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Beijing

February 07, 2023

For other uses, see Beijing (disambiguation).
"Peking" and "Beijinger" redirect here. For the magazine, see The Beijinger. For other uses, see Peking (disambiguation).

Beijing (/beɪˈdʒɪŋ/ bay-JING;[9][10] Chinese: 北京; pinyin: Běijīng; Mandarin pronunciation: [pèɪ.tɕíŋ] (listen)), alternatively romanized as Peking[11] (/piːˈkɪŋ/ pee-KING),[12] is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country.[13] Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 million residents and the second largest in the country after Shanghai.[14] It is located in Northern China, and is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts.[15] Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin to the southeast; together, the three divisions form the Jingjinji megalopolis and the national capital region of China.[16]

Beijing
北京
Peking
Municipality and capital city
Municipality of Beijing
Beijing central business district
Tiananmen
Great Wall of Badaling
Beijing National Stadium
Temple of Heaven
Great Hall of the People (left) and
National Centre for the Performing Arts (right)
Location of Beijing Municipality within China
Coordinates (Tian'anmen Square national flag): 39°54′24″N 116°23′51″E / 39.90667°N 116.39750°E / 39.90667; 116.39750Coordinates: 39°54′24″N 116°23′51″E / 39.90667°N 116.39750°E / 39.90667; 116.39750
CountryChina
Established1045 BC
Founded byZhou dynasty (Western Zhou)
City seatTongzhou
Divisions[1]
 – County-level
 – Township-level
16 districts
289 towns and villages
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
 • BodyBeijing Municipal People's Congress
 • CPC SecretaryYin Li
 • Congress ChairmanLi Xiuling
 • MayorYin Yong
 • CPPCC ChairmanWei Xiaodong
 • National People's Congress Representation54 deputies
Area
[2]
 • Municipality16,410.5 km2 (6,336.1 sq mi)
 • Land16,410.5 km2 (6,336.1 sq mi)
 • Urban
16,410.5 km2 (6,336.1 sq mi)
 • Metro
12,796.5 km2 (4,940.8 sq mi)
Elevation
43.5 m (142.7 ft)
Highest elevation
(Mount Ling)
2,303 m (7,556 ft)
Population
 (2020 census)[3]
 • Municipality21,893,095
 • Density1,300/km2 (3,500/sq mi)
 • Urban
21,893,095
 • Urban density1,300/km2 (3,500/sq mi)
 • Metro
22,366,547
 • Metro density1,700/km2 (4,500/sq mi)
 • Ranks in China
Population: 27th;
Density: 4th
Major ethnic groups
 • Han95%
 • Manchu2%
 • Hui2%
 • Mongol0.3%
 • Other0.7%
Time zoneUTC+08:00 (CST)
Postal codes
100000–102629
Area code10
ISO 3166 codeCN-BJ
GDP[4]2022
 - Total¥4.161 trillion
$618.648 billion (nominal)
$1.016 trillion (PPP)[5]
 – Per capita¥190,059
$28,258 (nominal)[6]
$46,401 (PPP)[7]
HDI (2019)0.904[8] (1st) – very high
License plate prefixes京A, C, E, F, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, Y
京B (taxis)
京G (outside urban area)
京O, D (police and authorities)
AbbreviationBJ / 京 (jīng)
ClimateDwa
Websitebeijing.gov.cn
english.beijing.gov.cn
Symbols
FlowerChina rose (Rosa chinensis)
Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium)
TreeChinese arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis)
Pagoda tree (Sophora japonica)
Beijing
"Beijing" in regular Chinese characters
Chinese北京
Hanyu PinyinBěijīng
PostalPeking[note 1]
Peiping (1368–1403;
1928–1937; 1945–1949)
Literal meaning"Northern Capital"

Beijing is a global city and one of the world's leading centres for culture, diplomacy, politics, finance, business and economics, education, research, language, tourism, media, sport, science and technology and transportation. As a megacity, Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by urban population after Shanghai.[17] It is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies and houses the largest number of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world, as well as the world's four biggest financial institutions by total assets.[18][19] It is also a major hub for the national highway, expressway, railway, and high-speed rail networks. The Beijing Capital International Airport has been the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic (Asia's busiest) since 2010,[20] and, as of 2016, the city's subway network is the busiest and longest in the world. The Beijing Daxing International Airport, a second international airport in Beijing, is the largest single-structure airport terminal in the world.[21][22]

Combining both modern and traditional style architectures, Beijing is one of the oldest cities in the world, with a rich history dating back over three millennia. As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political center of the country for most of the past eight centuries,[23] and was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium CE.[24] 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 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.[25] 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.[26] Beijing is home to many national monuments and museums and has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites—the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Zhoukoudian, and parts of the Great Wall and the Grand Canal—all of which are popular tourist locations.[27] Siheyuans, the city's traditional housing style, and hutongs, 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 and the world.[28][29] Beijing is home to the two best C9 League universities (Tsinghua and Peking) in Asia & Oceania region and emerging countries.[30][31] Beijing CBD is a center for Beijing's economic expansion, with the ongoing or recently completed construction of multiple skyscrapers. Beijing's Zhongguancun 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 since 2016.[32][33] The city has hosted numerous international and national sporting events, the most notable being the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Paralympics Games. In 2022, Beijing became the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics,[34] and also the Summer and Winter Paralympics.[35] Beijing hosts 175 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many organizations, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Silk Road Fund, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the Central Academy of Drama, the Central Conservatory of Music, and the Red Cross Society of China.

Etymology

Main article: Names of Beijing

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 北 for north and 京 for capital), was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing (the "Southern Capital").[36] The English spelling Beijing is based on the government's official romanization (adopted in the 1980s) of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin. An older English spelling, Peking, was used by Jesuit missionary Martino Martini in a popular atlas published in Amsterdam in 1655.[37] 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, with the IATA Code PEK, and Peking University, still retain the former romanization.

The single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京, which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing is "BJ".[38]

History

Main article: History of Beijing

Early history

The earliest traces of human habitation in the Peking municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the caves date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived there more recently, about 27,000 years ago.[39] Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality, including in Wangfujing, located in central Peking.

The first walled city in Beijing was Jicheng, the capital city of the state of Ji and was built in 1045 BC. Within modern Beijing, Jicheng was located around the present Guang'anmen area in the south of Xicheng District.[40] This settlement was later conquered by the state of Yan and made its capital.[41]

Early Imperial China

 
The Tianning Pagoda, built around 1120 during the Liao dynasty

After the First Emperor unified China in 221 BC, Jicheng became a prefectural capital for the region.[1] During the Three Kingdoms period, it was held by Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao before falling to the Wei Kingdom of Cao Cao. The AD third-century Western Jin demoted the town, placing the prefectural seat in neighboring Zhuozhou. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period when northern China was conquered and divided by the Wu Hu, Jicheng was briefly the capital of the Xianbei Former Yan Kingdom.[42]

After China was reunified by the Sui dynasty in 581, Jicheng, also known as Zhuojun, became the northern terminus of the Grand Canal. Under the Tang dynasty, Jicheng as Youzhou, served as a military frontier command center. During the An-Shi Rebellion and again amidst the turmoil of the late Tang, local military commanders founded their own short-lived Yan dynasties and called the city Yanjing, 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 ceded the frontier territory including what is now Beijing to the Khitan Liao dynasty, which treated the city as Nanjing, or the "Southern Capital", one of four secondary capitals to complement its "Supreme Capital" Shangjing (modern Baarin Left Banner in Inner Mongolia). Some of the oldest surviving pagodas in Beijing date to the Liao period, including the Tianning Pagoda.

The Liao fell to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in 1122, which gave the city to the Song dynasty and then retook it in 1125 during its conquest of northern China. In 1153, the Jurchen Jin made Beijing their "Central Capital", or Zhongdu.[1] The city was besieged by Genghis Khan's invading Mongolian army in 1213 and razed to the ground two years later.[43] Two generations later, Kublai Khan ordered the construction of Dadu (or Daidu to the Mongols, commonly known as Khanbaliq), a new capital for his Yuan dynasty to the northeast of the Zhongdu ruins. The construction took from 1264 to 1293,[1][43][44] but greatly enhanced the status of a city on the northern fringe of China proper. The city was centered on the Drum Tower slightly to the north of modern Beijing and stretched from the present-day Chang'an Avenue to the northern part of Line 10 subway. Remnants of the Yuan rammed earth wall still stand and are known as the Tucheng.[45]

Ming dynasty

 
One of the corner towers of the Forbidden City, built by the Yongle Emperor during the early Ming dynasty

In 1368, soon after declaring the new Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty, the rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang captured Dadu/Khanbaliq and razed the Yuan palaces to the ground.[46] Since the Yuan continued to occupy Shangdu and Mongolia, Dadu was used to supply the Ming military garrisons in the area and renamed Beiping (Wade–Giles: Peip'ing, "Northern Peace").[47] Under the Hongwu Emperor's feudal policies, Beiping was given to his son Zhu Di, who was created "Prince of Yan".

 
Overlapping layout of Beijing during the Liao, Jin, Yuan and Ming dynasties

The early death of Zhu Yuanzhang's heir led to a succession struggle upon his death, one that ended with the victory of Zhu Di and the declaration of the new Yongle era. Since his harsh treatment of the Ming capital Yingtian (modern Nanjing) alienated many there, he established his fief as a new co-capital. The city of Beiping became Beijing ("Northern Capital") or Shuntian[48] in 1403.[36] The construction of the new imperial residence, the Forbidden City, took from 1406 to 1420;[43] this period was also responsible for several other of the modern city's major attractions, such as the Temple of Heaven[49] and Tian'anmen. On 28 October 1420, the city was officially designated the capital of the Ming dynasty in the same year that the Forbidden City was completed.[50] Beijing became the empire's primary capital, and Yingtian, also called Nanjing ("Southern Capital"), became the co-capital. (A 1425 order by Zhu Di's son, the Hongxi Emperor, 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 was built in its place.[51] It is generally believed that Beijing was the largest city in the world for most of the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.[52] The first known church was constructed by Catholics in 1652 at the former site of Matteo Ricci's chapel; the modern Nantang Cathedral was later built upon the same site.[53]

The capture of Beijing by Li Zicheng's peasant army in 1644 ended the dynasty, but he and his Shun court abandoned the city without a fight when the Manchu army of Prince Dorgon arrived 40 days later.

