
diplomacy
Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...
,
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
business and economics
Business economics is a field in applied economics which uses economic theory and quantitative methods to analyze business enterprises and the factors contributing to the diversity of organizational structures and the relationships of firms with ...
,
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
,
research
Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...
,
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
,
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...
,
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
,
sport
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
transportation
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...
. As a
megacity
A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population of more than 10 million people. Precise definitions vary: the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its 2018 "World Urbanization Prospects" report counted urban ...
, Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by
urban population
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...
Fortune Global 500
The ''Fortune'' Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by ''Fortune'' magazine.
Methodology
Until 1989, it listed onl ...
companies in the world, as well as the world's four biggest
financial institutions
Financial institutions, sometimes called banking institutions, are business entities that provide services as intermediaries for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial insti ...
expressway
Expressway may refer to:
* Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic.
* Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road.
*Expressway, the fictional s ...
,
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing Capital International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). It is located northeast of Beijing's city center, in an exclave of Chaoyang District ...
Beijing Daxing International Airport
Beijing Daxing International Airport , is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK). It is located on the border of Beijing and Langfang, Hebei Province. It has bee ...
, a second international airport in Beijing, is the largest single-structure
airport terminal
An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an aircraft.
Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer t ...
in the world.
Combining both modern and traditional style
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
dating back over three millennia. As the last of the
Four Great Ancient Capitals of China
This is a list of historical capitals of China.
Four Great Ancient Capitals
There are traditionally four major historical capitals of China referred to as the "Four Great Ancient Capitals of China" (). The four are Beijing, Nanjing, Luoyang and ...
, Beijing has been the political center of the country for most of the past eight centuries, and was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium CE. With mountains surrounding the inland city on three sides, in addition to the old inner and outer city walls, Beijing was strategically poised and developed to be the residence of the
emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
and thus was the perfect location for the imperial capital. The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. Beijing is one of the most important tourist destinations of the world. In 2018, Beijing was the second highest earning tourist city in the world after Shanghai. Beijing is home to many national monuments and museums and has
seven
7 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
7 or seven may also refer to:
* AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era
* 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era
* The month of
July
Music Artists
* Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
s—the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
,
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for ...
,
Summer Palace
The Summer Palace () is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quarte ...
,
Ming Tombs
The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led ...
,
Zhoukoudian
Zhoukoudian Area () is a town and an area located on the east Fangshan District, Beijing, China. It borders Nanjiao and Fozizhuang Townships to its north, Xiangyang, Chengguan and Yingfeng Subdistricts to its east, Shilou and Hangcunhe Towns to ...
, and parts of the
Great Wall
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against Eurasian noma ...
and the Grand Canal—all of which are popular tourist locations.
Siheyuan
A ''siheyuan'' (; IPA: ɹ̩̂.xɤ̌.ɥɛ̂n is a historical type of residence that was commonly found throughout China, most famously in Beijing and rural Shanxi. Throughout Chinese history, the siheyuan composition was the basic pattern used ...
s, the city's traditional housing style, and
hutong
''Hutong'' () are a type of narrow street or alley commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, especially Beijing.
In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of ''siheyuan'', traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods wer ...
s, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing.
Beijing's public universities make up more than one-fifth of Double First-Class Universities, and many of them consistently rank among the best in the
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
and the world. Beijing is home to the two best
C9 League
The C9 League () is an alliance of nine universities in China, initiated by the Government of China, Chinese Central Government to promote the development and reputation of higher education in China in 2009. Collectively, universities in the C9 ...
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
(
Tsinghua
Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...
and
Peking
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
Beijing CBD
The Beijing central business district, or Beijing CBD (), is a central business district and the primary area for finance, media, and business services in Beijing, China.
Beijing CBD occupies 3.99 km2 of the Chaoyang District on the e ...
Zhongguancun
Zhongguancun () is a major technology hub in Haidian District, Beijing, China.
Zhongguancun occupies a band between the northwestern Third Ring Road and the northwestern Fourth Ring Road, in the northwestern part of Beijing. Zhongguancun is ...
area is a world leading center of scientific and technological innovation as well as entrepreneurship. Beijing has been ranked the city with the largest scientific research output by the
Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries and their scientific output since its introduction in November, 2014. Each year, Nature Index ranks the leading institutions (which can be companies, universities, government agen ...
since 2016. The city has hosted numerous international and national sporting events, the most notable being the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
and
2008 Summer Paralympics
The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...
Games. In 2022, Beijing became the first city ever to host both the
Summer
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
and
Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
, and also the
Summer
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
and
Winter Paralympics
The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. Th ...
Silk Road Fund
The Silk Road Fund ( zh, s=丝路基金, t=, p=) is a state-owned investment fund of the Chinese government to foster increased investment in countries along the One Belt, One Road, an economic development initiative primarily covering Eura ...
, the
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...
, the
Chinese Academy of Engineering
The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...
, the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...
, the
Central Academy of Fine Arts
The Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is an art academy under the direct charge of the Ministry of Education of China. The Manila Bulletin calls the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy". It is one of the most selectiv ...
, the
Central Academy of Drama
The Central Academy of Drama (), abbreviated Zhong Xi (), is a drama school in Beijing, China. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University Plan university identified by the Ministry of Education of China. The school is the first theatre ...
, the
Central Conservatory of Music
The Central Conservatory of Music () is a prestigious leading public music school of China and a member of Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211. Its campus is in the Xicheng District of Beijing, China, near Fuxingmen Statio ...
, and the
Red Cross Society of China
The Red Cross Society of China () is the national Red Cross Society in the People's Republic of China.
Origins and history before 1949
The Red Cross Society of China was founded as the Shanghai International Red Cross Committee on March 10, 19 ...
.
Etymology
Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had numerous other names. The name ''Beijing'', which means "Northern Capital" (from the
Chinese characters
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...
for ''north'' and for ''capital''), was applied to the city in 1403 during the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
to distinguish the city from
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
(the "Southern Capital"). The English spelling ''Beijing'' is based on the government's official
romanization
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
(adopted in the 1980s) of the two characters as they are pronounced in
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standar ...
. An older English spelling, ''Peking'', was used by Jesuit missionary
Martino Martini
Martino Martini () (20 September 1614 – 6 June 1661), born and raised in Trento (Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire), was a Jesuit missionary. As cartographer and historian, he mainly worked on ancient Imperial China.
Early years
Mart ...
in a popular atlas published in Amsterdam in 1655. Although Peking is no longer the common name for the city, some of the city's older locations and facilities, such as
Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing Capital International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). It is located northeast of Beijing's city center, in an exclave of Chaoyang District ...
, with the
IATA Code
IATA codes are abbreviations that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) publishes to facilitate air travel. They are typically 1, 2, 3, or 4 character combinations (referred to as unigrams, digrams, trigrams, or tetragrams, respect ...
PEK, and
Peking University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
, still retain the former romanization.
The single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is , which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the o ...
abbreviation
An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
for Beijing is "BJ".
History
Early history
The earliest traces of human habitation in the Peking municipality were found in the caves of
Dragon Bone Hill
Zhoukoudian Area () is a town and an area located on the east Fangshan District, Beijing, China. It borders Nanjiao and Fozizhuang Townships to its north, Xiangyang, Chengguan and Yingfeng Subdistricts to its east, Shilou and Hangcunhe Towns to ...
near the village of
Zhoukoudian
Zhoukoudian Area () is a town and an area located on the east Fangshan District, Beijing, China. It borders Nanjiao and Fozizhuang Townships to its north, Xiangyang, Chengguan and Yingfeng Subdistricts to its east, Shilou and Hangcunhe Towns to ...
in
Fangshan District
Fangshan District () is situated in the southwest of Beijing, away from downtown Beijing. It has an area of and a population of 814,367 (2000 Census). The district is divided into 8 subdistricts, 14 towns, and 6 townships.
The district administ ...
, where
Peking Man
Peking Man (''Homo erectus pekinensis'') is a subspecies of '' H. erectus'' which inhabited the Zhoukoudian Cave of northern China during the Middle Pleistocene. The first fossil, a tooth, was discovered in 1921, and the Zhoukoudian Cave has s ...
lived. ''
Homo erectus
''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor' ...
'' fossils from the caves date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago.
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
''
Homo sapiens
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
'' also lived there more recently, about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found
neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
settlements throughout the municipality, including in
Wangfujing
Wangfujing () is a shopping street in Beijing, China, located in Dongcheng District. The majority of the main area is pedestrianised. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty there have been commercial activities in the area. In the Qing Dynas ...
, located in central Peking.
The first
walled city
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
state of Ji
Ji () was an ancient state in northern China during the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties from at least the 11th century to the 7th century BC. The state was based in the walled City of Ji, or Jicheng, located in the modern day Guang'anmen ne ...
and was built in 1045 BC. Within modern Beijing, Jicheng was located around the present
Guang'anmen
__NOTOC__
Guang'anmen, also known as the , Guangningmen and Zhangyimen, was a city gate of old Beijing, constructed during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (1521–1567) of the Ming Dynasty. This gate was part of Beijing's city wall, situated s ...
area in the south of
Xicheng District
Xicheng District () is a district of Beijing. Xicheng District spans , covering the western half of the old city (largely inside the 2nd Ring Road - the eastern half is Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District), and has 706,691 inhabitant ...
. This settlement was later conquered by the
state of Yan
Yan (; Old Chinese pronunciation: ''*'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Its capital was Ji (later known as Yanjing and now Beijing). During the Warring States period, the court was also moved to another capital at Xiadu ...
and made its capital.
Early Imperial China
After the
First Emperor
Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ...
prefectural capital
A prefectural capital is a city where a prefectural government and assembly is located.
Japan
In Japan, a prefectural capital is officially called , but the term is also used ().
List of Japanese prefectural capitals
Notes: ¹
Non-capital ...
for the region. During the
Three Kingdoms period
The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...
, it was held by
Gongsun Zan
Gongsun Zan () (before 161 - April or May 199), courtesy name Bogui, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty.
Life
Little is known of Gongsun Zan's early life. He and Liu Bei stu ...
and
Yuan Shao
Yuan Shao (, ; died 28 June 202), courtesy name Benchu (), was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred to ...
Cao Cao
Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...
. The AD third-century
Western Jin
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
demoted the town, placing the prefectural seat in neighboring
Zhuozhou
Zhuozhou (), is a county-level city with 628,000 inhabitants in Hebei province, bordering Beijing to the north. It is administered by Baoding prefecture-level city. Zhuozhou has 3 subdistricts, 6 towns, 5 townships, and 1 development zone.
Adm ...
. During the
Sixteen Kingdoms
The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...
period when northern China was conquered and divided by the Wu Hu, Jicheng was briefly the capital of the
Xianbei
The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...
Former Yan
The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China.
Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, ...
Kingdom.
After China was reunified by the
Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...
in 581, Jicheng, also known as Zhuojun, became the northern terminus of the Grand Canal. Under the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, Jicheng as
Youzhou
You Prefecture or You Province, also known by its Chinese name Youzhou, was a prefecture ('' zhou'') in northern China during its imperial era.
"You Province" was cited in some ancient sources as one of the nine or twelve original provinces ...
, served as a military frontier command center. During the
An-Shi Rebellion
The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general office ...
and again amidst the turmoil of the late Tang, local military commanders founded their own short-lived Yan dynasties and called the city
Yanjing
Ji or Jicheng was an ancient city in northern China, which has become the longest continuously inhabited section of modern Beijing. Historical mention of Ji dates to the founding of the Zhou dynasty in about 1045BC. Archaeological finds in sout ...
, or the "Yan Capital." Also in the Tang dynasty, the city's name Jicheng was replaced by Youzhou or Yanjing. In 938, after the fall of the Tang, the
Later Jin Later Jin may refer to two states in imperial China:
* Later Jin (Five Dynasties) (後晉; 936–947), one of the Five Dynasties
* Later Jin (1616–1636) (後金; 1616–1636), precursor to the Qing dynasty
See also
* Jin (disambiguation)
Jin ...
Liao dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...
, which treated the city as
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, or the "Southern Capital", one of four secondary capitals to complement its "Supreme Capital" Shangjing (modern
Baarin Left Banner
Baarin Left Banner ( Mongolian: ''Baɣarin Jegün qosiɣu''; ), or Bairin, is a banner of eastern Inner Mongolia, China, under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Chifeng. The banner spans an area of 6,644 square kilometers, and ...
in
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
Jurchen Jin dynasty Jurchen may refer to:
* Jurchen people, Tungusic people who inhabited the region of Manchuria until the 17th century
** Haixi Jurchens, a grouping of the Jurchens as identified by the Chinese of the Ming Dynasty
** Jianzhou Jurchens, a grouping of ...
in 1122, which gave the city to the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
and then retook it in 1125 during its conquest of northern China. In 1153, the Jurchen Jin made Beijing their "Central Capital", or
Zhongdu
Zhongdu (, lit. "Central Capital") was the capital of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in medieval China. It was located in the southwestern part of Beijing's Xicheng District. It had a population of nearly one million by the late 12th century, and ...
Mongolian army
The Ground Force of Mongolia (, ''Mongol Ulsyn Zevsegt hüchniy Huurai zamyn tsereg'', ) is the land force of the Mongolian Armed Forces, formed from parts of the former Mongolian People's Army in 1992. It was known as the "Mongolian General Purpo ...
Kublai Khan
Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...
ordered the construction of Dadu (or Daidu to the Mongols, commonly known as
Khanbaliq
Khanbaliq or Dadu of Yuan () was the winter capital of the Yuan dynasty of China in what is now Beijing, also the capital of the People's Republic of China today. It was located at the center of modern Beijing. The Secretariat directly administ ...
), a new capital for his
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
to the northeast of the Zhongdu ruins. The construction took from 1264 to 1293, but greatly enhanced the status of a city on the northern fringe of
China proper
China proper, Inner China, or the Eighteen Provinces is a term used by some Western writers in reference to the "core" regions of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. This term is used to express a distinction between the "core" regions popu ...
. The city was centered on the Drum Tower slightly to the north of modern Beijing and stretched from the present-day
Chang'an Avenue
250px, Chang'an Avenue hosts military parades. Here are 1999 National Day parade.">50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China">1999 National Day parade.
Chang'an Avenue (), literally "Eternal Peace Street", is a major thoroughfare in ...
to the northern part of Line 10 subway. Remnants of the Yuan
rammed earth
Rammed earth is a technique for constructing foundations, floors, and walls using compacted natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently as a sustainable building method.
...
wall still stand and are known as the Tucheng.
Ming dynasty
In 1368, soon after declaring the new
Hongwu era
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts i ...
of the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, the
rebel
A rebel is a participant in a rebellion.
Rebel or rebels may also refer to:
People
* Rebel (given name)
* Rebel (surname)
* Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution
* American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; ...
leader
Zhu Yuanzhang
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
captured Dadu/Khanbaliq and razed the Yuan palaces to the ground.Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. ''The Cambridge Illustrated History of China''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Since the Yuan continued to occupy
Shangdu
Shangdu (, ), also known as Xanadu (; Mongolian: ''Šandu''), was the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty of China before Kublai decided to move his throne to the former Jin dynasty capital of Zhōngdū () which was renamed Khanbaliq ( presen ...
and
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, Dadu was used to supply the Ming military garrisons in the area and renamed Beiping (
Wade–Giles
Wade–Giles () is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' of ...
: Peip'ing, "Northern Peace"). Under the Hongwu Emperor's feudal policies, Beiping was given to his son
Zhu Di
The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyna ...
, who was created "
Prince of Yan
Prince or King of Yan () was a Chinese feudal title referring to the ancient Chinese State of Yan and to its fiefs including the capital Yanjing (located within modern Beijing).
Typically, the title is translated as "King of Yan" for rulers pri ...
".
The early death of
Zhu Yuanzhang
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
's heir led to a succession struggle upon his death, one that ended with the victory of
Zhu Di
The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyna ...
and the declaration of the new
Yongle era
The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyna ...
. Since his harsh treatment of the Ming capital Yingtian (modern
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
) alienated many there, he established his fief as a new co-capital. The city of
Beiping
"Beijing" is from pinyin ''Běijīng,'' which is romanized from , the Chinese name for this city. The pinyin system of transliteration was approved by the Chinese government in 1958, but little used until 1979. It was gradually adopted by various ...
became Beijing ("Northern Capital") or Shuntian in 1403. The construction of the new imperial residence, the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
, took from 1406 to 1420; this period was also responsible for several other of the modern city's major attractions, such as the
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for ...
and
Tian'anmen
The Tiananmen (also Tian'anmen (天安门), Tienanmen, T’ien-an Men; ), or the Gate of Heaven-Sent Pacification, is a monumental gate in the city center of Beijing, China, the front gate of the Imperial City of Beijing, located near the ci ...
