Beijing Overview

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Beijing is the birthplace of Chinese civilization and one of the six ancient capital cities in China. It has a history of over 3000 years and once served as the capital for the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Now, it is the political, economic, cultural and communication center of the country as well as the capital of the People's Republic of China.

Beijing is famous for the quality and richness of its antiquities. Beijing has six World Heritage List sites, 60 nationally important, 264 city-level and 568 district- and county-level cultural relics protection units and 40 historical cultural protection areas. An aerial view of the city clearly shows the city is densely dotted with royal palaces, gardens, temples, tombs and other ancient buildings remain in their original, methodical arrangements, which demonstrate the royal dignity and cultural significance of the past dynasties.

Area Code: 010

Zip Code: 100000

Location: Beijing lies in the north of the North China Plain, at 39.6 N latitude and 116.20 E longitude.

Climate: Temperate semi-humid climate, short spring and autumn, long summer and winter; annual average temperature is 13℃, and the annual average precipitation 539 mm.

Area: 16807 square kilometers

Population: 14.93million

Ethnic Groups: People of all the 56 ethnic groups in China are found among Beijing residents, including the Han majority and Hui, Manchurian, Mongolian and other minorities.

dining

Since Beijing served as the Chinese capital city for centuries, its local cuisine has been influenced by culinary traditions all over China. Based on Shandong cuisine，Islamic cuisine and imperial cuisine of the Ming and Qing dynasties, Beijing Cuisine has formed its own unique characteristics. Beijing cuisine integrates the cooking techniques of Han, Manchu, Mongolian and Hui ethnic groups, and absorbs main local dishes from all over the country. In Beijing cuisine, roasting, frying, stewing, braising, and steaming are the most popular cooking methods.

The well-known Beijing dishes include Beijing Roast Duck, Mutton Hot Pot, Three Non-Stickiness, Imperial Cuisine, Peking Barbecue, Plain Boiled Pork, Fish Cooked with Vinegar and Pepper, etc.

Absorbing the characters from the snacks of Han, Hui, Mongolia, Manchu and imperial snacks, Beijing snacks are also famous throughout China. They are generally prepared by steaming, deep frying, frying in shallow oil, and instant boiling. Now snack restaurants can be found all over Beijing.

Mung Bean Milk (Dou Zhi), Pea-Flour Cake (Wan Dou Huang), Sesame Balls, (Zhimaqiu) Steamed Cone-shaped Cake (Aiwowo), etc are snacks beloved by people. 

In addition to local food, other Chinese regional cuisines as well as the cuisine all over the world all could be found in Beijing.

shopping

Wangfujing Street: It starts with East Changan Jie in the south and ends with China Art Gallery in the north with a total length of three li (about 1640 yards) long. As the most first famous business zone in Beijing, Wangfujing Street is a modern commercial street where some world-famous brands could be found there.

Xidan Commercial Street: Reputed as the second Wangfujing in Beijing, Xidan is the most modern shopping area as well as an international standard modern commercial combination of shopping, dining, recreation and culture etc. It is the shopping paradise for young people.

Liulichang Culture Street: It is a market mainly selling jewelry, antiques, ancient calligraphies and paintings. Works of Chinese calligraphy and traditional Chinese paintings, old wood block-print books, Chinese ink brushes, inkslabs and paper for calligraphy known as the for treasures of the study and other scholars traditional tools can be found there. If you are antique fans, you should not miss Liulichang. When you buy expensive antique, you’d better choose shops run by the state. Don't buy antiques without wax seal and antiques dating before 1795, because they cannot be legally exported.

Silver Street: Silver Street: It is in the Dongdan Beidajie. It is where all the franchised foreign name-brand shops are concentrated.

Xiushui Street: It is near the US Embassy and Friendship Shop. The long and narrow street is lined with dozens of stalls selling silk products, garments, shoes, hats, watches and some handicrafts and trinkets. The prices of these commodities are not set. So, it is a good place for foreigners to bargain. Of course, It would be helpful if you could find a Chinese friend who adept at bargaining to go shopping with you. 
 

entertainment

Beijing is a colorful metropolitan city with huge number of entertainment activities, ranging from the international Fine Art to the national treasure, from the popular fashion to old temple fair.

Beijing has many first-rate performing groups such as Beijing People's Art Theatre (BPAT), the China National Symphony Orchestra, the National Ballet of China, China National Opera House, etc. Many undisputed masterpiece are often staged there.

Tianqiao (Heaven Bridge) in Beijing is the hometown of Beijing acrobatics, many famous acrobatic artists and the Beijing acrobatic group were all originated here. In the past, Tianqiao area is the center of entertainment, dining, and commerce for Beijing common people of.