Qing dynasty

 
Summer Palace is one of the several palatial gardens built by Qing emperors in the northwest suburb area.

Dorgon established the Qing dynasty as a direct successor of the Ming (delegitimising Li Zicheng and his followers)[54] and Beijing became China's sole capital.[55] 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. Northwest of the city, Qing emperors built several large palatial gardens including the Old Summer Palace and the Summer Palace.

 
Chongwenmen, a gate to the inner walled city, c. 1906

During the Second Opium War, Anglo-French forces captured the outskirts of the city, looting and burning the Old Summer Palace in 1860. Under the Convention of Peking 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 attempt by the Boxers to eradicate this presence, as well as Chinese Christian converts, led to Beijing's reoccupation by eight foreign powers.[56] During the fighting, several important structures were destroyed, including the Hanlin Academy and the (new) Summer Palace. A peace agreement was concluded between the Eight-Nation Alliance 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.[57]

With the treaty signed the Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Peking from her "tour of inspection" on 7 January 1902 and the rule of the Qing 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.[58] The Dowager died in 1908 and the dynasty imploded in 1911.

Republic of China

 
A large portrait of Chiang Kai-shek was displayed above Tiananmen after WWII.

The fomenters of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 sought to replace Qing rule with a republic and leaders like Sun Yat-sen originally intended to return the capital to Nanjing. After the Qing general Yuan Shikai 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. Yuan maintained his capital at Beijing and quickly consolidated power, declaring himself emperor in 1915. His death less than a year later[59] left China under the control of the warlords commanding the regional armies. Following the success of the Kuomintang's Northern Expedition, the capital was formally moved to Nanjing in 1928. On 28 June the same year, Beijing's name was returned to Beiping (written at the time as "Peiping").[17][60]

On 7 July 1937, the 29th Army and the Japanese army in China exchanged fire at the Marco Polo Bridge near the Wanping Fortress southwest of the city. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident triggered the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II as it is known in China. During the war,[17] Beijing fell to Japan on 29 July 1937[61] and was made the seat of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, a puppet state that ruled the ethnic-Chinese portions of Japanese-occupied northern China.[62] This government was later merged into the larger Wang Jingwei government based in Nanjing.[63]

People's Republic of China

 
Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949

In the final phases of the Chinese Civil War, the People's Liberation Army seized control of the city peacefully on 31 January 1949 in the course of the Pingjin Campaign. On 1 October that year, Mao Zedong announced the creation of the People's Republic of China from atop Tian'anmen. He restored the name of the city, as the new capital, to Beijing,[64] a decision that had been reached by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference 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 and residential neighborhoods in the north. Many areas of the Beijing city wall were torn down in the 1960s to make way for the construction of the Beijing Subway and the 2nd Ring Road.

 
A scene from the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games

During the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, the Red Guard 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.[65] 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 and the Cultural Revolution came to an end. In December 1978, the Third Plenum of the 11th Party Congress in Beijing under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping 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, 4th, 5th and 6th Ring Roads.[66][67] According to one 2005 newspaper report, the size of newly developed Beijing was one-and-a-half times larger than before.[68] Wangfujing and Xidan have developed into flourishing shopping districts,[69] while Zhongguancun has become a major center of electronics in China.[70] In recent years, the expansion of Beijing has also brought to the forefront some problems of urbanization, such as heavy traffic, poor air quality, the loss of historic neighborhoods, and a significant influx of migrant workers from less-developed rural areas of the country.[71] Beijing has also been the location of many significant events in recent Chinese history, principally the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.[72] The city has also hosted major international events, including the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, and the 2022 Winter Olympics, making it the first city to ever host both Winter and Summer Olympics.[73]

Geography

Main article: Geography of Beijing
 
Landsat 7 satellite image of Beijing Municipality with the surrounding mountains in dark brown

Beijing is situated at the northern tip of the roughly triangular North China Plain, 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 and Huairou District, are dominated by the Jundu Mountains, while the western part is framed by Xishan or the Western Hills. The Great Wall of China 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, is the municipality's highest point, with an altitude of 2,303 metres (7,556 ft).

Major rivers flowing through the municipality, including the Chaobai, Yongding, Juma, are all tributaries in the Hai River 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, which was built over 1,400 years ago as a transportation route, and the South–North Water Transfer Project, constructed in the past decade to bring water from the Yangtze River basin.

The urban area of Beijing, on the plains in the south-central of the municipality with elevation of 40 to 60 metres (130–200 feet), occupies a relatively small but expanding portion of the municipality's area. The city spreads out in concentric ring roads. The Second Ring Road traces the old city walls and the Sixth Ring Road connects satellite towns in the surrounding suburbs. Tian'anmen and Tian'anmen Square are at the center of Beijing, directly to the south of the Forbidden City, the former residence of the emperors of China. To the west of Tian'anmen is Zhongnanhai, the residence of China's current leaders. Chang'an Avenue, which cuts between Tiananmen and the Square, forms the city's main east–west axis.

Cityscape

 
A panorama of the Forbidden City, viewed from the Jingshan Park

Architecture

See also: List of tallest buildings in Beijing

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 (Gate of Heavenly Peace), which remains the People's Republic of China's trademark edifice, the Forbidden City, the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Temple of Heaven. 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.[74] Finally, there are much more modern architectural forms, most noticeably in the area of the Beijing CBD in east Beijing such as the new CCTV Headquarters, in addition to buildings in other locations around the city such as the Beijing National Stadium and National Center for the Performing Arts.

 
1940s Nationalist Beijing with predominantly traditional architecture

Since 2007, buildings in Beijing have received the CTBUH Skyscraper Award for best overall tall building twice, for the Linked Hybrid building in 2009 and the CCTV Headquarters 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 style of architecture can be seen at the 798 Art Zone, which mixes the old with the new. Beijing's tallest building is the 528-meter China Zun.

 
The sign of Doujiao Hutong, one of the many traditional alleyways in the inner city

Beijing is famous for its siheyuans, a type of residence where a common courtyard is shared by the surrounding buildings. Among the more grand examples are the Prince Gong Mansion and Residence of Soong Ching-ling. These courtyards are usually connected by alleys called hutongs. 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,[75] as entire city blocks of hutongs are replaced by high-rise buildings.[76] 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,[77] and these properties are often government owned.[78]

Climate

 
Beijing average annual temperatures from 1970 to 2019 during summer (June, July, and August) and winter (December, January, and February). Weather station data from . For comparison the Global Surface Temperature Anomaly rose by approximately one degree over the same time period.

Beijing has a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen: Dwa), bordering on a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk), characterized by hot, humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and brief but cold, dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone.[79] Spring can bear witness to sandstorms blowing in from the Gobi Desert across the Mongolian steppe, 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 −2.9 °C (26.8 °F), while in July it is 26.9 °C (80.4 °F). Precipitation averages around 570 mm (22 in) 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 −27.4 °C (−17.3 °F) on 22 February 1966 to 41.9 °C (107.4 °F) on 24 July 1999 (unofficial record of 42.6 °C (108.7 °F) was set on 15 June 1942).[80][81]

Climate data for Beijing (normals 1986–2015, extremes 1951–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 14.3
(57.7) 		25.6
(78.1) 		29.5
(85.1) 		33.5
(92.3) 		41.1
(106.0) 		40.6
(105.1) 		41.9
(107.4) 		38.3
(100.9) 		35.0
(95.0) 		31.0
(87.8) 		23.3
(73.9) 		19.5
(67.1) 		41.9
(107.4)
Average high °C (°F) 2.1
(35.8) 		5.8
(42.4) 		12.6
(54.7) 		20.7
(69.3) 		26.9
(80.4) 		30.5
(86.9) 		31.5
(88.7) 		30.5
(86.9) 		26.2
(79.2) 		19.4
(66.9) 		10.3
(50.5) 		3.8
(38.8) 		18.4
(65.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) −2.9
(26.8) 		0.4
(32.7) 		7.0
(44.6) 		14.9
(58.8) 		21.0
(69.8) 		25.0
(77.0) 		26.9
(80.4) 		25.8
(78.4) 		20.8
(69.4) 		13.8
(56.8) 		5.1
(41.2) 		−0.9
(30.4) 		13.1
(55.5)
Average low °C (°F) −7.1
(19.2) 		−4.3
(24.3) 		1.6
(34.9) 		8.9
(48.0) 		14.9
(58.8) 		19.8
(67.6) 		22.7
(72.9) 		21.7
(71.1) 		16.0
(60.8) 		8.8
(47.8) 		0.6
(33.1) 		−4.9
(23.2) 		8.2
(46.8)
Record low °C (°F) −22.8
(−9.0) 		−27.4
(−17.3) 		−15
(5) 		−3.2
(26.2) 		2.5
(36.5) 		9.8
(49.6) 		15.3
(59.5) 		11.4
(52.5) 		3.7
(38.7) 		−3.5
(25.7) 		−12.3
(9.9) 		−18.3
(−0.9) 		−27.4
(−17.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 2.7
(0.11) 		5.0
(0.20) 		10.2
(0.40) 		23.1
(0.91) 		39.0
(1.54) 		76.7
(3.02) 		168.8
(6.65) 		120.2
(4.73) 		57.4
(2.26) 		24.1
(0.95) 		13.1
(0.52) 		2.4
(0.09) 		542.7
(21.38)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 1.8 2.3 3.3 4.7 6.1 9.9 12.8 10.9 7.6 4.8 2.9 2.0 69.1
Average relative humidity (%) 44 43 41 43 49 59 70 72 65 58 54 47 54
Mean monthly sunshine hours 186.2 188.1 227.5 242.8 267.6 225.6 194.5 208.2 207.5 205.2 174.5 172.3 2,500
Percent possible sunshine 65 65 63 64 64 59 47 52 63 64 62 62 60
Average ultraviolet index 2 3 4 6 8 9 9 8 6 4 2 1 5
Source: China Meteorological Administration [82], China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System[83], all-time record high[81], May record high[84] and Weather Atlas[85]

See or edit raw graph data.