. On 28 October 1420, the city was officially designated the capital of the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
in the same year that the Forbidden City was completed. Beijing became the empire's primary capital, and Yingtian, also called
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
("Southern Capital"), became the co-capital. (A 1425 order by Zhu Di's son, the
Hongxi Emperor
The Hongxi Emperor (16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), personal name Zhu Gaochi (朱高熾), was the fourth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1424 to 1425. He succeeded his father, the Yongle Emperor, in 1424. His era name "Hongxi" means ...
, to return the primary capital to Nanjing was never carried out: he died, probably of a heart attack, the next month. He was buried, like almost every Ming emperor to follow him, in an elaborate necropolis to Beijing's north.)
By the 15th century, Beijing had essentially taken its current shape. The Ming city wall continued to serve until modern times, when it was pulled down and the
2nd Ring Road
The 2nd Ring Road () is the innermost ring road highway which encircles the city center of Beijing, People's Republic of China. (The first ring road had been a circular tram route.)
The ring road can be divided into two parts: the original ring ...
was built in its place. It is generally believed that Beijing was the largest city in the world for most of the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The first known church was constructed by
Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in 1652 at the former site of Matteo Ricci's chapel; the modern Nantang Cathedral was later built upon the same site.
The capture of Beijing by
Li Zicheng
Li Zicheng (22 September 1606 – 1645), born Li Hongji, also known by the nickname, Dashing King, was a Chinese peasant rebel leader who overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 and ruled over northern China briefly as the emperor of the short-li ...
's peasant army in 1644 ended the dynasty, but he and his Shun court abandoned the city without a fight when the
Manchu
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
army of Prince
Dorgon
Dorgon (, ; 17 November 1612 – 31 December 1650), was a Manchu prince and regent of the early Qing dynasty. Born in the House of Aisin-Gioro as the 14th son of Nurhaci (the founder of the Later Jin dynasty, predecessor of the Qing dynasty) ...
arrived 40 days later.
Qing dynasty
Dorgon
Dorgon (, ; 17 November 1612 – 31 December 1650), was a Manchu prince and regent of the early Qing dynasty. Born in the House of Aisin-Gioro as the 14th son of Nurhaci (the founder of the Later Jin dynasty, predecessor of the Qing dynasty) ...
established the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
as a direct successor of the Ming (delegitimising
Li Zicheng
Li Zicheng (22 September 1606 – 1645), born Li Hongji, also known by the nickname, Dashing King, was a Chinese peasant rebel leader who overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 and ruled over northern China briefly as the emperor of the short-li ...
and his followers) and Beijing became China's sole capital. The Qing emperors made some modifications to the Imperial residence but, in large part, the Ming buildings and the general layout remained unchanged. Facilities for Manchu worship were introduced, but the Qing also continued the traditional state rituals. Signage was bilingual or Chinese. This early Qing Beijing later formed the setting for the Chinese novel ''
Dream of the Red Chamber
''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known for ...
''. Northwest of the city, Qing emperors built several large palatial gardens including the
Old Summer Palace
The Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan () or Yuanmingyuan Park, originally called the Imperial Gardens (), and sometimes called the Winter Palace, was a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day Haidian District, Beijing, China. I ...
and the
Summer Palace
The Summer Palace () is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quarte ...
.
During the
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...
, Anglo-French forces captured the outskirts of the city, looting and burning the
Old Summer Palace
The Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan () or Yuanmingyuan Park, originally called the Imperial Gardens (), and sometimes called the Winter Palace, was a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day Haidian District, Beijing, China. I ...
in 1860. Under the
Convention of Peking
The Convention of Peking or First Convention of Peking is an agreement comprising three distinct treaties concluded between the Qing dynasty of China and Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire in 1860. In China, they are regarded as amon ...
ending that war, Western powers for the first time secured the right to establish permanent diplomatic presences within the city. From 14 to 15 August 1900 the Battle of Peking was fought. This battle was part of the
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
.
The attempt by the Boxers to eradicate this presence, as well as
Chinese Christian
Christianity in China has been present since at least the 3rd century, and it has gained a significant amount of influence during the last 200 years.
While Christianity may have existed in China before the 3rd century, evidence of its existe ...
converts, led to Beijing's reoccupation by eight foreign powers. During the fighting, several important structures were destroyed, including the Hanlin Academy and the (new)
Summer Palace
The Summer Palace () is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quarte ...
.
A
peace agreement
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surrend ...
was concluded between the
Eight-Nation Alliance
The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, then besieged by the popular Boxer militia, who were determined to remove fo ...
and representatives of the Chinese government Li Hung-chang and Prince Ching on 7 September 1901. The treaty required China to pay an indemnity of US$335 million (over US$4 billion in current dollars) plus interest over a period of 39 years. Also required was the execution or exile of government supporters of the Boxers and the destruction of Chinese forts and other defenses in much of northern China. Ten days after the treaty was signed the foreign armies left Peking, although legation guards would remain there until
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
With the treaty signed the
Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...
returned to Peking from her "tour of inspection" on 7 January 1902 and the rule of the
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
dynasty over China was restored, albeit much weakened by the defeat it had suffered in the Boxer Rebellion and by the indemnity and stipulations of the peace treaty. The Dowager died in 1908 and the dynasty imploded in 1911.
Republic of China
The fomenters of the
Xinhai Revolution
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...
of 1911 sought to replace Qing rule with a republic and leaders like
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
originally intended to return the capital to
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
. After the Qing general
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...
forced the abdication of the last Qing emperor and ensured the success of the revolution, the revolutionaries accepted him as president of the new
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
. Yuan maintained his capital at Beijing and quickly consolidated power, declaring himself emperor in 1915. His death less than a year later left China under the control of the warlords commanding the regional armies. Following the success of the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
's
Northern Expedition
The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...
, the capital was formally moved to
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
in 1928. On 28 June the same year, Beijing's name was returned to Beiping (written at the time as "Peiping").
On 7 July 1937, the 29th Army and the Japanese army in China exchanged fire at the
Marco Polo Bridge
The Marco Polo Bridge or Lugou Bridge () is a stone bridge located 15 km southwest of Beijing's city center in the Fengtai District. It bridges the Yongding River, a major tributary of Hai River. Situated at the eastern end of the bridge ...
near the
Wanping Fortress
Wanping Fortress, also known as Wanping Castle (), is a Ming Dynasty fortress or "walled city" in Fengtai District, Beijing. It was erected in 1638–1640, with the purpose of defending Beijing against Li Zicheng and the peasant uprising.
From ...
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
,
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
puppet state
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its o ...
that ruled the ethnic-Chinese portions of Japanese-occupied northern China. This government was later merged into the larger
Wang Jingwei government
The Wang Jingwei regime or the Wang Ching-wei regime is the common name of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China ( zh , t = 中華民國國民政府 , p = Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ ), the government of the pup ...
based in Nanjing.
People's Republic of China
In the final phases of the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
, the
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
seized control of the city peacefully on 31 January 1949 in the course of the Pingjin Campaign. On 1 October that year,
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
announced the creation of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
from atop
Tian'anmen
The Tiananmen (also Tian'anmen (天安门), Tienanmen, T’ien-an Men; ), or the Gate of Heaven-Sent Pacification, is a monumental gate in the city center of Beijing, China, the front gate of the Imperial City of Beijing, located near the ci ...
. He restored the name of the city, as the new capital, to Beijing, a decision that had been reached by the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...
just a few days earlier.
In the 1950s, the city began to expand beyond the old walled city and its surrounding neighborhoods, with heavy industries in
the west
West is a cardinal direction or compass point.
West or The West may also refer to:
Geography and locations
Global context
* The Western world
* Western culture and Western civilization in general
* The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...
and residential neighborhoods in the north. Many areas of the
Beijing city wall
The Beijing city fortifications were Defensive wall, walls with series of towers and gates constructed in the city of Beijing, China in the early 1400s until they were partially demolished in 1965 for the construction of the 2nd Ring Road and Line ...
were torn down in the 1960s to make way for the construction of the
Beijing Subway
The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Municipality that consists of 25 lines including 20 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines, and 463 stations. The rail network extends acro ...
and the
2nd Ring Road
The 2nd Ring Road () is the innermost ring road highway which encircles the city center of Beijing, People's Republic of China. (The first ring road had been a circular tram route.)
The ring road can be divided into two parts: the original ring ...
.
During the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
from 1966 to 1976, the
Red Guard
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard le ...
movement began in Beijing and the city's government fell victim to one of the first purges. By the autumn of 1966, all city schools were shut down and over a million Red Guards from across the country gathered in Beijing for eight rallies in Tian'anmen Square with Mao. In April 1976, a large public gathering of Beijing residents against the Gang of Four and the Cultural Revolution in Tiananmen Square was forcefully suppressed. In October 1976, the Gang was arrested in
Zhongnanhai
Zhongnanhai () is a former imperial garden in the Imperial City, Beijing, adjacent to the Forbidden City; it serves as the central headquarters for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the State Council (central government) of China. Zhongn ...
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
reversed the verdicts against victims of the Cultural Revolution and instituted the "policy of reform and opening up."
Since the early 1980s, the urban area of Beijing has expanded greatly with the completion of the 2nd Ring Road in 1981 and the subsequent addition of the
3rd
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
, 4th, 5th and 6th Ring Roads. According to one 2005 newspaper report, the size of newly developed Beijing was one-and-a-half times larger than before.
Wangfujing
Wangfujing () is a shopping street in Beijing, China, located in Dongcheng District. The majority of the main area is pedestrianised. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty there have been commercial activities in the area. In the Qing Dynas ...
and
Xidan
Xidan (Chinese: 西 单; Pinyin: Xīdān) is a major traditional commercial area in Beijing, China. It is located in the Xicheng District.
The Xidan commercial district incorporates the Xidan Culture Square, North Xidan Street, as well as many ...
have developed into flourishing shopping districts, while
Zhongguancun
Zhongguancun () is a major technology hub in Haidian District, Beijing, China.
Zhongguancun occupies a band between the northwestern Third Ring Road and the northwestern Fourth Ring Road, in the northwestern part of Beijing. Zhongguancun is ...
has become a major center of electronics in China. In recent years, the expansion of Beijing has also brought to the forefront some problems of urbanization, such as
heavy traffic
''Heavy Traffic'' is a 1973 American live-action/animated drama film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi. The film, which begins, ends, and occasionally combines with live-action, explores the often surreal fantasies of a young New York City ...
, poor air quality, the loss of historic neighborhoods, and a significant influx of migrant workers from less-developed
rural area
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
s of the country. Beijing has also been the location of many significant events in recent Chinese history, principally the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
.Picture Power:Tiananmen Standoff BBC News. The city has also hosted major international events, including the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
and the
2015 World Championships in Athletics
The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...
, and was chosen to host the
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...
, making it the first city to ever host both Winter and Summer Olympics.
Geography
Beijing is situated at the northern tip of the roughly triangular
North China Plain
The North China Plain or Huang-Huai-Hai Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bord ...
, 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 northwestern part of the municipality, especially
Yanqing District
Yanqing District (), formerly known as Yanqing County before 2015, is a district of the municipality of Beijing located northwest of the city proper of Beijing. The district consists of 3 subdistricts, 11 towns and 4 townships, and borders th ...
and
Huairou District
Huairou District () is situated in northern Beijing about from the city center (about a 1½ to 2 hour drive).
History
In 1995 during the United Nation's 4th World's Women Conference in Beijing, the Civil Society community was forced to meet in t ...
, are dominated by the
Jundu Mountains
Jundu Mountains () is a mountain range north of Beijing in China. Jundu Mountains represent the west part of the Yan Mountains. The Great Wall of China passes through Jundu Mountains with famous sections as Badaling
Badaling () is the site ...
, while the western part is framed by ''Xishan'' or the
Western Hills
The Western Hills () are the hills and mountains in the western part of Beijing.
Geography
Being an extension of the Taihang mountain range from the Hebei Province, the Western Hills cover approximately 17% of the Beijing municipality, inc ...
. The
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
across the northern part of Beijing Municipality was built on the rugged topography to defend against nomadic incursions from the steppes. Mount Dongling, in the Western Hills and on the border with
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
, is the municipality's highest point, with an altitude of .
Major rivers flowing through the municipality, including the Chaobai, Yongding, Juma, are all tributaries in the
Hai River
The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea.
The Hai River at Tianjin is formed by the confluence of five watercourses: the ...
system, and flow in a southeasterly direction. The Miyun Reservoir, on the upper reaches of the Chaobai River, is the largest reservoir within the municipality. Beijing is also the northern terminus of the Grand Canal to
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
, which was built over 1,400 years ago as a transportation route, and the
South–North Water Transfer Project
The South–North Water Transfer Project, also translated as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project () is a multi-decade infrastructure mega-project in China. Ultimately it aims to channel 44.8 billion cubic meters of fresh water annually f ...
, constructed in the past decade to bring water from the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
basin.
The urban area of Beijing, on the plains in the south-central of the municipality with elevation of , occupies a relatively small but expanding portion of the municipality's area. The city spreads out in concentric
ring roads
A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...
. The
Second Ring Road
The 2nd Ring Road () is the innermost ring road highway which encircles the city center of Beijing, People's Republic of China. (The first ring road had been a circular tram route.)
The ring road can be divided into two parts: the original rin ...
Tian'anmen
The Tiananmen (also Tian'anmen (天安门), Tienanmen, T’ien-an Men; ), or the Gate of Heaven-Sent Pacification, is a monumental gate in the city center of Beijing, China, the front gate of the Imperial City of Beijing, located near the ci ...
and
Tian'anmen Square
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen ...
are at the center of Beijing, directly to the south of the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
, the former residence of the emperors of China. To the west of Tian'anmen is
Zhongnanhai
Zhongnanhai () is a former imperial garden in the Imperial City, Beijing, adjacent to the Forbidden City; it serves as the central headquarters for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the State Council (central government) of China. Zhongn ...
, the residence of China's current leaders.
Chang'an Avenue
250px, Chang'an Avenue hosts military parades. Here are 1999 National Day parade.">50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China">1999 National Day parade.
Chang'an Avenue (), literally "Eternal Peace Street", is a major thoroughfare in ...
, which cuts between Tiananmen and the Square, forms the city's main east–west axis.
Cityscape
Architecture
Three styles of architecture are predominant in urban Beijing. First, there is the traditional architecture of imperial China, perhaps best exemplified by the massive
Tian'anmen
The Tiananmen (also Tian'anmen (天安门), Tienanmen, T’ien-an Men; ), or the Gate of Heaven-Sent Pacification, is a monumental gate in the city center of Beijing, China, the front gate of the Imperial City of Beijing, located near the ci ...
(Gate of Heavenly Peace), which remains the People's Republic of China's trademark edifice, the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
, the
Imperial Ancestral Temple
The Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao () of Beijing, is a historic site in the Imperial City, just outside the Forbidden City, where during both the Ming and Qing Dynasties, sacrificial ceremonies were held on the most important festival o ...
and the
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for ...
. Next, there is what is sometimes referred to as the "Sino-Sov" style, with structures tending to be boxy and sometimes poorly constructed, which were built between the 1950s and the 1970s. Finally, there are much more modern architectural forms, most noticeably in the area of the
Beijing CBD
The Beijing central business district, or Beijing CBD (), is a central business district and the primary area for finance, media, and business services in Beijing, China.
Beijing CBD occupies 3.99 km2 of the Chaoyang District on the e ...
in east Beijing such as the new
CCTV Headquarters
The CCTV Headquarters serves as the headquarters for China Central Television (CCTV) formerly located at the old China Central Television Building some to the west. Feted by architecture critics as perhaps "the greatest work of architectu ...
, in addition to buildings in other locations around the city such as the
Beijing National Stadium
The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...
CTBUH Skyscraper Award
The Tall Building Awards or CTBUH Awards recognizes projects and individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to the advancement of tall buildings and urban environment, as well as achieving sustainability at the highest and broadest l ...
for best overall tall building twice, for the
Linked Hybrid
Linked Hybrid () is a building complex built in Beijing, China designed by Steven Holl Architects. It is recognized for its environmental design and uses geo-thermal wells for cooling and heating. Linked Hybrid has won several awards such as the B ...
building in 2009 and the
CCTV Headquarters
The CCTV Headquarters serves as the headquarters for China Central Television (CCTV) formerly located at the old China Central Television Building some to the west. Feted by architecture critics as perhaps "the greatest work of architectu ...
in 2013. The CTBUH Skyscraper award for best tall overall building is given to only one building around the world every year.
