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General Introduction of Beijing

1) Yan Kingdom (B.C. 723 - 221) was first settled in this area.

2) Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1280 - 1368) under the leadership of Kublai Khan called the capital Da Du (Big Capital).

3) Ming Dynasty (A.D.1368 - 1644) named the capital as Beijing (Northern Capital).

4) Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1644 - 1911) retained Beijing as their Capital.

5) The Constitution of the People's Republic of China declared Beijing as the Capital of the Nation in 1949. Today, Beijing is the political and cultural center of the People's Republic of China.

Beijing, Jing for short, is the nation's political, economic, cultural and educational center as well as China's most important center for international trade and communications. Together with Xian, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Nanjing and Hangzhou, Beijing is one of the six ancient cities in China. It has been the heart and soul of politics and society throughout its long history and consequently there is an unparalleled wealth of discovery to delight and intrigue travelers as they explore Beijing's ancient past and enjoy its exciting modern development.

As the capital of the People's Republic of China, Beijing is located in northern China, close to Tianjin Municipality and partially surrounded by Hebei Province. The city covers an area of more than 16,410 square kilometers and has a population of 14.93 million people.

Beijing is a city with four distinct seasons. Its best is late spring and autumn. But autumn is taken as the golden tourist season of the year since there is sometimes in the spring of recent years, a yellow wind. The best time to visit Beijing is the months of May, September, and October when people can enjoy bright sunshine and blue skies. If you like winter, you will have other chances to appreciate another landscape of Beijing. After skiing in Beihai and viewing the snowy sights on West Hill, enjoying the steaming hotpot is the best choice, which is really the fun of tour in Beijing.

Beijing's long and illustrious history started some 500,000 years ago. It is here that the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens, Peking men, lived in caves. Records show that Beijing has been an inhabited city for more than three thousand years and has endured invasions by warlords and foreign powers, devastating fires, the rise and fall of powerful imperial dynasties and has emerged each time as a strong and vibrant city. For more than 800 years, Beijing was a capital city - from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Thirty-four emperors have lived and ruled the nation in Beijing and it has been an important trading city from its earliest days.

Key Words

Tea   West Lake   

Temple      Su Dongpo 

zhouzhuang

Fans   Embroidery

Garden     Fuzimiao

Zhonghua Gate

Nanjing Salted Duck

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