Environmental issues

Beijing has a long history of environmental problems.[86] 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 of human society are not included. For example, surface albedo, wind speed and humidity near the surface were decreased, whereas ground and near-surface air temperatures, vertical air dilution and ozone levels were increased.[87] Because of the combined factors of urbanization and pollution caused by burning of fossil fuel, Beijing is often affected by serious environmental problems, which lead to health issues of many inhabitants. In 2013 heavy smog struck Beijing and most parts of northern China, impacting a total of 600 million people. After this "pollution shock" air pollution 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.[88]

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 can be traced to sources outside the city. Shandong Province and Tianjin Municipality have a "significant influence on Beijing's air quality",[89] partly due to the prevailing south/southeasterly flow during the summer and the mountains to the north and northwest.

 
Heavy air pollution has resulted in widespread smog. These photographs, taken in August 2005, show the variations in Beijing's air quality.

In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics and to fulfill promises to clean up the city's air, nearly US$17 billion was spent.[90] 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,[91] and cutting motor traffic by half by limiting drivers to odd or even days (based on their license plate numbers),[92] reducing bus and subway fares, opening new subway lines, and banning high-emission vehicles.[93][94] The city further assembled 3,800 natural gas-powered buses, one of the largest fleets in the world.[90] Beijing became the first city in China to require the Chinese equivalent to the Euro 4 emission standard.[95]

Coal burning accounts for about 40% of the PM 2.5 in Beijing and is also the chief source of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide.[96] Since 2012, the city has been converting coal-fired power stations to burn natural gas[97] 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.[97] Much of the city's air pollutants are emitted by neighboring regions.[96] Coal consumption in neighboring Tianjin is expected to increase from 48 to 63 million tons from 2011 to 2015.[98] 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.[99] 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.[96] Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia, respectively rank from first to fourth, among Chinese provinces by coal consumption.[98] 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.[100] Another two were shut in March 2015. The last one (Huaneng Thermal Power Plant) would be shut in 2016.[101] 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.[101]

The government sometimes uses cloud-seeding 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.[102] 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" and "parade blue," short periods during and immediately preceding the APEC China 2014 and the 2015 China Victory Day Parade, respectively.[103] 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, 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".[104]

On 8 and 9 December 2015 Beijing had its first smog alert which shut down a majority of the industry and other commercial businesses in the city.[105] Later in the month another smog "red alert" was issued.[106]

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.[107]

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.[108]

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).[109] The American Embassy of Beijing also reports hourly fine particulate (PM2.5) and ozone levels on Twitter.[110] 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.[110]

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.[111] Exposure to large concentrations of polluted air can cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems, emergency room visits, and even death.[112]

Dust storms

Dust from the erosion of deserts in northern and northwestern China results in seasonal dust storms that plague the city; the Beijing Weather Modification Office sometimes artificially induces rainfall to fight such storms and mitigate their effects.[113] In the first four months of 2006 alone, there were no fewer than eight such storms.[114] In April 2002, one dust storm alone dumped nearly 50,000 tons of dust onto the city before moving on to Japan and Korea.[115]

Government

Main article: Politics of Beijing

The municipal government is regulated by the local Chinese Communist Party (CCP), led by the Beijing CCP Secretary (Chinese: 中共北京市委书记). 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 (Chinese: 市长) 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.[116]

Administrative divisions

For a more comprehensive list, see List of administrative divisions of Beijing and List of township-level divisions of Beijing.

Beijing Municipality currently comprises 16 administrative county-level subdivisions including 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. On 1 July 2010, Chongwen and Xuanwu were merged into Dongcheng and Xicheng, respectively. On 13 November 2015 Miyun and Yanqing were upgraded to districts.

Administrative divisions of Beijing
Division code[117] Division Area in km2[118] Total population 2010[119] Urban area
population 2010[120]		 Seat Postal code Subdivisions[121][full citation needed]
Subdistricts Towns Townships
[n 1]		 Residential communities Villages
110000 Beijing 16406.16 19,612,368 16,858,692 Dongcheng / Tongzhou 100000 149 143 38 2538 3857
110101 Dongcheng 41.82 919,253 Jingshan Subdistrict 100000 17     216  
110102 Xicheng 50.33 1,243,315 Jinrong Street Subdistrict 100000 15     259  
110105 Chaoyang 454.78 3,545,137 3,532,257 Chaowai Subdistrict 100000 24   19 358 5
110106 Fengtai 305.53 2,112,162 2,098,632 Fengtai Subdistrict 100000 16 2 3 254 73
110107 Shijingshan 84.38 616,083 Lugu Subdistrict 100000 9     130  
110108 Haidian 430.77 3,280,670 3,208,563 Haidian Subdistrict 100000 22 7   603 84
110109 Mentougou 1447.85 290,476 248,547 Dayu Subdistrict 102300 4 9   124 179
110111 Fangshan 1994.73 944,832 635,282 Gongchen Subdistrict 102400 8 14 6 108 462
110112 Tongzhou 905.79 1,184,256 724,228 Beiyuan Subdistrict 101100 6 10 1 40 480
110113 Shunyi 1019.51 876,620 471,459 Shengli Subdistrict 101300 6 19   61 449
110114 Changping 1342.47 1,660,501 1,310,617 Chengbei Subdistrict 102200 8 14   180 303
110115 Daxing 1036.34 1,365,112 965,683 Xingfeng Subdistrict 102600 5 14   64 547
110116 Huairou 2122.82 372,887 253,088 Longshan Subdistrict 101400 2 12 2 27 286
110117 Pinggu 948.24 415,958 219,850 Binhe Subdistrict 101200 2 14 2 23 275
110118 Miyun 2225.92 467,680 257,449 Gulou Subdistrict 101500 2 17 1 57 338
110119 Yanqing 1994.89 317,426 154,386 Rulin Subdistrict 102100 3 11 4 34 376
  1. ^ Including Ethnic townships & other township related subdivisions.
 
Houhai Lake and Drum Tower at Shichahai, in the Xicheng District

Towns

Main article: List of township-level divisions of Beijing

Beijing's 16 county-level divisions (districts) are further subdivided into 273 lower third-level administrative units at the township level: 119 towns, 24 townships, 5 ethnic townships and 125 subdistricts. Towns within Beijing Municipality but outside the urban area include (but are not limited to):

Several place names in Beijing end with mén (门), meaning "gate", as they were the locations of gates in the former Beijing city wall. Other place names end in cūn (村), meaning "village", as they were originally villages outside the city wall.

Judiciary and procuracy

The judicial system in Beijing consists of the Supreme People's Court, the highest court in the country, the Beijing Municipal High People's Court, the high people's court of the municipality, three intermediate people's courts, one intermediate railway transport court, 14 basic people's court (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.[122] The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court in Fengtai oversees the basic courts of Dongcheng, Xicheng, Fengtai, Fangshan and Daxing.[122] 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.[122] It oversees the district courts of Chaoyang, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Huairou, Pinggu and Miyun.[122][123] Each court in Beijing has a corresponding people's procuratorate.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Beijing
 
Xidan is one of the oldest and busiest shopping areas in Beijing.
 
Beijing products treemap, 2020

As of 2018, Beijing's nominal GDP was US$458 billion (CN￥3.0 trillion), about 3.45% of the country's GDP and ranked 12th among province-level administrative units; its nominal GDP per capita was US$21,261 (CN￥140,748) and ranked the 1st in the country.[124] As of 2021, Beijing's gross regional products was CN￥4 trillion ($965 billion in GDP PPP),[125] ranking among the tenth largest metropolitan economies in the world.[126] 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, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in China) according to a study by Oxford Economics,[127] and its nominal GDP per capita will reach US$45,000 in 2030.[128]

Due to the concentration of state owned enterprises in the national capital, Beijing in 2013 had more Fortune Global 500 Company headquarters than any other city in the world.[129] As of August 2022, Beijing has 54 Fortune Global 500 companies, more than Japan (47), the third-place country after China (145) and the United States (124).[130][131] Beijing has also been described as the "billionaire capital of the world".[132][133] In 2020, Beijing is the fifth wealthiest city in the world, with a total wealth amounts to $2 trillion.[134] Beijing is classified as an Alpha+ (global first-tier) city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and worldwide and making it one of the world's Top 10 major cities.[135] In the 2021 Global Financial Centres Index, 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).[136]

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 (CASS) and the United Nations Programme for Human Settlements (UN-Habitat).[137]

Historical GDP of Beijing for 1978–present (SNA2008)[124]
(purchasing power parity of Chinese Yuan, as international dollar based on IMF WEO October 2017)[138]
Year CNY
(millions) 		USD
(millions) 		PPP
(Int'l$)
(millions) 		Real growth
(%) 		CNY
per capita* 		USD
per capita* 		PPP
(Int'l$.)
per capita* 		Reference index:
USD 1
to CNY 		Reference index:
Int'l$. 1
to CNY
2016 2,566,910 386,449 733,214 6.8 118,198 17,795 33,762 6.6423 3.5009
2015 2,368,570 380,285 667,297 6.9 109,602 17,597 30,878 6.2284 3.5495
2014 2,194,410 357,233 618,074 7.4 102,870 16,746 28,974 6.1428 3.5504
2013 2,033,010 328,265 568,372 7.7 97,178 15,691 27,168 6.1932 3.5769
2012 1,835,010 290,695 516,788 8.0 89,778 14,222 25,284 6.3125 3.5508
2011 1,662,790 257,446 474,337 8.1 83,547 12,935 23,833 6.4588 3.5055
2010 1,444,160 213,333 436,223 10.4 75,572 11,164 22,827 6.7695 3.3106
2009 1,241,900 181,804 393,317 10.0 68,405 10,014 21,664 6.8310 3.1575
2008 1,139,200 164,029 358,600 9.0 66,098 9,517 20,807 6.9451 3.1768
2007 1,007,190 132,455 334,071 14.4 61,470 8,084 20,389 7.6040 3.0149
2006 831,260 104,275 288,863 12.8 52,963 6,644 18,405 7.9718 2.8777
2005 714,140 87,178 249,787 12.3 47,127 5,753 16,484 8.1917 2.8590
2000 321,280 38,809 118,148 12.0 24,517 2,962 9,016 8.2784 2.7193
1995 150,770 18,054 55,239 12.0 12,690 1,520 4,649 8.3510 2.7294
1990 50,080 10,470 29,414 5.2 4,635 969 2,722 4.7832 1.7026
1985 25,710 8,755 18,342 8.7 2,643 900 1,886 2.9366 1.4017
1980 13,910 9,283 9,301 11.8 1,544 1,030 1,032 1.4984 1.4955
1978 10,880 6,462 10.5 1,257 747 1.6836

* Per-capita GDP is based on mid-year population.