In the early 21st century, Beijing has witnessed tremendous growth of new building constructions, exhibiting various modern styles from international designers, most pronounced in the CBD region. A mixture of both 1950s design and
neofuturistic
Neo-futurism is a late-20th to early-21st-century movement in the arts, design, and architecture.
Described as an avant-garde movement, as well as a futuristic rethinking of the thought behind aesthetics and functionality of design in growing ...
style of architecture can be seen at the
798 Art Zone
798 Art Zone (), or Dashanzi Art District, is a complex of 50-year-old decommissioned military factory buildings boasting a unique architectural style that houses a thriving artistic community in Dashanzi, Chaoyang District, Beijing. The area is ...
, which mixes the old with the new. Beijing's tallest building is the 528-meter
China Zun
CITIC Tower (otherwise known as China Zun) is a supertall skyscraper in the Central Business District of Beijing. The 109-story, building is the tallest in the city, surpassing the China World Trade Center Tower III by 190 metres. On August ...
.
Beijing is famous for its ''
siheyuan
A ''siheyuan'' (; IPA: ɹ̩̂.xɤ̌.ɥɛ̂n is a historical type of residence that was commonly found throughout China, most famously in Beijing and rural Shanxi. Throughout Chinese history, the siheyuan composition was the basic pattern used ...
s'', a type of residence where a common courtyard is shared by the surrounding buildings. Among the more grand examples are the
Prince Gong Mansion
Prince Gong's Mansion, also known as the Prince Kung Mansion, is a museum and tourist attraction located in Xicheng District, Beijing, just north of the Shichahai Lake. It consists of large siheyuan-style mansions and gardens. Originally c ...
hutong
''Hutong'' () are a type of narrow street or alley commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, especially Beijing.
In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of ''siheyuan'', traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods wer ...
s''. The ''hutongs'' are generally straight and run east to west so that doorways face north and south for good Feng Shui. They vary in width; some are so narrow only a few pedestrians can pass through at a time. Once ubiquitous in Beijing, ''siheyuans'' and ''hutongs'' are rapidly disappearing, as entire city blocks of ''hutongs'' are replaced by high-rise buildings. Residents of the ''hutongs'' are entitled to live in the new buildings in apartments 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, and these properties are often government owned.
Climate
Beijing has a monsoon-influenced
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Dwa''), characterized by hot, humid summers due to the East Asian
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
, and brief but cold, dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast
Siberian anticyclone
The Siberian High (also Siberian Anticyclone; russian: Азиатский антициклон (''Aziatsky antitsiklon'')) is a massive collection of cold dry air that accumulates in the northeastern part of Eurasia from September until April. It ...
. Spring can bear witness to sandstorms blowing in from the
Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world.
Geography
The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...
across the
Mongolian steppe
Mongolian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Mongolia, a country in Asia
* Mongolian people, or Mongols
* Mongolia (1911–24), the government of Mongolia, 1911–1919 and 1921–1924
* Mongolian language
* Mongolian alphabet
* Mong ...
, accompanied by rapidly warming, but generally dry, conditions. Autumn, similar to spring, is a season of transition and minimal precipitation. The monthly daily average temperature in January is , while in July it is .
Precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
averages around annually, with close to three-quarters of that total falling from June to August. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 47% in July to 65% in January and February, the city receives 2,671 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from on 22 February 1966 to on 24 July 1999 (unofficial record of was set on 15 June 1942).
Environmental issues
Beijing has a long history of
environmental problems
Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...
. Between 2000 and 2009 Beijing's urban extent quadrupled, which not only strongly increased the extent of anthropogenic emissions, but also changed the meteorological situation fundamentally, even if
emissions
Emission may refer to:
Chemical products
* Emission of air pollutants, notably:
**Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue
** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion
** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit rad ...
of human society are not included. For example, surface
albedo
Albedo (; ) is the measure of the diffuse reflection of sunlight, solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a body ...
, wind speed and
humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity depe ...
near the surface were decreased, whereas ground and near-surface
air temperature
Atmospheric temperature is a measure of temperature at different levels of the Earth's atmosphere. It is governed by many factors, including insolation, incoming solar radiation, humidity and altitude. When discussing surface air temperature, the ...
s, vertical air dilution and
ozone
Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...
levels were increased. Because of the combined factors of urbanization and pollution caused by burning of
fossil fuel
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...
, Beijing is often affected by serious environmental problems, which lead to
health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
issues of many inhabitants. In 2013 heavy
smog
Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and '' fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. The word was then inte ...
struck Beijing and most parts of northern China, impacting a total of 600 million people. After this "pollution shock"
air pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...
became an important economic and social concern in China. After that the government of Beijing announced measures to reduce air pollution, for example by lowering the share of coal from 24% in 2012 to 10% in 2017, while the national government ordered heavily polluting vehicles to be removed from 2015 to 2017 and increased its efforts to transition the energy system to clean sources.
Air quality
Joint research between American and Chinese researchers in 2006 concluded that much of the city's pollution comes from surrounding cities and provinces. On average 35–60% of the
ozone
Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...
can be traced to sources outside the city.
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
Province and
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
Municipality have a "significant influence on Beijing's air quality", partly due to the prevailing south/southeasterly flow during the summer and the mountains to the north and northwest.
In preparation for the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
and to fulfill promises to clean up the city's air, nearly US$17 billion was spent. Beijing implemented a number of air improvement schemes for the duration of the Games, including halting work at all construction sites, closing many factories in Beijing permanently, temporarily shutting industry in neighboring regions, closing some gas stations, and cutting motor traffic by half by limiting drivers to odd or even days (based on their license plate numbers), reducing bus and subway fares, opening new subway lines, and banning high-emission vehicles. The city further assembled 3,800
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
-powered buses, one of the largest fleets in the world. Beijing became the first city in China to require the Chinese equivalent to the Euro 4
emission standard
Emission standards are the legal requirements governing air pollutants released into the atmosphere. Emission standards set quantitative limits on the permissible amount of specific air pollutants that may be released from specific sources over ...
.
Coal burning accounts for about 40% of the PM 2.5 in Beijing and is also the chief source of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide.James West, ''Mother Jones'' . 18 January 2013. Since 2012, the city has been converting coal-fired
power stations
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many po ...
to burn natural gas"Beijing to switch from coal to gas to go green". ''China Daily'' . 8 March 2012. and aims to cap annual coal consumption at 20 million tons. In 2011, the city burned 26.3 million tons of coal, 73% of which for heating and power generation and the remainder for industry. Much of the city's air pollutants are emitted by neighboring regions. Coal consumption in neighboring Tianjin is expected to increase from 48 to 63 million tons from 2011 to 2015.Li Jing, "Beijing's air quality will worsen without coal control, Greenpeace says". ''South China Morning Post''. 5 February 2013 . Hebei Province burned over 300 million tons of coal in 2011, more than all of Germany, of which only 30% were used for power generation and a considerable portion for steel and cement making. Power plants in the coal-mining regions of Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi, where coal consumption has tripled since 2000, and Shandong also contribute to air pollution in Beijing. Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia, respectively rank from first to fourth, among Chinese provinces by coal consumption. There were four major coal-fired power plants in the city to provide electricity as well as heating during the winter. The first one (Gaojing Thermal Power Plant) was shut down in 2014. Another two were shut in March 2015. The last one (Huaneng Thermal Power Plant) would be shut in 2016. Between 2013 and 2017, the city planned to reduce 13 million tons of coal consumption and cap coal consumption to 15 million tons in 2015.
The government sometimes uses
cloud-seeding
Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical ...
measures to increase the likelihood of rain showers in the region to clear the air prior to large events, such as prior to the 60th anniversary parade in 2009 as well as to combat drought conditions in the area. More recently, however, the government has increased its usage of such measures as closing factories temporarily and implementing greater restrictions for cars on the road, as in the case of "
APEC blue
APEC blue () refers to the rare blue sky in Beijing during APEC China 2014 due to emission reduction campaign directed by Chinese government. Because of its transience, the new phrase "APEC blue" also refers to something wonderful but also fleeting ...
" and "parade blue," short periods during and immediately preceding the
APEC China 2014
The APEC China 2014 was the 22nd annual gathering of APEC leaders. It was held in Yanqi Lake (), Huairou District, Beijing on 10–12, November 2014.
Attendees
Prior to a two plane tragedies of Malaysia Airlines flight between MH370 and MH17, th ...
and the 2015 China Victory Day Parade, respectively. During and prior to these events, Beijing's air quality improved dramatically, only to fall back to unhealthy levels shortly after.
Beijing air quality is often poor, especially in winter. In mid-January 2013, Beijing's air quality was measured on top of the city's US embassy at a PM2.5 density of 755 micrograms per cubic meter, which is more than 75 times the safe level established by the
WHO
Who or WHO may refer to:
* Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun
* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism
* World Health Organization
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
, and went off the US Environmental Protection Agency's air quality index. It was widely reported, originally through a Twitter account, that the category was "crazy bad". This was later changed to "beyond index".
On 8 and 9 December 2015 Beijing had its first
smog
Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and '' fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. The word was then inte ...
alert which shut down a majority of the industry and other commercial businesses in the city. Later in the month another smog "red alert" was issued.
According to Beijing's environmental protection bureau's announcement in November 2016, starting from 2017 highly polluting old cars will be banned from being driven whenever Smog "red alerts" are issued in the city or neighboring regions.
In recent years, there has been measurable reductions in pollutants after the "war on pollution" was declared in 2014, with Beijing seeing a 35% reduction in fine particulates in 2017.
Readings
Due to Beijing's high level of air pollution, there are various readings by different sources on the subject. Daily pollution readings at 27 monitoring stations around the city are reported on the website of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau (BJEPB). The American Embassy of Beijing also reports hourly fine particulate (PM2.5) and
ozone
Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...
levels on Twitter. Since the BJEPB and US Embassy measure different pollutants according to different criteria, the pollution levels and the impact to human health reported by the BJEPB are often lower than that reported by the US Embassy. (login required)
The smog is causing harm and danger to the population. The air pollution does directly result in significant impact on the mobility rate of cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease in Beijing. Exposure to large concentrations of polluted air can cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems, emergency room visits, and even death.
Dust storms
Dust from the erosion of deserts in northern and northwestern China results in seasonal
dust storm
A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transporte ...
s that plague the city; the
Beijing Weather Modification Office
The Beijing Weather Modification Office is a unit of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau tasked with weather control in Beijing, and its surrounding areas, including parts of Hebei and Inner Mongolia.
The Beijing Weather Modification Office form a ...
sometimes artificially induces rainfall to fight such storms and mitigate their effects. In the first four months of 2006 alone, there were no fewer than eight such storms. In April 2002, one dust storm alone dumped nearly 50,000 tons of dust onto the city before moving on to Japan and Korea.
Government
The municipal government is regulated by the local
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP), led by the Beijing CCP Secretary (). The local CCP issues administrative orders, collects taxes, manages the economy, and directs a standing committee of the Municipal People's Congress in making policy decisions and overseeing the local government.
Government officials include the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
() and vice-mayor. Numerous bureaus focus on law, public security, and other affairs. Additionally, as the capital of China, Beijing houses all of the important national governmental and political institutions, including the
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China.
With 2, ...
.
Administrative divisions
Beijing Municipality currently comprises 16 administrative county-level subdivisions including 16 urban, suburban, and rural
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
. On 1 July 2010, Chongwen and Xuanwu were merged into Dongcheng and Xicheng, respectively. On 13 November 2015
Miyun
Miyun District () is situated in northeast Beijing. It has an area of and a population of 460,800 (2010 Census). Miyun District government seat is located in Gulou Subdistrict.
History
Miyun was one of the places where Warlord Feng Yuxiang s ...
Beijing's 16 county-level divisions (districts) are further subdivided into 273 lower third-level administrative units at the township level: 119
towns
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
, 24
townships
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
, 5
ethnic township
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
s and 125
subdistricts A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district.
Equivalents
* Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language
* Kelurahan, in Indonesia
* Mukim, a township in Brunei, Indon ...
.
Towns within Beijing Municipality but outside the urban area include (but are not limited to):
* Changping
*
Huairou
Huairou District () is situated in northern Beijing about from the city center (about a 1½ to 2 hour drive).
History
In 1995 during the United Nation's 4th World's Women Conference in Beijing, the Civil Society community was forced to meet in t ...
*
Miyun
Miyun District () is situated in northeast Beijing. It has an area of and a population of 460,800 (2010 Census). Miyun District government seat is located in Gulou Subdistrict.
History
Miyun was one of the places where Warlord Feng Yuxiang s ...
*
Liangxiang
Liangxiang () is a township and an area of Beijing, Fangshan District, located 25km southwest of the city center. It borders Gongchen Subdistrict to its north, Changyang Town to its east, Doudian Town to its south, and Yancun Town to its west. I ...
*
Liulimiao
Liulimiao Town () is a town located on the center of Huairou District, Beijing. It is located at the foot of Yunmeng Mountain of the Yan Mountains
The Yan Mountains, also known by their Chinese name Yanshan, are a major mountain range to the no ...
Tiantongyuan
Tiantongyuan () is a suburb in northern Beijing's Changping District. As of April 2008, it was said to have over 400,000 residents. As of 2019, the population of Tiantongyuan had jumped to 700,000, making it the largest Xiaoqu (housing communi ...
* Beiyuan
* Xiaotangshan
Several place names in Beijing end with ''mén'' (), meaning "gate", as they were the locations of gates in the former
Beijing city wall
The Beijing city fortifications were Defensive wall, walls with series of towers and gates constructed in the city of Beijing, China in the early 1400s until they were partially demolished in 1965 for the construction of the 2nd Ring Road and Line ...
. Other place names end in ''cūn'' (), meaning "village", as they were originally villages outside the city wall.
Judiciary and procuracy
The
judicial system
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
in Beijing consists of the
Supreme People's Court
The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (SPC; ) is the highest court of the People's Republic of China. It hears appeals of cases from the high people's courts and is the trial court for cases about matters of national ...
, the highest court in the country, the Beijing Municipal High People's Court, the
high people's court
A high people's court or higher people's court (高级人民法院) is the highest local court in the People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List o ...
basic people's court
A primary people's court () is a lowest level court in the Courts of General Jurisdiction in the People's Republic of China. According to the ''Organic Law of the People's Courts of the People's Republic of China'', the basic people's courts hand ...
(one for each of the municipality's districts and counties), and one basic railway transport court. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court in Shijingshan oversees the basic courts of Haidian, Shijingshan, Mentougou, Changping and Yanqing. The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court in Fengtai oversees the basic courts of Dongcheng, Xicheng, Fengtai, Fangshan and Daxing. The Beijing No. 3 Intermediate People's Court in Laiguangying, is the newest of the three intermediate people's courts and opened on 21 August 2013. It oversees the district courts of Chaoyang, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Huairou, Pinggu and Miyun. Each court in Beijing has a corresponding people's procuratorate.
Economy
, Beijing's
nominal GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
was US$458 billion ( CN¥3.0 trillion), about 3.45% of the country's GDP and ranked
12th
12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6.
It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...
among province-level administrative units; its nominal GDP per capita was US$21,261 (CN¥140,748) and ranked the 1st in the country. As of 2021, Beijing's
gross regional product
Gross regional product (GRP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all final goods and services produced in a region or subdivision of a country in a period (quarterly or yearly) of time.
A metropolitan area's GRP (gross metropolitan prod ...
GDP PPP
Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the measurement of prices in different countries that uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries' currencies. PPP is effectively the ratio of the price of a basket ...
), ranking among the tenth largest metropolitan economies in the world. Beijing's nominal GDP is projected to reach US$1.1 trillion in 2035, ranking among the world's top 10 largest cities (together with
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
,
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
and
Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
in China) according to a study by Oxford Economics, and its nominal GDP per capita will reach US$45,000 in 2030.
Due to the concentration of
state owned enterprises
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...
in the national capital, Beijing in 2013 had more
Fortune Global 500
The ''Fortune'' Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by ''Fortune'' magazine.
Methodology
Until 1989, it listed onl ...
Company headquarters than any other city in the world."Jones Lang LaSalle Research Report – Five years after the Olympics – Growth in Beijing has continued, what to expect next?" August 2013 As of August 2022, Beijing has 54
Fortune Global 500
The ''Fortune'' Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by ''Fortune'' magazine.