Now, “Tian Qiao Le Teahouse”, as an epitome of old Tianqiao area, is a resort where you can better savor the ancient capital’s marketplace culture and experience its folk customs. Sitting in the simple, unsophisticated and refined environment, you could taste folk snacks, sample tea and appreciate art performances. It seems that you are a Beijing native.

Hou Hai Bar Area and Beijing Sanlitun Bar Start are the most popular place for people to go out. They are all large entertainment district incorporating clubs and bars and restaurants, being a fundamental component of Beijing nightlife.
 

transportation

Beijing is regarded as the most convenient city in China. With a sophisticated network of roads, railways, subways, and airports, China.

its traffic condition is also believed to be the best one in

The Beijing Subway is a rapid transit system that serves downtown Beijing and its various outlying suburbs. At present, it include: Line 1, Line 2, Line 13 and Line Ba-Tong. The total length of all these lines is 114 kilometers with 70 stations in all. The current daily passenger volume of Beijing’s subway system is around 1.5 million person-times.

It is a cheap and convenient way to travel in Beijing by bus since there are more than 500 bus routes covering the entire city. Basically, you can travel to any destination by using its huge but complex bus system. Normally, the bus staff can not speak English. So, if you don’t understand Chinese, you have to beware of getting off at wrong station. If you have a bus card which is sold in bus station, bank or grocery, you will enjoy 60% discount in fare, except the first number beginning in "9" which is bus to suburb will 20% discount.

highlights

1) Top of the World

Tian’anmen Square: The largest city central square in the world.

The Forbidden City: The largest and best-preserved imperial palace complex in the world.

The Great Wall: The longest wall as well as structure in the world.

The Summer Palace: The largest and most complete imperial garden existing in the world.

Temple of Heaven: The largest architectural group for worshipping heaven in the world.

2) Beijing Opera

Beijing opera, commonly known as Peking Opera to westerners, is a national treasure with a history of 200 years. It arose in the mid-19th century in Anhui and Hubei provinces and was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty. After absorbing the operatic tunes of the Hubei local opera and drew on the best of Kun Qu, Qin Qiang and Bang Zi and other local operas, it became a genre of national significance and popularity during the 1790's. The charm of Beijing Opera lies in the comprehensive form of stage art. It is an organic combination of traditional music, poetry, song, recitation, dancing, acrobatics, and martial arts, painted facial make-ups and costumes, and so on.

There are four main roles in Beijing opera, which are Sheng (positive male character), Dan (positive female character), Jing (minor male role with bright character) and Chou (Clown role). Every type has its telltale facial makeup and decoration. Many foreigners are interested in the various types of facial make-up used in Beijing Opera, as the different colors of the faces represent different characters and personality. Yellow and white represent cunning, red stands for uprightness and loyalty, black means valor and wisdom, blue and green indicate the vigorous and enterprising character of rebellious heroes and gold and silver represent mystic or super-natural power.

Piao You means Peking opera fans and Piao Fang means the place where fans meet to amuse themselves.

Famous Beijing opera actors and actresses over the years included Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Ma Lianliang, Zhou Xinfang and Du Jinfang.

3) The Bird and Beijings’ Life

No one could tell exactly the very beginning of Chinese keeping birds as pets, though records can be found in books from different dynasties, describing it as the symbol of a carefree and abundant lifestyle. As time passes, bird keeping has developed from a hobby carried only by noble people to a kind of social activity for common people. While, birds are usually kept by elderly Chinese since they could devote all their time to their birds, though in recent years, there are also some youngsters begin to raise birds for pleasure.

The birds raised by Beijings are mainly thrush, lavrock, yellowbird, Marsh Tit, etc. You can judge a bird in various ways, such as the color of its feather, the shape of its body and its voice. A good bird should be fresh in color, shapely in figure, and has a clear and diversified throat.

Raising a bird need a lot of time and energy. Liuniao (bird strolling) then is a compulsory lesson for every bird keeper. At about 6 o'clock in each morning, group of bird owners leisurely carried their beloved birds in cages and ramble to temples, parks, gardens or nearby woods for "bird strolling". They hang their bird cage on the tree, and unveil the curtain outside the cage to let fresh air and sunshine in. When several birds gather, it's an exciting moment for them to communicate with each other, or maybe compete to win their keepers some honor through their hard work. For birds, this kind of meeting is the competition time for beauty and singing and for bird keepers, it is a time to show off how well their birds are raised and tamed.

By bird strolling, these keepers not only meet many new friends and enrich their life but also give their birds a chance to social contact which is said could help the bird learn to sing.

Different from other scene, bird strolling only could be seen in the very early morning.