Sector composition

 
The Taikoo Li Sanlitun shopping arcade is a destination for locals and visitors.

The city has a post-industrial economy that is dominated by the tertiary sector (services), which generated 76.9% of output, followed by the secondary sector (manufacturing, construction) at 22.2% and the primary sector (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.[139]

The single largest sub-sector remains industry, whose share of overall output has shrunk to 18.1% in 2013.[139] 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.[140] The relocation of Capital Steel to neighboring Hebei province had begun in 2005.[141][142] In 2013, output of automobiles, aerospace products, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and food processing all increased.[139]

In the farmland around Beijing, vegetables and fruits have displaced grain as the primary crops under cultivation.[139] In 2013, the tonnage of vegetable, edible fungus and fruit harvested was over three times that of grain.[139] In 2013, overall acreage under cultivation shrank along with most categories of produce as more land was reforested for environmental reasons.[139]

Economic zones

For a more comprehensive list, see List of economic and technological development zones in Beijing.
 
The skyline of Beijing CBD
 
Zhongguancun is a technology hub in Haidian District.

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.[143][144] The six zones are:

  1. Zhongguancun, 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.[145] Zhongguancun is also the center of Beijing-Tianjin-Shijiazhuang Hi-Tech Industrial Belt.
  2. Beijing Financial Street, 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, bank regulator, securities regulator, and foreign exchange authority are located in the neighborhood.
  3. Beijing Central Business District (CBD), is actually located to the east of downtown, near the embassies along the eastern Third Ring Road between Jianguomenwai and Chaoyangmenwai. The CBD is home to most of the city's skyscraper office buildings. Most of the city's foreign companies and professional service firms are based in the CBD.
  4. Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area, 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.[146]
  5. Beijing Airport Economic Zone was created in 1993 and surrounds the Beijing Capital International Airport 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.
  6. Beijing Olympic Center Zone surrounds the Olympic Green due north of downtown and is developing into an entertainment, sports, tourism and business convention center.

Shijingshan, on the western outskirts of the city, is a traditional heavy industrial base for steel-making.[147] 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.[148]

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Beijing
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
19532,768,149—    
19647,568,495+9.57%
19829,230,687+1.11%
199010,819,407+2.00%
200013,569,194+2.29%
201019,612,368+3.75%
201321,150,000+2.55%
2014[149]21,516,000+1.73%
Population size may be affected by changes on administrative divisions.

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.[139] The encompassing metropolitan area was estimated by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) to have, as of 2010, a population of 24.9 million.[150][151]

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.[139] The remaining 8 million residents had hukou permits elsewhere and were not eligible to receive some social benefits provided by the Beijing municipal government.[139]

The population increased in 2013 by 455,000 or about 7% from the previous year and continued a decade-long trend of rapid growth.[139] The total population in 2004 was 14.213 million.[152] The population gains are driven largely by migration. The population's rate of natural increase in 2013 was a mere 0.441%, based on a birth rate of 8.93 and a mortality rate of 4.52.[139] The gender balance was 51.6% males and 48.4% females.[139]

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%.[139][152] From 2000 to 2010, the percentage of city residents with at least some college education nearly doubled from 16.8% to 31.5%.[153] About 22.2% have some high school education and 31% had reached middle school.[153]

According to the 2010 census, nearly 96% of Beijing's population are ethnic Han Chinese.[153] Of the 800,000 ethnic minority population living in the capital, Manchu (336,000), Hui (249,000), Korean (77,000), Mongol (37,000) and Tujia (24,000) constitute the five largest groups.[154] 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.[153] 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.[155]

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.[156] 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.[156] The population is being redistributed to Jing-Jin-Ji and Xiong'an New Area, the transfer to the latter expected to include 300,000-500,000 people working in government research, universities, and corporate headquarters.[157][158]

Education and research

Main articles: Education in Beijing, Education in China, and Higher education in China
See also: List of universities and colleges in Beijing, List of universities in China, and Double First Class University Plan

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 since 2016.[32][159][33] The city is also leading the world with the highest share of articles published in the fields of physical sciences, chemistry, and earth and environmental sciences, especially in the United Nations'17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related output.[160][161][162][163]

Beijing has over 90 public colleges and universities, which is the largest urban public university system in Asia and the first city in China with most higher education institutions,[164][165] and it is home to the two best universities (Tsinghua and Peking) 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.[166][167][31] Both are members of the C9 League, an alliance of elite Chinese universities offering comprehensive and leading education.[168]

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.[169] A number of Beijing's most prestigious universities consistently rank among the best in the Asia-Pacific and the world, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Beijing Normal University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beihang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, China Agricultural University, Minzu University of China, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, University of International Business and Economics, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Central University of Finance and Economics.[28][29][170][171] These universities were selected as "985 universities" or "211 universities" by the Chinese government in order to build world-class universities.[172][173]

Some of the national key universities in Beijing are:

Beijing is also home to several religious institutions, Some of them are listed as follows:

  • China Islamic Institute [zh] (中国伊斯兰教经学院)
  • Beijing Islamic Institute [zh] (北京伊斯兰教经学院)
  • The Buddhist Academy of China [zh] (中国佛学院)
  • High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China [zh] (中国藏语系高级佛学院)
  • National Seminary of Catholic Church in China (中国天主教神哲学院)

The city is a seat of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which has been consistently ranked the No.1 research institute in the world by Nature Index since the list's inception in 2014, by Nature Research.[174][175][176] Beijing is also a site of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The city's compulsory education system is among the best in the world: in 2018, 15-year-old students from Beijing (together with Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu) outperformed all of the other 78 participating countries in all categories (math, reading, and science) in the Program for International Student Assessment, a worldwide study of academic performance conducted by the OECD.[177]

Culture

People native to urban Beijing speak the Beijing dialect, which belongs to the Mandarin subdivision of spoken Chinese. This speech is the basis for putonghua, the standard spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan, and one of the four official languages of Singapore. Rural areas of Beijing Municipality have their own dialects akin to those of Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing Municipality.

Beijing or Peking opera is a traditional form of Chinese theater well known throughout the nation. Commonly lauded as one of the highest achievements of Chinese culture, 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.[178]

Beijing cuisine is the local style of cooking. Peking duck 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, a fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine. Teahouses are also common in Beijing.

The cloisonné (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.[179] Beijing's lacquerware 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.[180] Today, Houhai, Sanlitun and Wudaokou are Beijing's nightlife hotspots.

In 2012 Beijing was named as City of Design and became part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.[181]

Places of interest

See also: Major National Historical and Cultural Sites (Beijing) and List of Beijing landmarks

...the city remains an epicenter of tradition with the treasures of nearly 2,000 years as the imperial capital still on view—in the famed Forbidden City and in the city's lush pavilions and gardens...

— National Geographic[182]
 
Qianmen Avenue, a traditional commercial street outside Qianmen Gate along the southern Central Axis

At the historical heart of Beijing lies the Forbidden City, the enormous palace compound that was the home of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties;[183] 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, Zhongnanhai, Jingshan and Zhongshan. These places, particularly Beihai Park, are described as masterpieces of Chinese gardening art,[184] and are tourist destinations of historical importance;[185] 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, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, the Monument to the People's Heroes, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. The Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace both lie at the western part of the city; the former, a UNESCO World Heritage Site,[186] 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 (Tiantan), located in southeastern Beijing, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site,[187] 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 (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, Tanzhe Temple, Miaoying Temple, White Cloud Temple, Yonghe Temple, Fayuan Temple, Wanshou Temple and Big Bell Temple. The city also has its own Confucius Temple, and a Guozijian or Imperial Academy. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, built in 1605, is the oldest Catholic church in Beijing. The Niujie Mosque is the oldest mosque in Beijing, with a history stretching back over a thousand years.

 
Inside the Forbidden City

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 17th-century Baliqiao bridge, and the 18th-century Jade Belt Bridge. The Beijing Ancient Observatory 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 exhibits over 6,000 species of plants, including a variety of trees, bushes and flowers, and an extensive peony garden. The Taoranting, Longtan, Chaoyang, Haidian, Milu Yuan and Zizhu Yuan parks are some of the notable recreational parks in the city. The Beijing Zoo is a center of zoological research that also contains rare animals from various continents, including the Chinese giant panda.

There are 144 museums and galleries (as of June 2008) in the city.[188][189][190] 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 Capital Museum, the Beijing Art Museum, the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, the Geological Museum of China, the Beijing Museum of Natural History and the Paleozoological Museum of China.[190]

Located at the outskirts of urban Beijing, but within its municipality are the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming dynasty, 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.[191] The archaeological Peking Man site at Zhoukoudian is another World Heritage Site within the municipality,[192] containing a wealth of discoveries, among them one of the first specimens of Homo erectus and an assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris. There are several sections of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Great Wall of China,[193] most notably Badaling, Jinshanling, Simatai and Mutianyu. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Beijing is the second highest earning tourist city in the world after Shanghai.[194]

Intangible cultural heritage

 
Beijing Acrobatic Performance (10553642935)

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.[195][196][197][198][199][200]

Religion

 
A Temple of the Goddess in Gubeikou
 
Fire God Temple in Di'anmen

The religious heritage of Beijing is rich and diverse as Chinese folk religion, Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam and Christianity all have significant historical presence in the city. As the national capital, the city also hosts the State Administration for Religious Affairs and various state-sponsored institutions of the leading religions.[201] In recent decades, foreign residents have brought other religions to the city.[201] 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.[202] According to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2009, Christians constitute 0.78% of the city's population.[203] According to a 2010 survey, Muslims constitute 1.76% of the population of Beijing.[204]

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 (祭天; jìtiān) at the Temple of Heaven have been resumed by Confucian groups in the 2010s.