Methodology
Until 1989, it listed onl ...
companies, more than Japan (47), the third-place country after China (145) and the United States (124). Beijing has also been described as the "
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...
capital of the world". In 2020, Beijing is the fifth wealthiest city in the world, with a total wealth amounts to $2 trillion. Beijing is classified as an Alpha+ (global first-tier) city by the
Globalization and World Cities Research Network
The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershi ...
, indicating its influence in the region and worldwide and making it one of the world's Top 10 major cities. In the 2021
Global Financial Centres Index
The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) is a ranking of the competitiveness of financial centres based on over 29,000 financial centre assessments from an online questionnaire together with over 100 indices from organisations such as the World ...
, Beijing was ranked as having the sixth-most competitive financial center in the world and fourth-most competitive in the whole Asia & Oceania region (behind Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore).
As of 2021, Beijing was ranked first globally in terms of "''Global City Competitiveness''" in the ''2020–2021 Global Urban Competitiveness Report'' jointly released by the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...
post-industrial economy
A post-industrial economy is a period of growth within an industrialized economy or nation in which the relative importance of manufacturing reduces and that of services, information, and research grows.
Such economies are often marked by a declin ...
that is dominated by the
tertiary sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...
(services), which generated 76.9% of output, followed by the
secondary sector
In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...
(manufacturing, construction) at 22.2% and the
primary sector
The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining.
The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in de ...
(agriculture, mining) at 0.8%.
The services sector is broadly diversified with professional services, wholesale and retail, information technology, commercial real estate, scientific research, and residential real estate each contributing at least 6% to the city's economy in 2013.
The single largest sub-sector remains industry, whose share of overall output has shrunk to 18.1% in 2013. The mix of industrial output has changed significantly since 2010 when the city announced that 140 highly-polluting, energy and water resource intensive enterprises would be relocated from the city in five years. The relocation of Capital Steel to neighboring Hebei province had begun in 2005. In 2013, output of automobiles, aerospace products, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and food processing all increased.
In the farmland around Beijing, vegetables and fruits have displaced grain as the primary crops under cultivation. In 2013, the tonnage of vegetable, edible fungus and fruit harvested was over three times that of grain. In 2013, overall acreage under cultivation shrank along with most categories of produce as more land was reforested for environmental reasons.
Economic zones
In 2006, the city government identified six high-end economic output zones around Beijing as the primary engines for local economic growth. In 2012, the six zones produced 43.3% of the city's GDP, up from 36.5% in 2007.
The six zones are:
#
Zhongguancun
Zhongguancun () is a major technology hub in Haidian District, Beijing, China.
Zhongguancun occupies a band between the northwestern Third Ring Road and the northwestern Fourth Ring Road, in the northwestern part of Beijing. Zhongguancun is ...
, China's silicon village in Haidian District northwest of the city, is home to both established and start-up tech companies. In the first two quarters of 2014, 9,895 companies registered in the six zones, among which 6,150 were based in Zhongguancun. Zhongguancun is also the center of Beijing-Tianjin-Shijiazhuang Hi-Tech Industrial Belt.
#
Beijing Financial Street
Beijing Financial Street (BFS) () is where Chinese regulatory agencies are located. It is located inside Beijing's innermost 2nd Ring Road. According to the 13th 5 years plan, Beijing Financial Street will be positioned more towards a regulat ...
, in Xicheng District on the west side of the city between Fuxingmen and Fuchengmen, is lined with headquarters of large state banks and insurance companies. The country's financial regulatory agencies including the
central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union,
and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...
Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area
Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BETDA) () is a state-level economic and technological development zone in Beijing, China. The area is developed by Beijing ETOWN, an economic development and investment initiative of the Beijing mu ...
, better known as Yizhuang, is an industrial park the straddles the southern Fifth Ring Road in Daxing District. It has attracted pharmaceutical, information technology, and materials engineering companies.
# Beijing Airport Economic Zone was created in 1993 and surrounds the
Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing Capital International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). It is located northeast of Beijing's city center, in an exclave of Chaoyang District ...
in Shunyi District northeast of the city. In addition to logistics, airline services, and trading firms, this zone is also home to Beijing's automobile assembly plants.
# Beijing Olympic Center Zone surrounds the
Olympic Green
The Olympic Green () is an Olympic Park in Chaoyang District, Beijing, China constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since then, the streets around the park have been used for an exhibition street race of the FIA GT1 World Championship in ...
due north of downtown and is developing into an entertainment, sports, tourism and business convention center.
Shijingshan
Shijingshan District () is an urban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the west of the urban core of Beijing, and is part of the Western Hills area, bordering the districts of Haidian to the northeast and east, Fengtai to the s ...
, on the western outskirts of the city, is a traditional heavy industrial base for steel-making. Chemical plants are concentrated in the far eastern suburbs.
Less legitimate enterprises also exist. Urban Beijing is known for being a center of infringed goods; anything from the latest designer clothing to DVDs can be found in markets all over the city, often marketed to expatriates and international visitors.
Demographics
In 2013, Beijing had a total population of 21.148 million within the municipality, of which 18.251 million resided in urban districts or suburban townships and 2.897 million lived in rural villages. The encompassing
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
was estimated by the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) to have, , a population of 24.9 million.Linked from the OEC here
Within China, the city ranked second in urban population after Shanghai and the third in municipal population after Shanghai and Chongqing. Beijing also ranks among the most populous cities in the world, a distinction the city has held for much of the past 800 years, especially during the 15th to early 19th centuries when it was the largest city in the world.
About 13 million of the city's residents in 2013 had local ''hukou'' permits, which entitles them to permanent residence in Beijing. The remaining 8 million residents had ''hukou'' permits elsewhere and were not eligible to receive some social benefits provided by the Beijing municipal government.
The population increased in 2013 by 455,000 or about 7% from the previous year and continued a decade-long trend of rapid growth. The total population in 2004 was 14.213 million. The population gains are driven largely by migration. The population's
rate of natural increase
In Demography, the rate of natural increase (RNI), also known as natural population change, is defined as the birth rate minus the death rate of a particular population, over a particular time period. It is typically expressed either as a number ...
in 2013 was a mere 0.441%, based on a
birth rate
The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
of 8.93 and a
mortality rate
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...
of 4.52. The gender balance was 51.6% males and 48.4% females.
Working age people account for nearly 80% of the population. Compared to 2004, residents age 0–14 as a proportion of the population dropped from 9.96% to 9.5% in 2013 and residents over the age of 65 declined from 11.12% to 9.2%. From 2000 to 2010, the percentage of city residents with at least some college education nearly doubled from 16.8% to 31.5%. About 22.2% have some high school education and 31% had reached middle school.
According to the 2010 census, nearly 96% of Beijing's population are ethnic
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
. Of the 800,000 ethnic minority population living in the capital,
Manchu
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
(336,000),
Hui
The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...
(249,000),
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
(77,000),
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
(37,000) and Tujia (24,000) constitute the five largest groups. In addition, there were 8,045 Hong Kong residents, 500 Macau residents, and 7,772 Taiwan residents along with 91,128 registered foreigners living in Beijing. A study by the Beijing Academy of Sciences estimates that in 2010 there were on average 200,000 foreigners living in Beijing on any given day including students, business travellers and tourists that are not counted as registered residents.
In 2017 the Chinese government implemented population controls for Beijing and Shanghai to fight what it called the "big city disease" which includes congestion, pollution, and shortages of education and health care services. From this policy, Beijing's population declined by 20,000 from 2016 to 2017. Some low-income people are being forcibly removed from the city as both legal and illegal housing is being demolished in some high-density residential neighborhoods. The population is being redistributed to
Jing-Jin-Ji
The Jingjinji Metropolitan Region or Jing-Jin-Ji (JJJ),, sometimes rendered in historical context as King–Sin–Peh, also known as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BJ-TJ-HB), Peking–Tientsin–Hopeh and the Capital Economic Zone, is the National Cap ...
and
Xiong'an New Area
Xiong'an New Area () is a state-level new area in the Baoding area of Hebei, China. Established in April 2017, the area is located about 100 km southwest of Beijing and 50 km east of downtown Baoding. Its main function is to serve as ...
, the transfer to the latter expected to include 300,000-500,000 people working in government research, universities, and corporate headquarters.
Education and research
Beijing is a world leading center for scientific and technological innovation and has been ranked the No.1 city in the world with the largest scientific research output, as tracked by the
Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries and their scientific output since its introduction in November, 2014. Each year, Nature Index ranks the leading institutions (which can be companies, universities, government agen ...
since 2016. The city is also leading the world with the highest share of articles published in the fields of
physical sciences
Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences".
Definition
Phy ...
,
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
public university
A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...
system in Asia and the first city in China with most higher education institutions, and it is home to the two best universities (
Tsinghua
Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...
and
Peking
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
) in the whole of Asia-Oceania region and emerging countries with its shared rankings at 16th place in the world by the 2022
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...
. Both are members of the
C9 League
The C9 League () is an alliance of nine universities in China, initiated by the Government of China, Chinese Central Government to promote the development and reputation of higher education in China in 2009. Collectively, universities in the C9 ...
, an alliance of elite Chinese universities offering comprehensive and leading education.
Beijing also has the highest number of universities of any city in the country, representing more than one-fifth of 147 Double First-Class Universities, a national plan to develop elite Chinese universities into world-class institutions by the end of 2050. A number of Beijing's most prestigious universities consistently rank among the best in the
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
and the world, including
Peking University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
,
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...
,
Renmin University of China
The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government.
RUC ...
,
Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University (BNU, ), colloquially known as Beishida (), is a public research university located in Beijing, China, with a strong emphasis on humanities and sciences. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China ...
,
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
The University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS; ) is a public university for graduate education, under the direct leadership of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The predecessors of UCAS are the Graduate University of the Chinese ...
,
Beihang University
Beihang University, previously known as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (), abbreviated as BUAA or Beihang ( zh, c=北航, p=), is a national public research university located in Beijing, China, specializing in engineering, t ...
,
Beijing Institute of Technology
Beijing Institute of Technology (abbreviated BIT; Simplified Chinese characters, Simplified Chinese: 北京理工大学; Traditional Chinese characters, Traditional Chinese: 北京理工大學; pinyin: Běijīng Lǐgōng Dàxué), is a National u ...
,
China Agricultural University
China Agricultural University (CAU, ; abbreviated as 农大) is a public research university in Beijing, People's Republic of China specializing in agriculture, biology, engineering, veterinary medicine, economics, management, humanities ...
,
Minzu University of China
Minzu University of China (MUC, ) is a national public university in Haidian District, Beijing, China designated for ethnic minorities in China.
MUC was selected as one of national key universities to directly receive funding from Double First ...
,
University of Science and Technology Beijing
The University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB; ), formerly known as Beijing Steel and Iron Institute () before 1988, is a national key university in Haidian District, Beijing, China. USTB's metallurgy and materials science programmes are ...
,
Beijing University of Chemical Technology
Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT, ), colloquially known in Chinese as Beihua (北化, ''Běihuà'') or Huada (化大, ''Huàdà''), is a public technological university in mainland China. BUCT was founded in 1958 and is a part ...
University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences For the predecessor of UCASS, please see Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (UCASS) () is a public university for graduate education, under the direct leadership of the Chine ...
and
Central University of Finance and Economics
Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE; ), is a national public research university located in Beijing, China.
Central University of Finance and Economics is the first economics and management university which was founded by the Chin ...
. These universities were selected as " 985 universities" or " 211 universities" by the Chinese government in order to build world-class universities.
Some of the
national key universities
National Key Universities () previously referred to universities recognized as prestigious and which received a high level of support from the central government of the People's Republic of China. The term is no longer in official use by 1990s. Th ...
in Beijing are:
*
Beijing Forestry University
Beijing Forestry University (BFU/BJFU, ) is a public university located at Haidian District of Beijing, China.Home Beijing Forestry University. Ret ...
*
Beijing Jiaotong University
Beijing Jiaotong University ( Chinese: 北京交通大学), formerly Northern Jiaotong University, is one of the oldest public universities in mainland China. The main campus is located in the Haidian District in central Beijing. Its coordinates ...
*
Beijing University of Technology
Beijing University of Technology (), also called Beijing Polytechnic University or Bei Gong Da (), is recognized as one of the Project 211 universities. The university has established a multidisciplinary academic structure, offering a variety ...
*
Beijing University of Chinese Medicine
Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (BUCM, ) is a public university in China. Founded in 1956, the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine is one of the first traditional Chinese medical institutions for higher learning in China. It is a tradi ...
*
Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
The Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT) () is a key national university distinguished by the teaching and research in the field of cable communications, wireless communications, computer, and electronic engineering. BUP ...
*
Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute
Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute is a university in Beijing, China. It is a major research institute of information security in China. It consists of five departments. It belongs to the General Office of the Chinese Communist P ...
*
Beijing Foreign Studies University
Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU; ), is a public university in Beijing, China. BFSU boasts the oldest language programs in China offering the largest number of foreign language majors on different educational levels. Located in Haidia ...
*
Beijing Language and Culture University
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
*
Beijing Sport University
Beijing Sport University (BSU) (), formerly known as "Central Institute of Physical Education" () and "Beijing Institute of Physical Education" (), is a nation-level public university located in Beijing, China. It is one of the National Key Univ ...
*
Central Conservatory of Music
The Central Conservatory of Music () is a prestigious leading public music school of China and a member of Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211. Its campus is in the Xicheng District of Beijing, China, near Fuxingmen Statio ...
*
Central Academy of Fine Arts
The Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is an art academy under the direct charge of the Ministry of Education of China. The Manila Bulletin calls the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy". It is one of the most selectiv ...
*
Central Academy of Drama
The Central Academy of Drama (), abbreviated Zhong Xi (), is a drama school in Beijing, China. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University Plan university identified by the Ministry of Education of China. The school is the first theatre ...
*
China University of Geosciences (Beijing)
The China University of Geosciences (Beijing) (; abbreviated CUGB or 北京地大) is a key national university directly under the administration of the Education Ministry of the People's Republic of China. It is located in Haidian District in ...
*
China University of Petroleum (Beijing)
The China University of Petroleum () is a state Double First Class University in China. It consists of China University of Petroleum (Beijing), and China University of Petroleum (Huadong). Both are regarded as the best universities in China a ...
China University of Political Science and Law
China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 中国政法大学; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 中國政法大學; pinyin: ''Zhōngguó Zhèngfǎ Dàxué'', abbr. ...
*
China Foreign Affairs University
China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU; ) is a public university for diplomats located in Beijing, China. It is jointly administrated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education. It is a Chinese state Double First Class Un ...
*
Chinese People's Public Security University
People's Public Security University of China () is a university in Xicheng District, Beijing, China. It was founded in 1948 and is directly under the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China.
The university specialises in ...
*
China Women's University
China Women's University () is a women's university located in Chaoyang District, Beijing, Chaoyang District of Beijing, China. It also has a campus in Changping District of Beijing.
It was founded in 1949 as a school for the Professional revolu ...
*
China Youth University for Political Sciences
China Youth University of Political Studies () is a university in Beijing, established in 1985 by the Communist Youth League of China. Since then the university has been affiliated with the league, and the leader (First Secretary) of the league us ...
*
China Institute of Industrial Relations
China University of Labor Relations (), previously known as China Institute of Industrial Relations and abbreviated as CIIR, is a university in Beijing, China. It is the only public college under the direction of All-China Federation of Trade U ...
*
Communication University of China
The Communication University of China (CUC) () is a leading public university in Beijing. It is one of the China's key universities of 'Double First Class University Plan', directly administered by the Ministry of Education of the People's Repu ...
*
North China Electric Power University
North China Electric Power University (NCEPU; ) is a national key university under the Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211 based in Beijing, China under the national Ministry of Education that specialises in polytechnic ...
*
Peking Union Medical College
Peking Union Medical College (), founded in 1906, is a selective public medical college based in Dongcheng, Beijing, China. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Double First Class University Plan university. The school is tied to the Peking Un ...
*
University of International Relations
The University of International Relations (UIR; ) is a national public university in Beijing, China. Its former English name is translated as "Institute of International Relations." It is also colloquially known as "Guoguan" (国关 Guó Gū ...
Beijing is also home to several religious institutions, Some of them are listed as follows:
* (中国伊斯兰教经学院)
* (北京伊斯兰教经学院)
* (中国佛学院)
* (中国藏语系高级佛学院)
*
National Seminary of Catholic Church in China
The National Seminary of Catholic Church in China () is a Catholic university in Daxing District of Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of pow ...
(中国天主教神哲学院)
The city is a seat of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...