There are temples dedicated to the worship of the Goddess (娘娘; Niángniáng) in the city, one of them near the Olympic Village, 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 (药王; Yàowáng), to Divus Guan (Guan Yu), to the Fire God (火神; Huǒshén), to the Wealth God, temples of the City God, and at least one temple consecrated to the Yellow Deity of the Chariot Shaft (轩辕黄帝; Xuānyuán Huángdì) 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.[205][206]

The national Chinese Taoist Association and Chinese Taoist College have their headquarters at the White Cloud Temple of Quanzhen Taoism, which was founded in 741 and rebuilt numerous times. The Beijing Dongyue Temple outside Chaoyangmen is the largest temple of Zhengyi Taoism in the city. The local Beijing Taoist Association has its headquarters at the Lüzu Temple near Fuxingmen.[207]

Buddhism

 
The tomb pagodas at Tanzhe Temple

11% of the population of Beijing practices East Asian Buddhism[citation needed]. The Buddhist Association of China, the state's supervisory organ overseeing all Buddhist institutions in mainland China, is headquartered in the Guangji Temple, a temple founded over 800 years ago during the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in what is now Fuchengmennei (阜成门内). 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 near Caishikou. The Fayuan Temple, which dates to the Tang dynasty 1300 years ago, is the oldest temple in urban Beijing. The Tongjiao Temple inside Dongzhimen is the city's only Buddhist nunnery.

The Xihuang Temple originally dates to the Liao dynasty. In 1651, the temple was commissioned by the Qing Emperor Shunzhi to host the visit of the Fifth Dalai Lama to Beijing. Since then, this temple has hosted the 13th Dalai Lama as well as the Sixth, Ninth and Tenth Panchen Lamas.

The largest Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Beijing is the Yonghe Temple, 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). The Yonghe Temple is so-named because it was the childhood residence of the Yongzheng Emperor, 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 in the Western Hills also dates to the Tang dynasty. The temple's Zhaoxian Pagoda (招仙塔) was first built in 1071 during the Liao dynasty to hold a tooth relic of the Buddha. The pagoda was destroyed during the Boxer Rebellion 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.

In addition, other notable temples in Beijing include the Tanzhe Temple (founded in the Jin dynasty (266–420) is the oldest in the municipality), the Tianning Temple (oldest pagoda in the city), the Miaoying Temple (famed for Yuan-era white pagoda), the Wanshou Temple (home to the Beijing Art Museum) and the Big Bell Temple (Dazhong Temple).

Islam

Beijing has about 70 mosques recognized by the Islamic Association of China, whose headquarters are located next to the Niujie Mosque, the oldest mosque in the city.[208][209] 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 and made Eid prayers at the mosque on 2021.[210][211]

The largest mosque[212] 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.[213] 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

 
Church of the Saviour, also known as the Xishiku Church, built in 1703

Catholicism

In 1289, John of Montecorvino came to Beijing as a Franciscan missionary with the order from the Pope. After meeting and receiving the support of Kublai Khan in 1293, he built the first Catholic church in Beijing in 1305. The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), based in Houhai is the government oversight body for Catholics in mainland China. Notable Catholic churches in Beijing include:

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 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.

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 of the 17th century.[214] 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 broadcasts on channels 1 through 10, and China Central Television, 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 on FM 91.5, and the newly launched Radio 774 on AM 774. Beijing Radio Stations is the family of radio stations serving the city.

Press

The well-known Beijing Evening News, covering news about Beijing in Chinese, is distributed every afternoon. Other newspapers include Beijing Daily, The Beijing News, the Beijing Star Daily, the Beijing Morning News, and the Beijing Youth Daily, as well as English-language weeklies Beijing Weekend and Beijing Today. The People's Daily, Global Times and the China Daily (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, Beijing This Month, Beijing Talk, That's Beijing, and The Beijinger.

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, Dou Wei, He Yong, Pu Shu, Tang Dynasty, Black Panther, The Flowers, 43 Baojia Street, etc.[215]

Beijing born celebrities

Mei Lanfang (22 October 1894 – 8 August 1961) is a Beijing opera singer.[216] 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.[217] In November 2007, a theater namely Mei Lanfang Grand Theater opened in Xicheng District, Beijing to memorize him.[218]

Yuan Longping (7 September 1930- 22 May 2021) is a Chinese agronomist.[219] 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.[220]

Cui Jian (August 1960 – present) is a Chinese rock singer. Various media praised him as the father of China's rock music.[221][222][223] 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.[223]

Yang Jiang (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.[224]

Shu Qingchun (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.[225] He has been living in Britain, Singapore, and United States. During the Chinese Culture Revolution, he committed suicide by drowning in Taiping Lake.[226]

Sports

Events

 
Fireworks above Olympic venues during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics
 
Tai chi (Taijiquan) practitioners at the Fragrant Hills Park
 
Beijing Workers' Stadium at night as viewed from Sanlitun

Beijing has hosted numerous international and national sporting events, the most notable was the 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. Other multi-sport international events held in Beijing include the 2001 Universiade and the 1990 Asian Games. Single-sport international competitions include the Beijing Marathon (annually since 1981), China Open of Tennis (1993–97, annually since 2004), ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Cup of China (2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010), WPBSA China Open for Snooker (annually since 2005), Union Cycliste Internationale Tour of Beijing (since 2011), 1961 World Table Tennis Championships, 1987 IBF Badminton World Championships, the 2004 AFC Asian Cup (football), and 2009 Barclays Asia Trophy (football). Beijing hosted the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

Beijing's LeSports Center is one of the main venues for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[227]

The city hosted the second Chinese National Games in 1914 and the first four National Games of China in 1959, 1965, 1975, 1979, respectively, and co-hosted the 1993 National Games with Sichuan and Qingdao. Beijing also hosted the inaugural National Peasants' Games in 1988 and the sixth National Minority Games in 1999.

In November 2013, Beijing made a bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.[34] 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 becoming the first ever to host both Summer and Winter Paralympics.[35]

Venues

Major sporting venues in the city include the National Stadium, also known as the "Birds' Nest",[228][229] National Aquatics Center, also known as the "Water Cube", National Indoor Stadium, all in the Olympic Green to the north of downtown; the MasterCard Center at Wukesong west of downtown; the Workers' Stadium 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:

The Beijing Olympians of the American Basketball Association, formerly a Chinese Basketball Association team, kept their name and maintained a roster of primarily Chinese players after moving to Maywood, California in 2005.

China Bandy Federation is based in Beijing, one of several cities in which the potential for bandy development is explored.[230]

Transportation

Main article: Transport in Beijing
 
Beijing railway station, one of several rail stations in the city

Beijing is an important transport hub in North China with six ring roads, 1167 km (725 miles) of expressways,[231] 15 National Highways, nine conventional railways, and six high-speed railways converging on the city.

Rail and high-speed rail

Beijing serves as a large rail hub in China's railway network. Ten conventional rail lines radiate from the city to: Shanghai (Jinghu Line), Guangzhou (Jingguang Line), Kowloon (Jingjiu Line), Harbin (Jingha Line) (including Qinhuangdao (Jingqin Line)), Baotou (Jingbao Line), Chengde (Jingcheng Line), Tongliao, Inner Mongolia (Jingtong Line), Yuanping, Shanxi (Jingyuan Line) and Shacheng, Hebei (Fengsha Line). In addition, the Datong–Qinhuangdao railway passes through the municipality to the north of the city.

Beijing also has six high-speed rail 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.[232]

From Beijing, direct passenger train service is available to most large cities in China. International train service is available to Mongolia, Russia, Vietnam and North Korea. Passenger trains in China are numbered according to their direction in relation to Beijing.

Roads and expressways

Further information: Expressways of Beijing and China National Highways of Beijing
 
Badaling Expressway overpass near the Great Wall
 
Beijing, traffic in the city in 1987
 
Typical Beijing traffic signage found at intersections

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" that concentrically surround the city, with the Forbidden City 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 is located in the inner city. Ring roads tend to resemble 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 outward. A final outer orbital, the Capital Area Loop Expressway (G95), was fully opened in 2018 and will extend into neighboring Tianjin and Hebei.

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.

 
Traffic jam in the Beijing CBD

Beijing's urban design layout further exacerbates transportation problems.[233] 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.[234] By the end of 2010, the government forecast 5 million. In 2010, new car registrations in Beijing averaged 15,500 per week.[235]

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.[236] 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.[237]

Air

Beijing Capital International Airport

Beijing has two of the world's largest airports. The Beijing Capital International Airport (IATA: PEK) located 32 kilometres (20 mi) northeast of the city center in Chaoyang District bordering Shunyi District, is the second busiest airport in the world after Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.[20] 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 and 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 and the Capital Airport Bus serves the Capital Airport.

Beijing Daxing International Airport

The Beijing Daxing International Airport (IATA: PKX) located 46 kilometres (29 mi) south of the city in Daxing District bordering the city of Langfang, Hebei Province, opened on 25 September 2019.[238][239][240] 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 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) 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

As of 1 January 2013, 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[241] 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.[242]

Public transit

 
Two Line 1 trains on the Beijing Subway, which is among the longest and busiest rapid transit systems in the world
 
An articulated Beijing bus

The Beijing Subway, which began operating in 1969, now has 25 lines, 459 stations, and 783 km (487 mi) of lines. It is the longest subway system in the world and first in annual ridership with 3.66 billion rides delivered in 2016. In 2013, with a flat fare of ¥2.00 (US$0.31) per ride with unlimited transfers on all lines except the Airport Express, the subway was also the most affordable rapid transit system in China. The subway is undergoing rapid expansion and is expected to reach 30 lines, 450 stations, 1,050 kilometres (650 mi) in length by 2022. When fully implemented, 95% of residents inside the Fourth Ring Road will be able to walk to a station in 15 minutes.[243][better source needed] 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.[244] Under the new system a trip under 6 km (3+1⁄2 mi) will cost ¥3.00(US$0.49), an additional ¥1.00 will be added for the next 6 km (3+1⁄2 mi) and the next 10 km (6 mi) until the distance for the trip reaches 32 km (20 mi).[244] For every 20 kilometres (12 miles) after the original 32 kilometres (20 miles) an additional ¥1.00 is added.[244] For example, a 50-kilometre (31-mile) trip would cost ¥ 8.00.