, which has been consistently ranked the No.1 research institute in the world by ''
Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries and their scientific output since its introduction in November, 2014. Each year, Nature Index ranks the leading institutions (which can be companies, universities, government agen ...
'' since the list's inception in 2014, by
Nature Research
Nature Portfolio (formerly known as Nature Publishing Group and Nature Research) is a division of the international scientific publishing company Springer Nature that publishes academic journals, magazines, online databases, and services in scien ...
. Beijing is also a site of
Chinese Academy of Engineering
The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...
,
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...
and
National Natural Science Foundation of China
The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC; ) is an organization directly affiliated to China's State Council for the management of the National Natural Science Fund.
History
NSFC was founded in February 1986 by theoretical chemist Ta ...
.
The city's
compulsory education
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at other places.
Compulsory school attendance or compulsory schooling ...
system is among the best in the world: in 2018, 15-year-old students from Beijing (together with
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
,
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
and
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
) outperformed all of the other 78 participating countries in all categories (math, reading, and science) in the
Program for International Student Assessment
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-ye ...
, a worldwide study of academic performance conducted by the OECD.
Culture
People native to urban Beijing speak the
Beijing dialect
The Beijing dialect (), also known as Pekingese and Beijingese, is the prestige dialect of Mandarin spoken in the urban area of Beijing, China. It is the phonological basis of Standard Chinese, the official language in the People's Republic of ...
, which belongs to the Mandarin subdivision of
spoken Chinese
Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of main ...
. This speech is the basis for ''
putonghua
Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standar ...
'', the standard spoken language used in mainland China and
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, and one of the four official languages of
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. Rural areas of Beijing Municipality have their own dialects akin to those of Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing Municipality.
Beijing or
Peking opera
Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...
is a traditional form of Chinese theater well known throughout the nation. Commonly lauded as one of the highest achievements of
Chinese culture
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
, Beijing opera is performed through a combination of song, spoken dialogue, and codified action sequences involving gestures, movement, fighting and acrobatics. Much of Beijing opera is carried out in an archaic stage dialect quite different from Modern Standard Chinese and from the modern Beijing dialect.
Beijing cuisine
Beijing cuisine, also known as Jing cuisine, Mandarin cuisine and Peking cuisine and formerly as Beiping cuisine, is the local cuisine of Beijing, the national capital of China.
Background
As Beijing has been the capital of China for centuries, ...
is the local style of cooking.
Peking duck
Peking duck is a dish from Beijing (Peking) that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the d ...
is perhaps the best known dish. Fuling jiabing, a traditional Beijing snack food, is a pancake (''bing'') resembling a flat disk with a filling made from ''
fu ling
''Wolfiporia extensa'' (Peck) Ginns ('' syn.'' ''Poria cocos'' F.A.Wolf) is a fungus in the family Polyporaceae. It is a wood-decay fungus but has a subterranean growth habit. It is notable in the development of a large, long-lasting undergroun ...
'', a fungus used in traditional
Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...
.
Teahouse
A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whi ...
s are also common in Beijing.
The
cloisonné
Cloisonné () is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, ...
(or ''Jingtailan'', literally "Blue of Jingtai") metalworking technique and tradition is a Beijing art speciality, and is one of the most revered traditional crafts in China. Cloisonné making requires elaborate and complicated processes which include base-hammering, copper-strip inlay, soldering, enamel-filling, enamel-firing, surface polishing and gilding. Beijing's
lacquerware
Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Befor ...
is also well known for its sophisticated and intricate patterns and images carved into its surface, and the various decoration techniques of lacquer include "carved lacquer" and "engraved gold".
Younger residents of Beijing have become more attracted to the nightlife, which has flourished in recent decades, breaking prior cultural traditions that had practically restricted it to the upper class. Today,
Houhai
Houhai ( 'Rear Lake') is a lake and its surrounding neighborhood in Xicheng District of central Beijing, China. Houhai is the largest of the three lakes, along with Qianhai 'Front Lake' and Xihai 'Western Lake', that comprise Shichahai, the co ...
Wudaokou
Wudaokou (), whose name is a literal reference to the fifth level crossing of the Jingbao Railway, is a neighborhood in the Haidian District of North West Beijing, famous for its close distances to universities including Tsinghua University ...
are Beijing's nightlife hotspots.
In 2012 Beijing was named as City of Design and became part of the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
, the enormous palace compound that was the home of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties; the Forbidden City hosts the Palace Museum, which contains imperial collections of Chinese art. Surrounding the Forbidden City are several former imperial gardens, parks and scenic areas, notably Beihai,
Shichahai
Shichahai () is a historic scenic area consisting of three lakes in the north of central Beijing. They are located directly northwest of the Forbidden City and north of the Beihai Lake. Shichahai consists of the following three lakes: Qianhai ( ...
,
Zhongnanhai
Zhongnanhai () is a former imperial garden in the Imperial City, Beijing, adjacent to the Forbidden City; it serves as the central headquarters for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the State Council (central government) of China. Zhongn ...
Zhongshan
Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...
. These places, particularly Beihai Park, are described as masterpieces of
Chinese garden
The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Chinese emperors and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and the more intimate ...
ing art, and are tourist destinations of historical importance; in the modern era, Zhongnanhai has also been the political heart of various Chinese governments and regimes and is now the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council. From Tiananmen Square, right across from the Forbidden City, there are several notable sites, such as the Tiananmen,
Qianmen
Qianmen () is the colloquial name for Zhengyangmen (; Manchu:; Möllendorff:tob šun-i duka, literally meaning "Gate of the Zenith Sun"), a gate in Beijing's historic city wall. The gate is situated to the south of Tiananmen Square and once guar ...
, the
Great Hall of the People
The Great Hall of the People is a state building located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the ruling Chinese Co ...
, the
National Museum of China
The National Museum of China () flanks the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The museum's mission is to educate about the arts and history of China. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic ...
, the
Monument to the People's Heroes
The Monument to the People's Heroes () is a ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of China to the martyrs of revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries. It is located in the southern part of Tiananmen Square in ...
, and the
Mausoleum of Mao Zedong
The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (), also known as the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, is the final resting place of Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party from 1943 and the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 194 ...
. The
Summer Palace
The Summer Palace () is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quarte ...
and the
Old Summer Palace
The Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan () or Yuanmingyuan Park, originally called the Imperial Gardens (), and sometimes called the Winter Palace, was a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day Haidian District, Beijing, China. I ...
both lie at the western part of the city; the former, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, contains a comprehensive collection of imperial gardens and palaces that served as the summer retreats for the Qing imperial family.
Among the best known religious sites in the city is the
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for ...
(''Tiantan''), located in southeastern Beijing, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties made visits for annual ceremonies of prayers to Heaven for good harvest. In the north of the city is the
Temple of Earth
The Temple of the Earth (traditional Chinese: 地壇; simplified Chinese: 地坛; pinyin: Dìtán) in Beijing, China, is located in the northern part of central Beijing, around the Andingmen area and just outside Beijing's second ring road. It ...
(''Ditan''), while the Temple of the Sun (''Ritan'') and the Temple of the Moon (''Yuetan'') lie in the eastern and western urban areas respectively. Other well-known temple sites include the
Dongyue Temple
Dongyue Temple may refer to several Taoist/ folk religious temples dedicated to the Great Deity of the Eastern Peak (), that is Mount Tai:
*Dongyue miao 东岳庙 (Beijing), Beijing Dongyue Temple
*Dongyue guan 东岳观 (Zhejiang, Pingyang)
*D ...
,
Tanzhe Temple
The Tanzhe Temple () is a Buddhist temple situated in the Western Hills, a mountainous area in western Beijing. At one time, it was one of the most important temples in the nation. The temple is located near China National Highway 108 in the Ment ...
,
Miaoying Temple
The Miaoying Temple (), also known as the "White Stupa Temple" (), is a Chinese Buddhist temple on the north side of Fuchengmennei Street in the Xicheng District of Beijing. The temple was a monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and is ...
,
White Cloud Temple
The White Cloud Temple, also known as Baiyun Temple or the Abbey or Monastery of the White Clouds, is a Taoist temple and monastery located in Beijing, China. It is one of "The Three Great Ancestral Courts" of the Quanzhen School of Taoism and i ...
,
Yonghe Temple
The Yonghe Temple (, "Palace of Peace and Harmony"), also known as the Yonghe Lamasery, or popularly as the Lama Temple, is a temple and monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism located on 12 Yonghegong Street, Dongcheng District, Beij ...
,
Fayuan Temple
The Fayuan Temple (), situated in the southwest quarter of central Beijing, is one of the city's oldest and most renowned Buddhist temples.
History
The Fayuan Temple, originally named the Minzhong Temple, was first built in 645 during the T ...
,
Wanshou Temple
The Wanshou Temple () is a temple located at No.121, Wanshousi Road, Haidian District, Beijing. In addition to being a Buddhist temple, the Wanshou Temple also houses the Beijing Art Museum (北京艺术博物馆/北京藝術博物館).
It was bui ...
and
Big Bell Temple
The Big Bell Temple, or Da Zhong Temple (), originally known as Jue Sheng Temple (), is a Buddhist temple located on North 3rd Road in Beijing, China.
The Big Bell Temple was built in 1733 during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing dy ...
Guozijian
The Guozijian,Yuan, 194. sometimes translated as the Imperial College, Imperial Academy, Imperial University, National Academy, or National University, was the national central institution of higher learning in Chinese dynasties after the Sui ...
Niujie Mosque
The Niujie Mosque ( "Oxen Street House of Worship" or "Oxen Street Mosque") is the oldest mosque in Beijing, China. It was first built in 996 during the Liao dynasty and was reconstructed as well as enlarged under the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661– ...
is the oldest mosque in Beijing, with a history stretching back over a thousand years.
Beijing contains several well-preserved pagodas and stone pagodas, such as the towering Pagoda of Tianning Temple, which was built during the Liao dynasty from 1100 to 1120, and the Pagoda of Cishou Temple, which was built in 1576 during the Ming dynasty. Historically noteworthy stone bridges include the 12th-century
Lugou Bridge
The Marco Polo Bridge or Lugou Bridge () is a stone bridge located 15 km southwest of Beijing's city center in the Fengtai District. It bridges the Yongding River, a major tributary of Hai River. Situated at the eastern end of the bridge ...
, the 17th-century
Baliqiao
Yongtongqiao, better known as Baliqiao (; also romanised as Palikao), is a historic bridge located at the intersection of Tongzhou and Chaoyang districts in the east of Beijing, China. It passes over the Tonghui River (通惠河).
Histo ...
bridge, and the 18th-century
Jade Belt Bridge
The Jade Belt Bridge (), also known as the ''Camel's Back Bridge'', is an 18th-century pedestrian moon bridge located on the grounds of the Summer Palace in Beijing, China. It is famous for its distinctive tall thin single arch.
The Jade Belt Br ...
. The
Beijing Ancient Observatory
The Beijing Ancient Observatory () is a pretelescopic observatory located in Beijing, China. The observatory was built in 1442 during the Ming dynasty, and expanded during the Qing. It received major reorganization and many new, more accurate i ...
displays pre-telescopic spheres dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Fragrant Hills (''Xiangshan'') is a public park that consists of natural landscaped areas as well as traditional and cultural relics. The
Beijing Botanical Garden
The China National Botanical Garden () is a national-level botanical garden in People's Republic of China. The garden is located in Haidian District, Beijing, between Fragrant Hills Park and Jade Spring Hill in the Western Hills.
The National Bo ...
exhibits over 6,000 species of plants, including a variety of trees, bushes and flowers, and an extensive
peony
The peony or paeony is a flowering plant in the genus ''Paeonia'' , the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae . Peonies are native to Asia, Europe and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguished, ...
Milu Yuan
The Milu Park, or Milu Yuan (), is a large public park located in southern Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of th ...
and Zizhu Yuan parks are some of the notable recreational parks in the city. The
Beijing Zoo
The Beijing Zoo is a zoological park in Xizhimen, Xicheng District, Beijing, the capital of the China. Founded in 1906 during the late Qing dynasty, it is the oldest zoo in china and oldest public park in northern China. The zoo is also a center ...
is a center of zoological research that also contains rare animals from various continents, including the Chinese
giant panda
The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes us ...
.
There are 144 museums and galleries () in the city. In addition to the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City and the National Museum of China, other major museums include the
National Art Museum of China
The National Art Museum of China (NAMOC, ) is located at 1 Wusi Ave, Dongcheng District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. It is one of the largest art museums in China, and is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of Chin ...
, the
Capital Museum
The Capital Museum ( Chinese: 首都博物馆) is an art museum in Beijing, China. It opened in 1981 and moved into its present building in 2006, which houses a large collection of ancient porcelain, bronze, calligraphy, painting, jade, sculpture, ...
, the
Beijing Art Museum
The Wanshou Temple () is a temple located at No.121, Wanshousi Road, Haidian District, Beijing. In addition to being a Buddhist temple, the Wanshou Temple also houses the Beijing Art Museum (北京艺术博物馆/北京藝術博物館).
It was bui ...
, the
Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution or China People's Revolution Military Museum () is a museum located in Haidian District, Beijing, China that displays restored military equipment from the history of the People's Liberation ...
, the
Geological Museum of China
The Geological Museum of China (), built in 1916, is a geological museum, boasting 200 thousand specimens.
This museum is located in the Xisi area of Beijing and opened on October 1, 1959. It is the earliest geological scientific museum of Chi ...
, the
Beijing Museum of Natural History
The Beijing Museum of Natural History (BMNH; ) is located at 126 Tian Qiao Nan Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100050, and is the most popular natural history museum in China.Paleozoological Museum of China
The Paleozoological Museum of China (PMC; ) is a museum in Beijing, China. The same building also houses the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The museum contains exhibition halls with ...
.
Located at the outskirts of urban Beijing, but within its municipality are the
Thirteen Tombs of the Ming dynasty
The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty of China. The first Ming emperor's tomb is located near his capital Nanjing. However, the majority of the Ming tombs are located in a cluster near Beijing an ...
, the lavish and elaborate burial sites of thirteen Ming emperors, which have been designated as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site
Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties () is the designation under which the UNESCO has included several tombs and burial complexes into the list of World Heritage Sites. These tombs date from the Ming and Qing dynasties of China.
Tombs w ...
. The archaeological
Peking Man
Peking Man (''Homo erectus pekinensis'') is a subspecies of '' H. erectus'' which inhabited the Zhoukoudian Cave of northern China during the Middle Pleistocene. The first fossil, a tooth, was discovered in 1921, and the Zhoukoudian Cave has s ...
site at
Zhoukoudian
Zhoukoudian Area () is a town and an area located on the east Fangshan District, Beijing, China. It borders Nanjiao and Fozizhuang Townships to its north, Xiangyang, Chengguan and Yingfeng Subdistricts to its east, Shilou and Hangcunhe Towns to ...
is another World Heritage Site within the municipality, containing a wealth of discoveries, among them one of the first specimens of ''
Homo erectus
''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor' ...
'' and an assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena ''
Pachycrocuta
''Pachycrocuta'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric hyenas. The largest and most well-researched species is ''Pachycrocuta brevirostris'', colloquially known as the giant short-faced hyena as it stood about at the shoulder and it is estimated t ...
brevirostris''. There are several sections of the UNESCO World Heritage Site
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
, most notably
Badaling
Badaling () is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of Beijing's city center, in Badaling Town, Yanqing District (within Beijing municipality). The portion of the wall running through the ...
,
Jinshanling
Jinshanling () is a section of the Great Wall of China located in the mountainous area in Luanping County, Chengde, Hebei Province, 125 km (78 miles) northeast of Beijing. This section of the wall is connected with the Simatai section to ...
,
Simatai
Simatai (), a section of the Great Wall of China located in the north of Miyun County, 120 km northeast of Beijing, holds the access to Gubeikou, a strategic pass in the eastern part of the Great Wall. It was closed in June 2010 but has be ...
and
Mutianyu
Mutianyu () is a section of the Great Wall of China located in Huairou District within the city limits of Beijing northeast of the center of the city. The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is connected with Jiankou in the west and Lianh ...
. According to the
World Travel & Tourism Council
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is a forum for the travel and tourism industry. It is made up of members from the global business community and works with governments to raise awareness about the travel and tourism industry. It is know ...
(WTTC), Beijing is the second highest earning tourist city in the world after
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
.
Intangible cultural heritage
The cultural heritage of Beijing is rich and diverse. Starting 2006, the Beijing government started the process of selecting and preserving cultural heritages. Five cultural heritage lists have been published over the years. 288 distinct practices are categorized as cultural heritage. These 288 cultural heritages are further divided into ten categories, namely folk music, folk dance, traditional opera, melodious art, juggling and game, folk art, traditional handicraft, traditional medicine, folk literature and folklore.http://whlyj.beijing.gov.cn/ggfw/wh/fyml/202010/P020201010563736046358.pdf http://whlyj.beijing.gov.cn/ggfw/wh/fyml/202010/P020201010563737848152.pdf http://whlyj.beijing.gov.cn/ggfw/wh/fyml/202010/P020201010563739463702.pdf http://whlyj.beijing.gov.cn/ggfw/wh/fyml/202010/P020201010563741385357.pdf http://whlyj.beijing.gov.cn/ggfw/wh/fyml/202110/P020211026621144096433.pdf
* Folk music
**
Zhihua Temple
The Zhihua Temple ( 智 化 寺; pinyin: Zhìhuà Sì; lit. "Temple of Wisdom Attained") is a Ming dynasty-era Buddhist temple in Beijing, China. It is located in the Lumicang (禄米仓) ''hutong'', in the Chaoyangmen area of Dongcheng District, ...
Dragon dance
Dragon dance () is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance, it is most often seen during festive celebrations. The dance is performed by a team of experienced dancers who manipulate a long flexible ...
** Miliangtun
Stilts
Stilts are poles, posts or pillars that allow a person or structure to stand at a height above the ground.
In flood plains, and on beaches or unstable ground, buildings are often constructed on stilts to protect them from damage by water, wav ...
* Traditional opera
**
Kunqu
Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...
**
Peking opera
Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...
* Melodious art
**
Xiangsheng
Xiangsheng (), also known as crosstalk or comic dialogue, is a traditional performing art in Chinese comedy, and one of the most popular elements in Chinese culture. It is typically performed as a dialogue between two performers, or rarely as ...
Xiangqi
''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as '' shogi'', '' janggi'', Western chess, '' ch ...
* Folk art
**
Ivory carving
Ivory carving is the carving of ivory, that is to say animal tooth or tusk, generally by using sharp cutting tools, either mechanically or manually. Objects carved in ivory are often called "ivories".
Humans have ornamentally carved ivory since ...
* Traditional handicraft
**
Peking duck
Peking duck is a dish from Beijing (Peking) that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the d ...
manufacturing techniques
**
Cloisonné
Cloisonné () is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, ...
manufacturing techniques
* Traditional medicine
**
Tong Ren Tang
Tong Ren Tang (TRT; ) is a Chinese pharmaceutical company founded in 1669, which is now the largest producer of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The company headquarters are in Beijing and is engaged in both manufacture and retail sales, o ...
Miaohui
Miaohui (), literally temple gatherings or translated as temple fairs, also called yíngshén sàihuì ( "collective rituals to greet the gods"), are Chinese religious gatherings held by Miao shrines for the worship of the Chinese gods and im ...
**
Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival ( zh, t=元宵節, s=元宵节, first=t, hp=Yuánxiāo jié), also called Shangyuan Festival ( zh, t=上元節, s=上元节, first=t, hp=Shàngyuán jié), is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth d ...
Religion
The religious heritage of Beijing is rich and diverse as
Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...
,
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
,
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
,
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
,
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
all have significant historical presence in the city. As the national capital, the city also hosts the
State Administration for Religious Affairs
The State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) was an executive agency directly under the State Council of the People's Republic of China which oversaw religious affairs in the country. Originally created in 1951 as the Religious Affairs ...
and various state-sponsored institutions of the leading religions. In recent decades, foreign residents have brought other religions to the city. According to Wang Zhiyun of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2010 there were 2.2 million Buddhists in the city, equal to 11.2% of the total population. According to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2009, Christians constitute 0.78% of the city's population.China General Social Survey (CGSS) 2009. Report by Xiuhua Wang (2015, p. 15) According to a 2010 survey, Muslims constitute 1.76% of the population of Beijing.Min Junqing. ''The Present Situation and Characteristics of Contemporary Islam in China''. JISMOR, 8 2010 Islam by province, p. 29 . Data from: Yang Zongde, ''Study on Current Muslim Population in China'', Jinan Muslim, 2, 2010.
china dictatorship
Chinese folk religion and Taoism
Beijing has many temples dedicated to folk religious and communal deities, many of which are being reconstructed or refurbished in the 2000s and 2010s. Yearly sacrifices to the God of Heaven () at the
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for ...
have been resumed by
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
groups in the 2010s.
There are temples dedicated to the worship of the Goddess () in the city, one of them near the
Olympic Village
An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...
, and they revolve around a major cult center at Mount Miaofeng. There are also many temples consecrated to the Dragon God, to the Medicine Master (), to Divus Guan (Guan Yu), to the Fire God (), to the Wealth God, temples of the
City God
A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a Nature spirit, spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concep ...
, and at least one temple consecrated to the Yellow Deity of the
Chariot
A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...
Shaft () in Pinggu District. Many of these temples are governed by the Beijing Taoist Association, such as the Fire God Temple of the Shicha Lake, while many others are not and are governed by popular committees and locals. A great Temple of Xuanyuan Huangdi will be built in Pinggu (possibly as an expansion of the already existing shrine) within 2020, and the temple will feature a statue of the deity which will be amongst the tallest in the world.
The national
Chinese Taoist Association
Chinese Taoist Association (CTA ; ), founded in April 1957, is the official government supervisory organ of Taoism in the People's Republic of China. It is overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since th ...
and Chinese Taoist College have their headquarters at the
White Cloud Temple
The White Cloud Temple, also known as Baiyun Temple or the Abbey or Monastery of the White Clouds, is a Taoist temple and monastery located in Beijing, China. It is one of "The Three Great Ancestral Courts" of the Quanzhen School of Taoism and i ...
of
Quanzhen Taoism
The Quanzhen School (全真: ''Quánzhēn''), also known as Completion of Authenticity, Complete Reality, and Complete Perfection is currently one of the two dominant denominations of Taoism in mainland China. It originated in Northern China ...
, which was founded in 741 and rebuilt numerous times. The
Beijing Dongyue Temple
The Temple of the Eastern Peak in Beijing () is a
Taoist temple in the Chaowai area, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. The temple is dedicated to the Great Deity of the Eastern Peak (). "Eastern Peak" is the cosmological name of Mount Tai, the ...
outside Chaoyangmen is the largest temple of
Zhengyi Taoism
Zhengyi Dao (), also known as the Way of Orthodox Unity, Teaching of the Orthodox Unity, and Branch of the Orthodox Unity is a Chinese Taoist movement that traditionally refers to the same Taoist lineage as the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice and ...
in the city. The local Beijing Taoist Association has its headquarters at the
Lüzu Temple
The Lüzu Temple (吕祖宫) is a Taoist temple in Beijing. Built during the Qing Dynasty, it is located near the Liulichang
Liulichang () is a district in downtown Beijing that is known for a series of traditional Chinese stone dwellings sell ...
near Fuxingmen.
Buddhism
11% of the population of Beijing practices
East Asian Buddhism
East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed across East Asia which follow the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vi ...
. The
Buddhist Association of China
The Buddhist Association of China (BCA; ) is the official government supervisory organ of Buddhism in the People's Republic of China. The association has been overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since ...
, the state's supervisory organ overseeing all
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
institutions in mainland China, is headquartered in the Guangji Temple, a temple founded over 800 years ago during the
Jin dynasty (1115–1234)
The Jin dynasty (,
; ) or Jin State (; Jurchen: Anchun Gurun), officially known as the Great Jin (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 1115 and 1234. Its name is sometimes written as Kin, Jurchen Jin, Jinn, or Chin
in ...
in what is now
Fuchengmen
Fuchengmen (; Manchu:;Möllendorf:elgiyen i mutehe duka) was a gate on the western side of Beijing's city wall. The gate was torn down in the 1960s, and has been replaced by the Fuchengmen overpass on the 2nd Ring Road. Fuchengmen Station is a ...
nei (). The Beijing Buddhist Association along with the Buddhist Choir and Orchestra are based in the Guanghua Temple, which dates to the Yuan dynasty over 700 years ago. The Buddhist Academy of China and its library are housed in the
Fayuan Temple
The Fayuan Temple (), situated in the southwest quarter of central Beijing, is one of the city's oldest and most renowned Buddhist temples.
History
The Fayuan Temple, originally named the Minzhong Temple, was first built in 645 during the T ...
near Caishikou. The Fayuan Temple, which dates to the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
1300 years ago, is the oldest temple in urban Beijing. The
Tongjiao Temple
Tongjiao Temple () is a Buddhist temple located in Dongcheng District of Beijing. It covers an area of . Now it is the only Bhikkhuni temple in Beijing. It was inscribed to the National Key Buddhist Temples in Han Chinese Area's list in 1983.
Hi ...
inside Dongzhimen is the city's only Buddhist nunnery.
The Xihuang Temple originally dates to the
Liao dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...
. In 1651, the temple was commissioned by the Qing Emperor Shunzhi to host the visit of the
Fifth Dalai Lama
Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was the 5th Dalai Lama and the first Dalai Lama to wield effective temporal and spiritual power over all Tibet. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being a key religious and temporal leader ...
to Beijing. Since then, this temple has hosted the 13th Dalai Lama as well as the Sixth,
Ninth
In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.
Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high lamas, he ...
s.
The largest Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Beijing is the
Yonghe Temple
The Yonghe Temple (, "Palace of Peace and Harmony"), also known as the Yonghe Lamasery, or popularly as the Lama Temple, is a temple and monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism located on 12 Yonghegong Street, Dongcheng District, Beij ...
, which was decreed by the Qing Emperor Qianlong in 1744 to serve as the residence and research facility for his Buddhist preceptor of Rölpé Dorjé the third Changkya (or living Buddha of
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
). The Yonghe Temple is so-named because it was the childhood residence of the
Yongzheng Emperor
, regnal name =
, posthumous name = Emperor Jingtian Changyun Jianzhong Biaozhen Wenwu Yingming Kuanren Xinyi Ruisheng Daxiao Zhicheng Xian()Manchu: Temgetulehe hūwangdi ()
, temple name = Shizong()Manchu: Šidzung ()
, house = Aisin Gioro ...
, and retains the glazed tiles reserved for imperial palaces. While the "High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China", China's highest institution college of Tibetan Buddhism, situated near the Yonghe Temple. The Lingguang Temple of
Badachu
The Badachu (; also known as "Badachu Park"), is a complex of monasteries located on the outskirts of urban Beijing, which means "Eight Great Sites" that refers to the eight Buddhist temples and nunneries scattered across the Cuiwei, Pingpo, and ...
in the
Western Hills
The Western Hills () are the hills and mountains in the western part of Beijing.
Geography
Being an extension of the Taihang mountain range from the Hebei Province, the Western Hills cover approximately 17% of the Beijing municipality, inc ...
also dates to the Tang dynasty. The temple's Zhaoxian Pagoda () was first built in 1071 during the Liao dynasty to hold a tooth relic of the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
. The pagoda was destroyed during the
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
and the tooth was discovered from its foundation. A new pagoda was built in 1964. The six aforementioned temples: Guangji, Guanghua, Tongjiao, Xihuang, Yonghe and Lingguang have been designated
National Key Buddhist Temples in Han Chinese Area
National Key Buddhist Temples in Han Chinese Area are national key ("important") Buddhist temples in areas traditionally associated with the Han Chinese in the People's Republic of China (excluding Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang). The list wa ...
.
In addition, other notable temples in Beijing include the
Tanzhe Temple
The Tanzhe Temple () is a Buddhist temple situated in the Western Hills, a mountainous area in western Beijing. At one time, it was one of the most important temples in the nation. The temple is located near China National Highway 108 in the Ment ...
(founded in the
Jin dynasty (266–420)
The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...
is the oldest in the municipality), the Tianning Temple (oldest pagoda in the city), the
Miaoying Temple
The Miaoying Temple (), also known as the "White Stupa Temple" (), is a Chinese Buddhist temple on the north side of Fuchengmennei Street in the Xicheng District of Beijing. The temple was a monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and is ...
Wanshou Temple
The Wanshou Temple () is a temple located at No.121, Wanshousi Road, Haidian District, Beijing. In addition to being a Buddhist temple, the Wanshou Temple also houses the Beijing Art Museum (北京艺术博物馆/北京藝術博物館).
It was bui ...
(home to the
Beijing Art Museum
The Wanshou Temple () is a temple located at No.121, Wanshousi Road, Haidian District, Beijing. In addition to being a Buddhist temple, the Wanshou Temple also houses the Beijing Art Museum (北京艺术博物馆/北京藝術博物館).
It was bui ...
) and the
Big Bell Temple
The Big Bell Temple, or Da Zhong Temple (), originally known as Jue Sheng Temple (), is a Buddhist temple located on North 3rd Road in Beijing, China.
The Big Bell Temple was built in 1733 during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing dy ...
(Dazhong Temple).
Islam
Beijing has about 70 mosques recognized by the
Islamic Association of China
The Islamic Association of China () is the official government supervisory organ for Islam in the People's Republic of China. The association is overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) following the ...
, whose headquarters are located next to the
Niujie Mosque
The Niujie Mosque ( "Oxen Street House of Worship" or "Oxen Street Mosque") is the oldest mosque in Beijing, China. It was first built in 996 during the Liao dynasty and was reconstructed as well as enlarged under the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661– ...
, the oldest mosque in the city. The Niujie Mosque was founded in 996 during the Liao dynasty and is frequently visited by Muslim dignitaries. The Chinese Muslim community reportedly celebrated
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
and made
Eid prayers
Eid prayers, also referred to as Salat al-Eid ( ar, صلاة العيد), are holy holiday prayers in the Islamic tradition. The literal translation of the word "Eid" in Arabic is "festival" or "feast" and is a time when Muslims congregate with ...
at the mosque on 2021.
The largest mosque in Beijing is ChangYing mosque, located in ChaoYang district, with an area of 8,400 square meters.
Other notable mosques in the old city include the Dongsi Mosque, founded in 1346; the Huashi Mosque, founded in 1415; Nan Douya Mosque, near Chaoyangmen; Jinshifang Street Mosque, in Xicheng District; and the Dongzhimen Mosque. There are large mosques in outlying Muslim communities in Haidian, Madian, Tongzhou, Changping, Changying, Shijingshan and Miyun. The China Islamic Institute is located in the Niujie neighborhood in Xicheng District.
Christianity
Catholicism
In 1289,
John of Montecorvino
John of Montecorvino or Giovanni da Montecorvino in Italian (1247 – 1328) was an Italian Franciscan missionary, traveller and statesman, founder of the earliest Latin Catholic missions in India and China, and archbishop of Peking. He convert ...
came to Beijing as a
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
missionary with the order from the Pope. After meeting and receiving the support of
Kublai Khan
Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...
in 1293, he built the first Catholic church in Beijing in 1305. The
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association
The Catholic Patriotic Association (), abbreviated CPA, is a state-sanctioned organization of Catholicism in the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1957 after a group of Chinese Catholics met in Beijing with officials from the C ...
(CPCA), based in
Houhai
Houhai ( 'Rear Lake') is a lake and its surrounding neighborhood in Xicheng District of central Beijing, China. Houhai is the largest of the three lakes, along with Qianhai 'Front Lake' and Xihai 'Western Lake', that comprise Shichahai, the co ...
is the government oversight body for Catholics in mainland China. Notable Catholic churches in Beijing include:
* the Nantang or Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception also known as the Xuanwumen Church, which was founded in 1605 and whose current archbishop,
Joseph Li Shan
Joseph Li Shan (; born March 1965 in Daxing District, Beijing) is a Chinese Catholic prelate who serves as Archbishop of Beijing. He was consecrated a bishop on 21 September 2007, at age 42 at a ceremony at Nan Tang (South Cathedral) in Xuanw ...
, is one of the few bishops in China to have the support of both the Vatican and the CPCA.
* the Dongtang or St. Joseph's Church, better known as the Wangfujing Church, founded in 1653.
* the Beitang or Church of the Saviour, also known as the Xishiku Church, founded in 1703.
* the Xitang or Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel also known as the Xizhimen Church, founded in 1723.
The National Seminary of Catholic Church in China is located in Daxing District.
Protestantism
The earliest Protestant churches in Beijing were founded by British and American missionaries in the second half of the 19th century. Protestant missionaries also opened schools, universities and hospitals which have become important civic institutions. Most of Beijing's Protestant churches were destroyed during the
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
and afterwards rebuilt. In 1958, the 64 Protestant churches in the city are reorganized into four and overseen by the state through the
Three-Self Patriotic Movement
The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM; ) is the official government supervisory organ for Protestantism in the People's Republic of China. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church ().