There are nearly 1,000 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 taxi in Beijing start at ¥13 for the first 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), ¥2.3 Renminbi per additional 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) 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 12 kilometres per hour (7.5 mph). Most taxis are Hyundai Elantras, Hyundai Sonatas, Peugeots, Citroëns and Volkswagen Jettas. After 15 kilometres (9.3 mi), 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 15 km (9 mi) 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

 
Bicyclists during rush hour at the Chang'an Avenue, 2009

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.[245] 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.[246] Cycling has seen a resurgence in popularity spurred by the emergence of a large number of dockless app based bikeshares such as Mobike, Bluegogo and Ofo since 2016.[247]

Defence and aerospace

 
KJ-2000 and J-10s started the flypast formation on the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

The command headquarters of China's military forces are based in Beijing. The Central Military Commission, the political organ in charge of the military, is housed inside the Ministry of National Defense, located next to the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in western Beijing. The Second Artillery Corps, which controls the country's strategic missile and nuclear weapons, has its command in 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, 38th and 65th Armies, which are based in Hebei.

Military institutions in Beijing also include academies and thinktanks such as the PLA National Defence University and Academy of Military Science, military hospitals such as the 301, 307 and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and army-affiliated cultural entities such as 1 August Film Studios and the PLA Song and Dance Troupe.

The China National Space Administration, which oversees country's space program, and several space-related state owned companies such as CASTC and CASIC are all based in Beijing. The Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center, in Haidian District tracks the country's crewed and uncrewed flight and other space exploration initiatives.

Nature and wildlife

Beijing Municipality has 20 nature reserves that have a total area of 1,339.7 km2 (517.3 sq mi).[248] 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.[249][250][251] 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.[252] The 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 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.[253]

Each year, Beijing hosts 200–300 species of migratory birds including the common crane, black-headed gull, swan, mallard, common cuckoo and the endangered yellow-breasted bunting.[254][255] 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.[256][257] 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.[255] 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.[255][258]

The city flowers are the Chinese rose and chrysanthemum.[259] The city trees are the Chinese arborvitae, an evergreen in the cypress family and the pagoda tree, also called the Chinese scholar tree, a deciduous tree of the family Fabaceae.[259] The oldest scholar tree in the city was planted in what is now Beihai Park during the Tang dynasty.[260]

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[261] and the Silk Road Fund, an investment fund of the Chinese government to foster increased investment and provide financial supports in countries along the One Belt, One Road.[262] Beijing is also home to the headquarters of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO),[263] making it an important city for international diplomacy.

Twin towns and sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in China

Beijing is twinned with the following regions, cities, and counties:[264]

Foreign embassies and consulates

See also: list of diplomatic missions in China

In 2019, China had the largest diplomatic network in the world.[265] China hosts a 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.[266][267]

Representative offices and delegations

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Loaned earlier via French "Pékin".