The National Committee of the Three-Self Patriot ...
.
Eastern Orthodox
There was a significant amount of Orthodox Christians in Beijing. Orthodoxy came to Beijing with Russian prisoners from the
Sino-Russian border conflicts
The Sino-Russian border conflicts (1652–1689) were a series of intermittent skirmishes between the Qing dynasty of China, with assistance from the Joseon dynasty of Korea, and the Tsardom of Russia by the Cossacks in which the latter tried ...
of the 17th century. In 1956, Viktor, the bishop of Beijing returned to the Soviet Union, and the Soviet embassy took over the old cathedral and demolished it. In 2007, the Russian embassy built a new church in its garden to serve the Russian Orthodox Christians in Beijing.
Media
Television and radio
Beijing Television
Beijing Radio and Television Station (BRTV), formerly Beijing Media Network (BMN), is a government-owned television network in China. It broadcasts from Beijing. The channel is available only in Chinese.
Beijing Media Network was founded o ...
broadcasts on channels 1 through 10, and
China Central Television
China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...
, China's largest television network, maintains its headquarters in Beijing. Three radio stations feature programmes in English: ''Hit FM'' on FM 88.7, ''Easy FM'' by
China Radio International
China Radio International (CRI) is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of China. It is currently headquartered in the Babaoshan area of Beijing's Shijingshan District. It was founded on December 3, 1941, as Radio Peking. It late ...
on FM 91.5, and the newly launched ''Radio 774'' on AM 774.
Beijing Radio Stations
Radio Beijing Corporation (RBC; , literally Beijing People's Broadcasting Station), was a family of municipal radio stations that also include news, music, and sports in Beijing.
On 1 June 2020, Radio Beijing Corporation, together with Beijing ...
is the family of radio stations serving the city.
Press
The well-known ''
Beijing Evening News
''Beijing Evening News'' or ''Beijing Wanbao'' (), also known as ''Beijing Evening Post'', is a Chinese language tabloid newspaper in the People's Republic of China from Beijing. It was founded on March 15, 1958. Mao Zedong wrote the title for it ...
'', covering news about Beijing in Chinese, is distributed every afternoon. Other newspapers include ''
Beijing Daily
''Beijing Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Beijing municipal committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Founded on October 1, 1952, it has since 2000 been owned by the Beijing Daily Group, which also runs eight other newspapers. It ...
'', ''
The Beijing News
''The Beijing News'' is a Chinese Communist Party-owned newspaper from Beijing. The Chinese name of the newspaper is ''Xīn Jīng Bào'' (), meaning "New Beijing News", which is a reference to the defunct '' Peking Gazette'' ().
The Chinese pub ...
'', the ''
Beijing Star Daily
The ''Beijing Star Daily'' or ''Beijing Entertainment Post'' (), also known as ''Beijing Daily Messenger'' or ''Beijing Entertainment Newspaper'', was a comprehensive entertainment newspaper published in Beijing.
''Beijing Star Daily'' was for ...
'', the ''Beijing Morning News'', and the ''
Beijing Youth Daily
''Beijing Youth Daily'' or ''Beijing qingnianbao'' (Abbreviation: ''BYD'', ) is the official newspaper of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China (中国共产主义青年团北京市委员会).
''Beijing Youth D ...
'', as well as English-language weeklies ''Beijing Weekend'' and ''
Beijing Today
''Beijing Today'' () is a weekly English newspaper catering to expatriates and embassies that covers current events, art, cinema, music, dining, and shopping in Beijing.
The newspaper is run by the publisher of Beijing Youth Daily.
It is assigne ...
''. The ''
People's Daily
The ''People's Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP. In addition to its main Chinese-language ...
'', ''
Global Times
The ''Global Times'' () is a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the ''People's Daily'', commenting on international issues from a Chinese ultra-nationalistic perspective. The publi ...
'' and the ''
China Daily
''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.
Overview
''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...
'' (English) are published in Beijing as well.
Publications primarily aimed at international visitors and the expatriate community include the English-language periodicals ''Time Out Beijing'', ''
City Weekend ''City Weekend'' was a free, bi-weekly entertainment event and venue listing magazine based out of China. Its on-line edition was both autonomous and complementary to the print magazine - ''City Weekend'' was "reader-powered" and sources most of its ...
'', ''
Beijing This Month
''Beijing This Month'' (BTM) is a free monthly English language magazine, published in Beijing by the Beijing Foreign Cultural Exchanges Centre in association with the Beijing City Government.
History and profile
The magazine's first issue appeare ...
'', ''Beijing Talk'', ''
That's Beijing
''That's Beijing'' is a monthly English language magazine, distributed throughout Beijing, with a focus on news, current events, culture, art, music, fashion, nightlife and dining in Beijing. It is owned by Shanghai-based publishing group, Urbana ...
'', and ''
The Beijinger
''The Beijinger'' (, stylized as "the Beijinger" or "thebeijinger") is a free monthly English language listings and entertainment website and magazine produced by True Run Media in Beijing, China. It was founded in October 2001 as ''that's Beiji ...
''.
Beijing rock
Beijing rock (Chinese: 北京摇滚) is a wide variety of rock and roll music made by rock bands and solo artists from Beijing. The first rock band in Beijing is Peking All-Stars, which was formed in 1979 by foreigners.
Famous rock bands and solo artists from Beijing include
Cui Jian
Cui Jian ( zh, c=崔健, p=Cuī Jiàn, ; born 2 August 1961) is a Beijing-based Chinese singer-songwriter, trumpeter and guitarist. Affectionately called "Old Cui" (), he pioneered Chinese rock music. For this distinction Cui Jian is often l ...
,
Dou Wei
Dou Wei is a Chinese musician, singer-songwriter and composer.
Music
Dou Wei is a multi-instrumentalist and produces music across many genres. He first came to prominence as a member of the hard rock group Black Panther (Hei Bao, 黑豹). In ...
Pu Shu
Pu Shu () (born 1973) is a Chinese singer-songwriter who was born in Nanjing and grew up in Beijing. In 1994, he quit studying at Capital Normal University and started composing songs. He became a signed singer in Taihe Rye Music's Mai Tian Musi ...
,
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
,
Black Panther
A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
Mei Lanfang
Mei Lan (22 October 1894 – 8 August 1961), better known by his stage name Mei Lanfang, was a notable Peking opera artist in modern Chinese theater. Mei was known as "Queen of Peking Opera". Mei was exclusively known for his female lead ...
(22 October 1894 – 8 August 1961) is a Beijing opera singer. At age 15, he became an orphan and was adopted by his uncle's family. He started stage life in 1905 and became famous at 25 years old during performances in Japan. He was a pre-modern superstar, and famous for his portrayal of the Dan role, the elegant female archetype. After the Communist revolution, he served as an opera and performing art counselor in China. In November 2007, a theater namely Mei Lanfang Grand Theater opened in Xicheng District, Beijing to memorize him.
Yuan Longping
Yuan Longping (; September 7, 1930May 22, 2021) was a Chinese agronomist and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s, part of the Green Revolution in agriculture. For his ...
(7 September 1930- 22 May 2021) is a Chinese agronomist. He studied at Southwest Agricultural University. He encountered national famine at the beginning of his career. This made him determined to solve the food shortage in China. He worked as a pioneer on hybrid rice back in 1960. His research on cross breeding wild abortive rice with mutated male-sterile rice was later involve a lot of research around the globe. In 2004, Yuan Longping was awarded the World Food Prize because he conducted pioneer research that helped transform China from food deficiency to food security within three decades.
Cui Jian
Cui Jian ( zh, c=崔健, p=Cuī Jiàn, ; born 2 August 1961) is a Beijing-based Chinese singer-songwriter, trumpeter and guitarist. Affectionately called "Old Cui" (), he pioneered Chinese rock music. For this distinction Cui Jian is often l ...
(August 1960 – present) is a Chinese rock singer. Various media praised him as the father of China's rock music. He introduces western Rock to China in 1986 and mixed it with Chinese traditional music. Some of his songs are associated with movements in Chinese society such as "Nothing to My Name" and "Rock 'n' Roll on the New Long March". He also directed one movie called "Blue Sky Bones" at age 52.
Yang Jiang
Yang Jiang (; 17 July 1911 – 25 May 2016) was a Chinese playwright, author, and translator. She wrote several successful comedies, and was the first Chinese person to produce a complete Chinese version of Miguel de Cervantes' novel ''Don Qui ...
(17 July 1911- 25 May 2016) is a Chinese writer and translator. She was educated at a Chinese university and Oxford University. Ms. Yang was known for her fiction, plays, essay, and nonfiction. She is the first person who translates "Don Quixote" into Chinese. Later, she taught at Tsinghua University for many years and retired in 1980. Some of her representative works are the essay collection "We three" and the novel "Baptism". She died on 25 May 2016, at a hospital in Beijing.
Shu Qingchun
Shu Qingchun (3 February 189924 August 1966), known by his pen name Lao She, was a Chinese novelist and dramatist. He was one of the most significant figures of 20th-century Chinese literature, and is best known for his novel ''Rickshaw Boy'' ...
(3 Feb 1899 – 24 August 1966), pen name Lao She, is a Chinese writer, linguist, and artist. He wrote eight million Chinese characters in entire life, is famous for long novels and scripts. In his iconic works, there are two long novels, two novellas, six short stories, and three scripts. Most of his works are depicting the poor life of Chinese citizens in the late Qing dynasty. He has been living in Britain, Singapore, and United States. During the Chinese Culture Revolution, he committed suicide by drowning in Taiping Lake.
Sports
Events
Beijing has hosted numerous international and national sporting events, the most notable was the
2008 Summer Olympic
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
and
Paralympic
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...
Games. Other
multi-sport
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...
international events held in Beijing include the 2001
Universiade
The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad".
The Universiade is referred t ...
and the 1990
Asian Games
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...
. Single-sport international competitions include the
Beijing Marathon
The Beijing Marathon () is an annual marathon race held around October in Beijing, People's Republic of China, since 1981. The race begins at Tiananmen Square and finishes in Celebration Square in Olympic Green. The full marathon is the onl ...
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating (known as ISU Champions Series from 1995 to 1997) is a series of senior international figure skating competitions organized by the International Skating Union. The invitational series was inaugurated in 1995, in ...
Cup of China
The Cup of China was one of the series of six senior-level, international figure skating competitions held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The Cup of China joined the series in 2003, and was cancelled in 2022 as China enforces s ...
(2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010),
WPBSA
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...
Union Cycliste Internationale
The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland.
The UCI issues racing ...
Tour of Beijing
The Tour of Beijing was an annual professional stage bicycle road race held in Beijing, China.
History
Its first edition took place in October 2011, as the penultimate event in the 2011 UCI World Tour. The tour was a partnership between the UCI a ...
(since
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
), 1961
World Table Tennis Championships
The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men ...
2004 AFC Asian Cup
The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...
LeSports Center
The Wukesong Arena (), also known as the Cadillac Arena () for sponsorship purposes, is a multipurpose indoor arena in Beijing. It was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympics basketball preliminaries and finals. Ground was broken on 29 M ...
is one of the main venues for the
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup
The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 FIBA World Ch ...
.
The city hosted the second
Chinese National Games
The National Games of the People's Republic of China (), sometimes known as the All China Games (though not to be confused with the All-China Games), is the premier sports event in China at national level. It is usually held once every four yea ...
in 1914 and the first four
National Games of China
The National Games of the People's Republic of China (), sometimes known as the All China Games (though not to be confused with the All-China Games), is the premier sports event in China at national level. It is usually held once every four yea ...
in 1959, 1965, 1975, 1979, respectively, and co-hosted the 1993 National Games with
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
and
Qingdao
Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
. Beijing also hosted the inaugural
National Peasants' Games
The National Peasants' Games () are a quadrennial multi-sport event in China in which competitors from among the country's 750 million rural residents take part in sports, both conventional - including basketball, athletics, table tennis, shooting ...
in 1988 and the sixth National Minority Games in 1999.
In November 2013, Beijing made a bid to host the
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...
. On 31 July 2015, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics to the city becoming the first ever to host both Summer and Winter Olympics also for the
2022 Winter Paralympics
The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inte ...
becoming the first ever to host both Summer and Winter Paralympics.
Venues
Major sporting venues in the city include the
National Stadium
Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...
Olympic Green
The Olympic Green () is an Olympic Park in Chaoyang District, Beijing, China constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since then, the streets around the park have been used for an exhibition street race of the FIA GT1 World Championship in ...
to the north of downtown; the
MasterCard Center
The Wukesong Arena (), also known as the Cadillac Arena () for sponsorship purposes, is a multipurpose indoor arena in Beijing. It was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympics basketball preliminaries and finals. Ground was broken on 29 M ...
at
Wukesong
Wukesong (), literally the "Five Pine Trees", is the name of the roadway interchange in Haidian District in western Beijing where Fuxing Road, the western extension of Chang'an Avenue crosses the Fourth Ring Road. In the 1960s, five pine trees s ...
west of downtown; the
Workers' Stadium
The Workers' Stadium (), often called Gongti, Gong Ti or Kung T'i, is a multi-purpose stadium in the Chaoyang District of north-eastern Beijing, China. It was mostly used for association football matches. The stadium was built in 1959 and was l ...
and Workers' Arena in Sanlitun just east of downtown and the Capital Arena in Baishiqiao, northeast of downtown. In addition, many universities in the city have their own sport facilities.
Clubs
Professional sports teams based in Beijing include:
*
China Baseball League
The China Baseball League (, CBL) was a professional baseball league under the administration of Chinese Baseball Association, founded in 2002. The league suspended operations in 2012 due to financial troubles after the 2011 season, but returne ...
**
Beijing Tigers
The Beijing Tigers () is one of the four charter teams in the China Baseball League. The Tigers played at the 5,000-capacity Beijing Fengtai Baseball Field until 2006, when the stadium was destroyed and rebuilt as the Fengtai Softball Field. The ...
*
Chinese Basketball Association
The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China.
The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...
**
Beijing Ducks
The Beijing Shougang Ducks (''simplified Chinese'': 北京首钢鸭俱乐部篮球队), also known as Beijing Shougang or Beijing Ducks, are a professional basketball team based in Beijing, China, which plays in the North Division of the Chin ...
**
Beijing Royal Fighters
The Beijing Royal Fighters () are a Chinese professional men's basketball team which is based in Beijing and plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Beijing BG (known in Chinese as Beijing Beikong) is the cl ...
*
Women's Chinese Basketball Association
The Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) is the first-tier professional women's basketball league in China. It was established in 2002 as the women's counterpart to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
Current clubs
There are cu ...
** Beijing Shougang
*
Kontinental Hockey League
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...
**
HC Kunlun Red Star
HC Kunlun Red Star () is a Chinese ice hockey club that joined the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) prior to the 2016–17 season.
History
Preparation of the team
In March 2016, representatives of Kunlun Red Star and the KHL signed a protocol o ...
*
Chinese Super League
The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...
**
Beijing Guoan
Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their ho ...
*
China League One
The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League.
Prior to the formation of ...
China League Two
The Chinese Football Association Division Two League (Simplified Chinese: 中国足球协会乙级联赛), or China League Two, is the third tier league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football As ...
**
Beijing BIT
Beijing Institute of Technology Football Club (Simplified Chinese: 北京理工大学足球俱乐部) or simply BIT is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chine ...
*
Chinese Women's National League
The Chinese Women's Super League (CWSL) is the top level women's football league in China. It was called the Chinese Women's National Football League from 2011 to 2014.
History
The league started in 1997 as the Chinese Women's Premier Football L ...
Beijing Olympians
The Beijing Olympians or Beijing Aoshen Olympians or Beijing Aoshen () was a Chinese professional men's basketball team that formerly played in the Chinese Basketball Association and the West Coast Pro Basketball League. They have also played ...
of the
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...
, formerly a
Chinese Basketball Association
The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China.
The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...
team, kept their name and maintained a roster of primarily Chinese players after moving to
Maywood, California
Maywood is a small Gateway city in Los Angeles County. At , Maywood is the third-smallest incorporated city in Los Angeles County. It is bordered by the cities of Bell on the south, Vernon on the north and west, Huntington Park on the southwes ...
in 2005.
China Bandy Federation
China Bandy Federation, ''CBF'', was founded on 13 December 2014. The Chinese Ice Hockey Association joined the Federation of International Bandy (FIB) in 2010 and governed bandy in China until it was replaced by the CBF.
The federation was fo ...
is based in Beijing, one of several cities in which the potential for
bandy
Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...
development is explored.
Transportation
Beijing is an important
transport hub
A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. F ...
in
North China
North China, or Huabei () is a List of regions of China, geographical region of China, consisting of the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Part of the larger region of Northern China (''Beifang''), it lies north ...
with six
ring roads
A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...
, 1167 km (725 miles) of expressways, 15 National Highways, nine conventional railways, and six high-speed railways converging on the city.
high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
lines: the Beijing–Tianjin intercity railway, which opened in 2008; the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway, which opened in 2011; the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway, which opened in 2012; and the Beijing–Xiong'an intercity railway and the Beijing–Zhangjiakou intercity railway, both of which opened in 2019. The Beijing–Shenyang high-speed railway was completed in 2021.
The city's main railway stations are the Beijing railway station, which opened in 1959; the Beijing West railway station, which opened in 1996; and the Beijing South railway station, which was rebuilt into the city's high-speed railway station in 2008; The Beijing North railway station, was first built in 1905 and expanded in 2009; The Qinghe railway station, was first built in 1905 and expanded in 2019; The Beijing Chaoyang railway station opened in 2021; The Beijing Fengtai railway station opened in 2022; and the Beijing Sub-Center railway station is under construction.
Smaller stations in the city including Beijing East railway station and Daxing Airport station handle mainly commuter passenger traffic. In outlying suburbs and counties of Beijing, there are over 40 railway stations.
From Beijing, Passenger rail transport in China, direct passenger train service is available to most large cities in China. International train service is available to
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, Russia, Vietnam and North Korea. Passenger trains in China are numbered according to their railroad direction, direction in relation to Beijing.
Roads and expressways
Beijing is connected by road links to all parts of China as part of the National Trunk Road Network. Many expressways of China serve Beijing, as do 15 China National Highways. Beijing's urban transport is dependent upon the "
ring roads
A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...
" that concentrically surround the city, with the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
area marked as the geographical center for the ring roads. The ring roads appear more rectangular than ring-shaped. There is no official "1st Ring Road". The
2nd Ring Road
The 2nd Ring Road () is the innermost ring road highway which encircles the city center of Beijing, People's Republic of China. (The first ring road had been a circular tram route.)
The ring road can be divided into two parts: the original ring ...
is located in the inner city. Ring roads tend to resemble Controlled-access highway, expressways progressively as they extend outwards, with the 5th and 6th Ring Roads being full-standard national expressways, linked to other roads only by interchanges. Expressways to other regions of China are generally accessible from the 3rd Ring Road (Beijing), 3rd Ring Road outward. A final outer orbital, the G95 Capital Area Loop Expressway, Capital Area Loop Expressway (G95), was fully opened in 2018 and will extend into neighboring
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
and
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
.
Within the urban core, city streets generally follow the checkerboard pattern of the ancient capital. Many of Beijing's boulevards and streets with "inner" and "outer" are still named in relation to gates in the city wall, though most gates no longer stand. Traffic jams are a major concern. Even outside of rush hour, several roads still remain clogged with traffic.
Beijing's urban design layout further exacerbates transportation problems. The authorities have introduced several bus lanes, which only public buses can use during rush hour. In the beginning of 2010, Beijing had 4 million registered automobiles. By the end of 2010, the government forecast 5 million. In 2010, new car registrations in Beijing averaged 15,500 per week.
Towards the end of 2010, the city government announced a series of drastic measures to tackle traffic jams, including limiting the number of new license plates issued to passenger cars to 20,000 a month and barring cars with non-Beijing plates from entering areas within the Fifth Ring Road during rush hour. More restrictive measures are also reserved during major events or heavily polluted weather.
Road signs began to be standardized with both Chinese and English names displayed, with location names using pinyin, in 2008.
Air
Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing has two of the world's largest airports. The
Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing Capital International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). It is located northeast of Beijing's city center, in an exclave of Chaoyang District ...
(IATA: PEK) located northeast of the city center in Chaoyang District, Beijing, Chaoyang District bordering Shunyi District, is the World's busiest airports by passenger traffic, second busiest airport in the world after Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Capital Airport's Terminal 3, built during the expansion for the 2008 Olympics, is one of the largest in the world. Capital Airport is the main hub for Air China and Hainan Airlines. The Airport Expressway (Beijing), Airport Expressway and 2nd Airport Expressway, Second Airport Expressway, connect to Capital Airport from the northeast and east of the city center, respectively. Driving time from city center is about 40 minutes under normal traffic conditions. The Capital Airport Express line of
Beijing Subway
The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Municipality that consists of 25 lines including 20 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines, and 463 stations. The rail network extends acro ...
and the Beijing Airport Bus, Capital Airport Bus serves the Capital Airport.
Beijing Daxing International Airport
The
Beijing Daxing International Airport
Beijing Daxing International Airport , is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK). It is located on the border of Beijing and Langfang, Hebei Province. It has bee ...
(IATA: PKX) located south of the city in Daxing District bordering the city of Langfang, Hebei Province, opened on 25 September 2019. The Daxing Airport has one of the world's largest terminal buildings and is expected to be a major airport serving Beijing, Tianjin and northern Hebei Province. Daxing Airport is connected to the city via the Beijing–Xiong'an intercity railway, the Daxing Airport Express line of the Beijing Subway and two expressways.
Other airports
With the opening of the Daxing Airport in September 2019, the Beijing Nanyuan Airport (IATA:NAY), located south of center in Fengtai District, has been closed to civilian airline service. Other airports in the city at Liangxiang, Xijiao, Shahe and Badaling are primarily for military use.
Visa requirements for air passengers
, tourists from 45 countries are permitted a 72-hour visa-free stay in Beijing. The 45 countries include Singapore, Japan, the United States, Canada, all EU and EEA countries (except Norway and Liechtenstein), Switzerland, Brazil, Argentina and Australia. The programme benefits transit and business travellers with the 72 hours calculated starting from the moment visitors receive their transit stay permits rather than the time of their plane's arrival. Foreign visitors are not permitted to leave Beijing for other Chinese cities during the 72 hours."Beijing 72-hour Visa-free" ChinaTour.Net Accessed 6 June 2014
Public transit
The
Beijing Subway
The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Municipality that consists of 25 lines including 20 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines, and 463 stations. The rail network extends acro ...
, which began operating in 1969, now has 25 lines, 459 List of Beijing Subway stations, stations, and of Line length, lines. It is the List of metro systems, longest subway system in the world and Metro systems by annual passenger rides, first in annual ridership with 3.66 billion rides delivered in 2016. In 2013, with a flat fare of Renminbi, ¥2.00 (US$0.31) per ride with unlimited transfers on all lines except the Airport Express, Beijing Subway, Airport Express, the subway was also the most affordable rapid transit in China, rapid transit system in China. The subway is undergoing rapid expansion and is expected to reach 30 lines, 450 stations, in length by 2022. When fully implemented, 95% of residents inside the 4th Ring Road, Fourth Ring Road will be able to walk to a station in 15 minutes. The Beijing Suburban Railway provides commuter rail service to outlying suburbs of the municipality.
On 28 December 2014, the Beijing Subway switched to a distance-based fare system from a fixed fare for all lines except the Airport Express, Beijing Subway, Airport Express. Under the new system a trip under will cost Renminbi, ¥3.00(US$0.49), an additional Renminbi, ¥1.00 will be added for the next and the next until the distance for the trip reaches . For every after the original an additional Renminbi, ¥1.00 is added. For example, a trip would cost Renminbi, ¥ 8.00.
There are nearly 1,000 Beijing Bus, public bus and trolleybus lines in the city, including four bus rapid transit lines. Standard bus fares are as low as ¥1.00 when purchased with the ''Yikatong'' metrocard.
Taxi
Metered taxicab, taxi in Beijing start at ¥13 for the first , ¥2.3 Renminbi per additional and ¥1 per ride fuel surcharge, not counting idling fees which are ¥2.3 (¥4.6 during rush hours of 7–9 am and 5–7 pm) per 5 minutes of standing or running at speeds lower than . Most taxis are Hyundai Elantras, Hyundai Sonatas, Peugeots, Citroëns and Volkswagen Jettas. After , the base fare increases by 50% (but is only applied to the portion ''over'' that distance). Different companies have special colours combinations painted on their vehicles. Usually registered taxis have yellowish brown as basic hue, with another color of Prussian blue, hunter green, white, umber, tyrian purple, rufous, or sea green. Between 11 pm and 5 am, there is also a 20% fee increase. Rides over and between 23:00 and 06:00 incur both charges, for a total increase of 80%. Tolls during trip should be covered by customers and the costs of trips beyond Beijing city limits should be negotiated with the driver. The cost of unregistered taxis is also subject to negotiation with the driver.
Bicycles
Beijing has long been well known for the number of bicycles on its streets. Although the rise of motor traffic has created a great deal of congestion and bicycle use has declined, bicycles are still an important form of local transportation. Many cyclists can be seen on most roads in the city, and most of the main roads have dedicated bicycle lanes. Beijing is relatively flat, which makes cycling convenient. The rise of electric bicycles and electric scooters, which have similar speeds and use the same cycle lanes, may have brought about a revival in bicycle-speed two-wheeled transport. It is possible to cycle to most parts of the city. Because of the growing traffic congestion, the authorities have indicated more than once that they wish to encourage cycling, but it is not clear whether there is sufficient will to translate that into action on a significant scale. On 30 March 2019, a 6.5 km (4 mile) bicycle-dedicated lane was opened, easing the traffic congestion between Huilongguan and Shangdi where there are many high-tech companies. Cycling has seen a resurgence in popularity spurred by the emergence of a large number of dockless app based Bicycle-sharing system, bikeshares such as Mobike, Bluegogo and Ofo (bike sharing), Ofo since 2016.
Defence and aerospace
The command headquarters of China's military forces are based in Beijing. The Central Military Commission (China), Central Military Commission, the political organ in charge of the military, is housed inside the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of National Defense, located next to the
Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution or China People's Revolution Military Museum () is a museum located in Haidian District, Beijing, China that displays restored military equipment from the history of the People's Liberation ...
in western Beijing. The Second Artillery Corps, which controls the country's Intercontinental ballistic missile, strategic missile and nuclear weapons, has its command in Qinghe Subdistrict, Beijing, Qinghe, Haidian District. The headquarters of the Central Theater Command, one of five nationally, is based further west in Gaojing. The CTR oversees the Beijing Capital Garrison as well as the 27th Army (People's Republic of China), 27th, 38th Army (People's Republic of China), 38th and 65th Army (People's Republic of China), 65th Armies, which are based in Hebei.
Military institutions in Beijing also include academies and thinktanks such as the PLA National Defence University and PLA Academy of Military Science, Academy of Military Science, military hospitals such as the 301 Military Hospital, 301, 307 Hospital, 307 and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and army-affiliated cultural entities such as 1 August Film Studios and the Chinese People's Liberation Army Naval Song and Dance Troupe, PLA Song and Dance Troupe.
The China National Space Administration, which oversees country's Chinese space program, space program, and several space-related state owned companies such as China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, CASTC and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, CASIC are all based in Beijing. The Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center, in Haidian District tracks the country's Shenzhou program, manned and unmanned flight and other space exploration initiatives.
Nature and wildlife
Beijing Municipality has 20 nature reserves that have a total area of . The mountains to the west and north of the city are home to a number of protected wildlife species including leopard, leopard cat, wolf, red fox, wild boar, masked palm civet, raccoon dog, hog badger, Siberian weasel, Amur hedgehog, roe deer, and mandarin rat snake. The Beijing Aquatic Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center protects the Chinese giant salamander, Amur stickleback and mandarin duck on the Huaijiu and Huaisha Rivers in
Huairou District
Huairou District () is situated in northern Beijing about from the city center (about a 1½ to 2 hour drive).
History
In 1995 during the United Nation's 4th World's Women Conference in Beijing, the Civil Society community was forced to meet in t ...
. The Milu Yuan, Beijing Milu Park south of the city is home to one of the largest herds of Père David's deer, now extinct in the wild. The Beijing barbastelle, a species of vesper bat discovered in caves of
Fangshan District
Fangshan District () is situated in the southwest of Beijing, away from downtown Beijing. It has an area of and a population of 814,367 (2000 Census). The district is divided into 8 subdistricts, 14 towns, and 6 townships.
The district administ ...
in 2001 and identified as a distinct species in 2007, is endemic to Beijing. The mountains of Fangshan are also habitat for the more common Beijing mouse-eared bat, large myotis, greater horseshoe bat and Rickett's big-footed bat.
Each year, Beijing hosts 200–300 species of Bird migration, migratory birds including the common crane, black-headed gull, swan, mallard, common cuckoo and the endangered yellow-breasted bunting. In May 2016, Common cuckoos nesting in the wetlands of Cuihu (Haidian), Hanshiqiao (Shunyi), Yeyahu (Yanqing) were tagged and have been traced to far as India, Kenya and Mozambique. In the fall of 2016, the Beijing Forest Police undertook a month-long campaign to crack down on illegal hunting and trapping of migratory birds for sale in local bird markets. Over 1,000 rescued birds of protected species including streptopelia, Eurasian siskin, crested myna, coal tit and great tit were handed to the Beijing Wildlife Protection and Rescue Center for repatriation to the wild.
The city flowers are the Rosa chinensis, Chinese rose and chrysanthemum. The city trees are the Chinese arborvitae, an evergreen in the cypress Cupressaceae, family and the pagoda tree, also called the Chinese scholar tree, a deciduous tree of the family Fabaceae. The oldest scholar tree in the city was planted in what is now Beihai Park during the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
.
International relations
The capital is the home of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a multilateral development bank that aims to improve economic and social outcomes in Asia and the
Silk Road Fund
The Silk Road Fund ( zh, s=丝路基金, t=, p=) is a state-owned investment fund of the Chinese government to foster increased investment in countries along the One Belt, One Road, an economic development initiative primarily covering Eura ...
, an investment fund of the Chinese government to foster increased investment and provide financial supports in countries along the One Belt, One Road. Beijing is also home to the headquarters of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), making it an important city for diplomacy, international diplomacy.
Twin towns and sister cities
Beijing is Sister city, twinned with the following regions, cities, and counties:
* Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
* Ankara, Turkey
* Astana, Kazakhstan
* Athens, Greece
* Bangkok, Thailand
* Berlin, Germany
* Brussels, Belgium
* Bucharest, Romania
* Budapest, Hungary
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Cairo, Egypt
* Canberra, Australia
* Cologne, Germany
* Copenhagen, Denmark
* Delhi, India
* Doha, Qatar
* Dublin, Ireland
* Hanoi, Vietnam
* Havana, Cuba
* Île-de-France, France
* Islamabad, Pakistan
* Jakarta, Indonesia
* Johannesburg, South Africa
* Kyiv, Ukraine
* Lima, Peru
* London, England, United Kingdom
* Manila, Philippines
* Minsk, Belarus
* Mexico City, Mexico
* Moscow, Russia
* New South Wales, Australia
* New York City, United States
* Ottawa, Canada
* Phnom Penh, Cambodia
* Riga, Latvia
* Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
* San José, Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
* Santiago, Chile
* Seoul, South Korea
* Tallinn, Estonia
* Tehran, Iran
* Tel Aviv, Israel
* Tirana, Albania
* Tokyo, Japan
* Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
* Vientiane, Laos
* Washington D.C., United States
* Wellington, New Zealand
Foreign embassies and consulates
In 2019, China had the largest diplomatic network in the world. China hosts a List of diplomatic missions in China, large diplomatic community in its capital city of Beijing. At present, the capital of Beijing hosts 172 embassies, 1 consulate and 3 representatives, excluding Hong Kong and Macau trade office.
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Representative offices and delegations
* (Representative Office)
* (Representative Office)
* (European Union Ambassador to China, Delegation of the European Union to China)
See also
* Beijing city fortifications
* Historical capitals of China
* Large Cities Climate Leadership Group
* List of hospitals in Beijing
* List of mayors of Beijing
* List of twin towns and sister cities in China
* List of diplomatic missions in China
* Uyghurs in Beijing
Photograph of ''The approach to Peking – outside the walls'' taken in 1890 by Sir Henry Norman, 1st Baronet, Sir Henry Norman
{{Authority control
Beijing,
Municipalities of China
Articles containing video clips
Capitals in Asia
Metropolitan areas of China
North China Plain
Populated places established in the 2nd millennium BC
11th-century BC establishments in China