References

Citations

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  8. ^ "Subnational Human Development Index". Global Data Lab China. 2020. from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  9. ^ . Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020.
  10. ^ Wells, John (3 April 2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Pearson Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  11. ^ China Postal Album: Showing the Postal Establishments and Postal Routes in Each Province (1st ed.). Shanghai, China: Directorate General of Posts. 1907.
  12. ^ "Peking". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  13. ^ "Beijing info". english.beijing.gov.cn. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  14. ^ "CHINA: Provinces and Major Cities) - Population Statistics, Charts and Map".
  15. ^ Figures based on 2006 statistics published in 2007 National Statistical Yearbook of China and available online at 2006年中国乡村人口数 中国人口与发展研究中心 (). Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  16. ^ . Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. Archived from
February 07, 2023
beijing, other, uses, disambiguation, peking, redirect, here, magazine, other, uses, peking, disambiguation, jing, chinese, 北京, pinyin, běijīng, mandarin, pronunciation, tɕi, listen, alternatively, romanized, peking, king, capital, people, republic, china, cen. For other uses see Beijing disambiguation Peking and Beijinger redirect here For the magazine see The Beijinger For other uses see Peking disambiguation Beijing b eɪ ˈ dʒ ɪ ŋ bay JING 9 10 Chinese 北京 pinyin Beijing Mandarin pronunciation pe ɪ tɕi ŋ listen alternatively romanized as Peking 11 p iː ˈ k ɪ ŋ pee KING 12 is the capital of the People s Republic of China It is the center of power and development of the country 13 Beijing is the world s most populous national capital city with over 21 million residents and the second largest in the country after Shanghai 14 It is located in Northern China and is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban suburban and rural districts 15 Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin to the southeast together the three divisions form the Jingjinji megalopolis and the national capital region of China 16 Beijing 北京PekingMunicipality and capital cityMunicipality of BeijingBeijing central business districtTiananmenGreat Wall of BadalingBeijing National StadiumTemple of HeavenGreat Hall of the People left and National Centre for the Performing Arts right Location of Beijing Municipality within ChinaCoordinates Tian anmen Square national flag 39 54 24 N 116 23 51 E 39 90667 N 116 39750 E 39 90667 116 39750 Coordinates 39 54 24 N 116 23 51 E 39 90667 N 116 39750 E 39 90667 116 39750CountryChinaEstablished1045 BCFounded byZhou dynasty Western Zhou City seatTongzhouDivisions 1 County level Township level16 districts289 towns and villagesGovernment TypeMunicipality BodyBeijing Municipal People s Congress CPC SecretaryYin Li Congress ChairmanLi Xiuling MayorYin Yong CPPCC ChairmanWei Xiaodong National People s Congress Representation54 deputiesArea 2 Municipality16 410 5 km2 6 336 1 sq mi Land16 410 5 km2 6 336 1 sq mi Urban16 410 5 km2 6 336 1 sq mi Metro12 796 5 km2 4 940 8 sq mi Elevation43 5 m 142 7 ft Highest elevation Mount Ling 2 303 m 7 556 ft Population 2020 census 3 Municipality21 893 095 Density1 300 km2 3 500 sq mi Urban21 893 095 Urban density1 300 km2 3 500 sq mi Metro22 366 547 Metro density1 700 km2 4 500 sq mi Ranks in ChinaPopulation 27th Density 4thMajor ethnic groups Han95 Manchu2 Hui2 Mongol0 3 Other0 7 Time zoneUTC 08 00 CST Postal codes100000 102629Area code10ISO 3166 codeCN BJGDP 4 2022 Total 4 161 trillion 618 648 billion nominal 1 016 trillion PPP 5 Per capita 190 059 28 258 nominal 6 46 401 PPP 7 HDI 2019 0 904 8 1st very highLicense plate prefixes京A C E F H J K L M N P Q Y 京B taxis 京G outside urban area 京O D police and authorities AbbreviationBJ 京 jing ClimateDwaWebsitebeijing gov cn english beijing gov cnSymbolsFlowerChina rose Rosa chinensis Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum morifolium TreeChinese arborvitae Platycladus orientalis Pagoda tree Sophora japonica Beijing Beijing in regular Chinese charactersChinese北京Hanyu PinyinBeijingPostalPeking note 1 Peiping 1368 1403 1928 1937 1945 1949 Literal meaning Northern Capital TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinBeijingBopomofoㄅㄟˇ ㄐㄧㄥGwoyeu RomatzyhBeeijingWade GilesPei3 ching1IPA pe ɪ tɕi ŋ listen WuSuzhounesePoh cinHakkaRomanizationBet5 gin1Yue CantoneseYale RomanizationBakging or BakgingJyutpingBak1ging1IPA pɐ k ke ŋ or pɐ k ke ŋ Southern MinHokkien POJPak kiaⁿTai loPak kiannEastern MinFuzhou BUCBae k gĭngBeijing is a global city and one of the world s leading centres for culture diplomacy politics finance business and economics education research language tourism media sport science and technology and transportation As a megacity Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by urban population after Shanghai 17 It is home to the headquarters of most of China s largest state owned companies and houses the largest number of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world as well as the world s four biggest financial institutions by total assets 18 19 It is also a major hub for the national highway expressway railway and high speed rail networks The Beijing Capital International Airport has been the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic Asia s busiest since 2010 20 and as of 2016 update the city s subway network is the busiest and longest in the world The Beijing Daxing International Airport a second international airport in Beijing is the largest single structure airport terminal in the world 21 22 Combining both modern and traditional style architectures Beijing is one of the oldest cities in the world with a rich history dating back over three millennia As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China Beijing has been the political center of the country for most of the past eight centuries 23 and was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium CE 24 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 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 25 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 26 Beijing is home to many national monuments and museums and has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites the Forbidden City Temple of Heaven Summer Palace Ming Tombs Zhoukoudian and parts of the Great Wall and the Grand Canal all of which are popular tourist locations 27 Siheyuans the city s traditional housing style and hutongs 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 and the world 28 29 Beijing is home to the two best C9 League universities Tsinghua and Peking in Asia amp Oceania region and emerging countries 30 31 Beijing CBD is a center for Beijing s economic expansion with the ongoing or recently completed construction of multiple skyscrapers Beijing s Zhongguancun 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 since 2016 32 33 The city has hosted numerous international and national sporting events the most notable being the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Paralympics Games In 2022 Beijing became the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics 34 and also the Summer and Winter Paralympics 35 Beijing hosts 175 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many organizations including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank AIIB the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO the Silk Road Fund the Chinese Academy of Sciences the Chinese Academy of Engineering the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences the Central Academy of Fine Arts the Central Academy of Drama the Central Conservatory of Music and the Red Cross Society of China Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Early history 2 2 Early Imperial China 2 3 Ming dynasty 2 4 Qing dynasty 2 5 Republic of China 2 6 People s Republic of China 3 Geography 3 1 Cityscape 3 2 Architecture 3 3 Climate 3 4 Environmental issues 3 4 1 Air quality 3 5 Readings 3 5 1 Dust storms 4 Government 4 1 Administrative divisions 4 1 1 Towns 4 2 Judiciary and procuracy 5 Economy 5 1 Sector composition 5 2 Economic zones 6 Demographics 7 Education and research 8 Culture 8 1 Places of interest 8 2 Intangible cultural heritage 8 3 Religion 8 4 Chinese folk religion and Taoism 8 5 Buddhism 8 6 Islam 8 7 Christianity 8 7 1 Catholicism 8 7 2 Protestantism 8 7 3 Eastern Orthodox 8 8 Media 8 9 Television and radio 8 10 Press 8 11 Beijing rock 9 Beijing born celebrities 10 Sports 10 1 Events 10 2 Venues 10 3 Clubs 11 Transportation 11 1 Rail and high speed rail 11 2 Roads and expressways 11 3 Air 11 3 1 Beijing Capital International Airport 11 3 2 Beijing Daxing International Airport 11 3 3 Other airports 11 3 4 Visa requirements for air passengers 11 4 Public transit 11 5 Taxi 11 6 Bicycles 12 Defence and aerospace 13 Nature and wildlife 14 International relations 14 1 Twin towns and sister cities 14 2 Foreign embassies and consulates 14 3 Representative offices and delegations 15 See also 16 Notes 17 References 17 1 Citations 17 2 Sources 18 Further reading 19 External linksEtymology EditMain article Names of Beijing 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 北 for north and 京 for capital was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing the Southern Capital 36 The English spelling Beijing is based on the government s official romanization adopted in the 1980s of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin An older English spelling Peking was used by Jesuit missionary Martino Martini in a popular atlas published in Amsterdam in 1655 37 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 with the IATA Code PEK and Peking University still retain the former romanization The single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京 which appears on automobile license plates in the city The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing is BJ 38 History EditMain article History of Beijing Early history Edit The earliest traces of human habitation in the Peking municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District where Peking Man lived Homo erectus fossils from the caves date to 230 000 to 250 000 years ago Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived there more recently about 27 000 years ago 39 Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality including in Wangfujing located in central Peking The first walled city in Beijing was Jicheng the capital city of the state of Ji and was built in 1045 BC Within modern Beijing Jicheng was located around the present Guang anmen area in the south of Xicheng District 40 This settlement was later conquered by the state of Yan and made its capital 41 Early Imperial China Edit The Tianning Pagoda built around 1120 during the Liao dynasty After the First Emperor unified China in 221 BC Jicheng became a prefectural capital for the region 1 During the Three Kingdoms period it was held by Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao before falling to the Wei Kingdom of Cao Cao The AD third century Western Jin demoted the town placing the prefectural seat in neighboring Zhuozhou During the Sixteen Kingdoms period when northern China was conquered and divided by the Wu Hu Jicheng was briefly the capital of the Xianbei Former Yan Kingdom 42 After China was reunified by the Sui dynasty in 581 Jicheng also known as Zhuojun became the northern terminus of the Grand Canal Under the Tang dynasty Jicheng as Youzhou served as a military frontier command center During the An Shi Rebellion and again amidst the turmoil of the late Tang local military commanders founded their own short lived Yan dynasties and called the city Yanjing 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 ceded the frontier territory including what is now Beijing to the Khitan Liao dynasty which treated the city as Nanjing or the Southern Capital one of four secondary capitals to complement its Supreme Capital Shangjing modern Baarin Left Banner in Inner Mongolia Some of the oldest surviving pagodas in Beijing date to the Liao period including the Tianning Pagoda The Liao fell to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in 1122 which gave the city to the Song dynasty and then retook it in 1125 during its conquest of northern China In 1153 the Jurchen Jin made Beijing their Central Capital or Zhongdu 1 The city was besieged by Genghis Khan s invading Mongolian army in 1213 and razed to the ground two years later 43 Two generations later Kublai Khan ordered the construction of Dadu or Daidu to the Mongols commonly known as Khanbaliq a new capital for his Yuan dynasty to the northeast of the Zhongdu ruins The construction took from 1264 to 1293 1 43 44 but greatly enhanced the status of a city on the northern fringe of China proper The city was centered on the Drum Tower slightly to the north of modern Beijing and stretched from the present day Chang an Avenue to the northern part of Line 10 subway Remnants of the Yuan rammed earth wall still stand and are known as the Tucheng 45 Ming dynasty Edit One of the corner towers of the Forbidden City built by the Yongle Emperor during the early Ming dynastyIn 1368 soon after declaring the new Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty the rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang captured Dadu Khanbaliq and razed the Yuan palaces to the ground 46 Since the Yuan continued to occupy Shangdu and Mongolia Dadu was used to supply the Ming military garrisons in the area and renamed Beiping Wade Giles Peip ing Northern Peace 47 Under the Hongwu Emperor s feudal policies Beiping was given to his son Zhu Di who was created Prince of Yan Overlapping layout of Beijing during the Liao Jin Yuan and Ming dynasties The early death of Zhu Yuanzhang s heir led to a succession struggle upon his death one that ended with the victory of Zhu Di and the declaration of the new Yongle era Since his harsh treatment of the Ming capital Yingtian modern Nanjing alienated many there he established his fief as a new co capital The city of Beiping became Beijing Northern Capital or Shuntian 48 in 1403 36 The construction of the new imperial residence the Forbidden City took from 1406 to 1420 43 this period was also responsible for several other of the modern city s major attractions such as the Temple of Heaven 49 and Tian anmen On 28 October 1420 the city was officially designated the capital of the Ming dynasty in the same year that the Forbidden City was completed 50 Beijing became the empire s primary capital and Yingtian also called Nanjing Southern Capital became the co capital A 1425 order by Zhu Di s son the Hongxi Emperor 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 was built in its place 51 It is generally believed that Beijing was the largest city in the world for most of the 15th 16th 17th and 18th centuries 52 The first known church was constructed by Catholics in 1652 at the former site of Matteo Ricci s chapel the modern Nantang Cathedral was later built upon the same site 53 The capture of Beijing by Li Zicheng s peasant army in 1644 ended the dynasty but he and his Shun court abandoned the city without a fight when the Manchu army of Prince Dorgon arrived 40 days later Qing dynasty Edit Summer Palace is one of the several palatial gardens built by Qing emperors in the northwest suburb area Dorgon established the Qing dynasty as a direct successor of the Ming delegitimising Li Zicheng and his followers 54 and Beijing became China s sole capital 55 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 Northwest of the city Qing emperors built several large palatial gardens including the Old Summer Palace and the Summer Palace Chongwenmen a gate to the inner walled city c 1906 During the Second Opium War Anglo French forces captured the outskirts of the city looting and burning the Old Summer Palace in 1860 Under the Convention of Peking 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 attempt by the Boxers to eradicate this presence as well as Chinese Christian converts led to Beijing s reoccupation by eight foreign powers 56 During the fighting several important structures were destroyed including the Hanlin Academy and the new Summer Palace A peace agreement was concluded between the Eight Nation Alliance 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 57 With the treaty signed the Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Peking from her tour of inspection on 7 January 1902 and the rule of the Qing 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 58 The Dowager died in 1908 and the dynasty imploded in 1911 Republic of China Edit A large portrait of Chiang Kai shek was displayed above Tiananmen after WWII The fomenters of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 sought to replace Qing rule with a republic and leaders like Sun Yat sen originally intended to return the capital to Nanjing After the Qing general Yuan Shikai 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 Yuan maintained his capital at Beijing and quickly consolidated power declaring himself emperor in 1915 His death less than a year later 59 left China under the control of the warlords commanding the regional armies Following the success of the Kuomintang s Northern Expedition the capital was formally moved to Nanjing in 1928 On 28 June the same year Beijing s name was returned to Beiping written at the time as Peiping 17 60 On 7 July 1937 the 29th Army and the Japanese army in China exchanged fire at the Marco Polo Bridge near the Wanping Fortress southwest of the city The Marco Polo Bridge Incident triggered the Second Sino Japanese War World War II as it is known in China During the war 17 Beijing fell to Japan on 29 July 1937 61 and was made the seat of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China a puppet state that ruled the ethnic Chinese portions of Japanese occupied northern China 62 This government was later merged into the larger Wang Jingwei government based in Nanjing 63 People s Republic of China Edit Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People s Republic of China in 1949 In the final phases of the Chinese Civil War the People s Liberation Army seized control of the city peacefully on 31 January 1949 in the course of the Pingjin Campaign On 1 October that year Mao Zedong announced the creation of the People s Republic of China from atop Tian anmen He restored the name of the city as the new capital to Beijing 64 a decision that had been reached by the Chinese People s Political Consultative Conference 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 and residential neighborhoods in the north Many areas of the Beijing city wall were torn down in the 1960s to make way for the construction of the Beijing Subway and the 2nd Ring Road A scene from the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games During the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 the Red Guard 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 65 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 and the Cultural Revolution came to an end In December 1978 the Third Plenum of the 11th Party Congress in Beijing under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping 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 4th 5th and 6th Ring Roads 66 67 According to one 2005 newspaper report the size of newly developed Beijing was one and a half times larger than before 68 Wangfujing and Xidan have developed into flourishing shopping districts 69 while Zhongguancun has become a major center of electronics in China 70 In recent years the expansion of Beijing has also brought to the forefront some problems of urbanization such as heavy traffic poor air quality the loss of historic neighborhoods and a significant influx of migrant workers from less developed rural areas of the country 71 Beijing has also been the location of many significant events in recent Chinese history principally the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 72 The city has also hosted major international events including the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2015 World Championships in Athletics and the 2022 Winter Olympics making it the first city to ever host both Winter and Summer Olympics 73 Geography EditMain article Geography of Beijing Landsat 7 satellite image of Beijing Municipality with the surrounding mountains in dark brown Beijing is situated at the northern tip of the roughly triangular North China Plain 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 and Huairou District are dominated by the Jundu Mountains while the western part is framed by Xishan or the Western Hills The Great Wall of China 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 is the municipality s highest point with an altitude of 2 303 metres 7 556 ft Major rivers flowing through the municipality including the Chaobai Yongding Juma are all tributaries in the Hai River 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 which was built over 1 400 years ago as a transportation route and the South North Water Transfer Project constructed in the past decade to bring water from the Yangtze River basin The urban area of Beijing on the plains in the south central of the municipality with elevation of 40 to 60 metres 130 200 feet occupies a relatively small but expanding portion of the municipality s area The city spreads out in concentric ring roads The Second Ring Road traces the old city walls and the Sixth Ring Road connects satellite towns in the surrounding suburbs Tian anmen and Tian anmen Square are at the center of Beijing directly to the south of the Forbidden City the former residence of the emperors of China To the west of Tian anmen is Zhongnanhai the residence of China s current leaders Chang an Avenue which cuts between Tiananmen and the Square forms the city s main east west axis Cityscape Edit A panorama of the Forbidden City viewed from the Jingshan Park Architecture Edit See also List of tallest buildings in Beijing 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 Gate of Heavenly Peace which remains the People s Republic of China s trademark edifice the Forbidden City the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Temple of Heaven 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 74 Finally there are much more modern architectural forms most noticeably in the area of the Beijing CBD in east Beijing such as the new CCTV Headquarters in addition to buildings in other locations around the city such as the Beijing National Stadium and National Center for the Performing Arts 1940s Nationalist Beijing with predominantly traditional architecture Since 2007 buildings in Beijing have received the CTBUH Skyscraper Award for best overall tall building twice for the Linked Hybrid building in 2009 and the CCTV Headquarters 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 style of architecture can be seen at the 798 Art Zone which mixes the old with the new Beijing s tallest building is the 528 meter China Zun The sign of Doujiao Hutong one of the many traditional alleyways in the inner city Beijing is famous for its siheyuans a type of residence where a common courtyard is shared by the surrounding buildings Among the more grand examples are the Prince Gong Mansion and Residence of Soong Ching ling These courtyards are usually connected by alleys called hutongs 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 75 as entire city blocks of hutongs are replaced by high rise buildings 76 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 77 and these properties are often government owned 78 Climate Edit Beijing average annual temperatures from 1970 to 2019 during summer June July and August and winter December January and February Weather station data from ftp ncdc noaa gov pub data noaa For comparison the Global Surface Temperature Anomaly rose by approximately one degree over the same time period Beijing has a monsoon influenced humid continental climate Koppen Dwa bordering on a cold semi arid climate Koppen BSk characterized by hot humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon and brief but cold dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone 79 Spring can bear witness to sandstorms blowing in from the Gobi Desert across the Mongolian steppe 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 2 9 C 26 8 F while in July it is 26 9 C 80 4 F Precipitation averages around 570 mm 22 in 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 27 4 C 17 3 F on 22 February 1966 to 41 9 C 107 4 F on 24 July 1999 unofficial record of 42 6 C 108 7 F was set on 15 June 1942 80 81 Climate data for Beijing normals 1986 2015 extremes 1951 present Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 14 3 57 7 25 6 78 1 29 5 85 1 33 5 92 3 41 1 106 0 40 6 105 1 41 9 107 4 38 3 100 9 35 0 95 0 31 0 87 8 23 3 73 9 19 5 67 1 41 9 107 4 Average high C F 2 1 35 8 5 8 42 4 12 6 54 7 20 7 69 3 26 9 80 4 30 5 86 9 31 5 88 7 30 5 86 9 26 2 79 2 19 4 66 9 10 3 50 5 3 8 38 8 18 4 65 0 Daily mean C F 2 9 26 8 0 4 32 7 7 0 44 6 14 9 58 8 21 0 69 8 25 0 77 0 26 9 80 4 25 8 78 4 20 8 69 4 13 8 56 8 5 1 41 2 0 9 30 4 13 1 55 5 Average low C F 7 1 19 2 4 3 24 3 1 6 34 9 8 9 48 0 14 9 58 8 19 8 67 6 22 7 72 9 21 7 71 1 16 0 60 8 8 8 47 8 0 6 33 1 4 9 23 2 8 2 46 8 Record low C F 22 8 9 0 27 4 17 3 15 5 3 2 26 2 2 5 36 5 9 8 49 6 15 3 59 5 11 4 52 5 3 7 38 7 3 5 25 7 12 3 9 9 18 3 0 9 27 4 17 3 Average precipitation mm inches 2 7 0 11 5 0 0 20 10 2 0 40 23 1 0 91 39 0 1 54 76 7 3 02 168 8 6 65 120 2 4 73 57 4 2 26 24 1 0 95 13 1 0 52 2 4 0 09 542 7 21 38 Average precipitation days 0 1 mm 1 8 2 3 3 3 4 7 6 1 9 9 12 8 10 9 7 6 4 8 2 9 2 0 69 1Average relative humidity 44 43 41 43 49 59 70 72 65 58 54 47 54Mean monthly sunshine hours 186 2 188 1 227 5 242 8 267 6 225 6 194 5 208 2 207 5 205 2 174 5 172 3 2 500Percent possible sunshine 65 65 63 64 64 59 47 52 63 64 62 62 60Average ultraviolet index 2 3 4 6 8 9 9 8 6 4 2 1 5Source China Meteorological Administration 82 China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System 83 all time record high 81 May record high 84 and Weather Atlas 85 See or edit raw graph data Environmental issues Edit Beijing has a long history of environmental problems 86 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 of human society are not included For example surface albedo wind speed and humidity near the surface were decreased whereas ground and near surface air temperatures vertical air dilution and ozone levels were increased 87 Because of the combined factors of urbanization and pollution caused by burning of fossil fuel Beijing is often affected by serious environmental problems which lead to health issues of many inhabitants In 2013 heavy smog struck Beijing and most parts of northern China impacting a total of 600 million people After this pollution shock air pollution 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 88 Air quality Edit 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 can be traced to sources outside the city Shandong Province and Tianjin Municipality have a significant influence on Beijing s air quality 89 partly due to the prevailing south southeasterly flow during the summer and the mountains to the north and northwest Heavy air pollution has resulted in widespread smog These photographs taken in August 2005 show the variations in Beijing s air quality In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics and to fulfill promises to clean up the city s air nearly US 17 billion was spent 90 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 91 and cutting motor traffic by half by limiting drivers to odd or even days based on their license plate numbers 92 reducing bus and subway fares opening new subway lines and banning high emission vehicles 93 94 The city further assembled 3 800 natural gas powered buses one of the largest fleets in the world 90 Beijing became the first city in China to require the Chinese equivalent to the Euro 4 emission standard 95 Coal burning accounts for about 40 of the PM 2 5 in Beijing and is also the chief source of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide 96 Since 2012 the city has been converting coal fired power stations to burn natural gas 97 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 97 Much of the city s air pollutants are emitted by neighboring regions 96 Coal consumption in neighboring Tianjin is expected to increase from 48 to 63 million tons from 2011 to 2015 98 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 99 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 96 Shandong Shanxi Hebei and Inner Mongolia respectively rank from first to fourth among Chinese provinces by coal consumption 98 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 100 Another two were shut in March 2015 The last one Huaneng Thermal Power Plant would be shut in 2016 101 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 101 The government sometimes uses cloud seeding 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 102 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 and parade blue short periods during and immediately preceding the APEC China 2014 and the 2015 China Victory Day Parade respectively 103 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 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 104 On 8 and 9 December 2015 Beijing had its first smog alert which shut down a majority of the industry and other commercial businesses in the city 105 Later in the month another smog red alert was issued 106 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 107 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 108 Readings Edit 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 109 The American Embassy of Beijing also reports hourly fine particulate PM2 5 and ozone levels on Twitter 110 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 110 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 111 Exposure to large concentrations of polluted air can cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems emergency room visits and even death 112 Dust storms Edit Dust from the erosion of deserts in northern and northwestern China results in seasonal dust storms that plague the city the Beijing Weather Modification Office sometimes artificially induces rainfall to fight such storms and mitigate their effects 113 In the first four months of 2006 alone there were no fewer than eight such storms 114 In April 2002 one dust storm alone dumped nearly 50 000 tons of dust onto the city before moving on to Japan and Korea 115 Government EditMain article Politics of Beijing The municipal government is regulated by the local Chinese Communist Party CCP led by the Beijing CCP Secretary Chinese 中共北京市委书记 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 Chinese 市长 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 116 Administrative divisions Edit For a more comprehensive list see List of administrative divisions of Beijing and List of township level divisions of Beijing Beijing Municipality currently comprises 16 administrative county level subdivisions including 16 urban suburban and rural districts On 1 July 2010 Chongwen and Xuanwu were merged into Dongcheng and Xicheng respectively On 13 November 2015 Miyun and Yanqing were upgraded to districts Administrative divisions of Beijing Dongcheng Xicheng Chaoyang Fengtai Shijingshan Haidian Mentougou Fangshan Tongzhou Shunyi Changping Daxing Huairou Pinggu Miyun YanqingDivision code 117 Division Area in km2 118 Total population 2010 119 Urban areapopulation 2010 120 Seat Postal code Subdivisions 121 full citation needed Subdistricts Towns Townships n 1 Residential communities Villages110000 Beijing 16406 16 19 612 368 16 858 692 Dongcheng Tongzhou 100000 149 143 38 2538 3857110101 Dongcheng 41 82 919 253 Jingshan Subdistrict 100000 17 216 110102 Xicheng 50 33 1 243 315 Jinrong Street Subdistrict 100000 15 259 110105 Chaoyang 454 78 3 545 137 3 532 257 Chaowai Subdistrict 100000 24 19 358 5110106 Fengtai 305 53 2 112 162 2 098 632 Fengtai Subdistrict 100000 16 2 3 254 73110107 Shijingshan 84 38 616 083 Lugu Subdistrict 100000 9 130 110108 Haidian 430 77 3 280 670 3 208 563 Haidian Subdistrict 100000 22 7 603 84110109 Mentougou 1447 85 290 476 248 547 Dayu Subdistrict 102300 4 9 124 179110111 Fangshan 1994 73 944 832 635 282 Gongchen Subdistrict 102400 8 14 6 108 462110112 Tongzhou 905 79 1 184 256 724 228 Beiyuan Subdistrict 101100 6 10 1 40 480110113 Shunyi 1019 51 876 620 471 459 Shengli Subdistrict 101300 6 19 61 449110114 Changping 1342 47 1 660 501 1 310 617 Chengbei Subdistrict 102200 8 14 180 303110115 Daxing 1036 34 1 365 112 965 683 Xingfeng Subdistrict 102600 5 14 64 547110116 Huairou 2122 82 372 887 253 088 Longshan Subdistrict 101400 2 12 2 27 286110117 Pinggu 948 24 415 958 219 850 Binhe Subdistrict 101200 2 14 2 23 275110118 Miyun 2225 92 467 680 257 449 Gulou Subdistrict 101500 2 17 1 57 338110119 Yanqing 1994 89 317 426 154 386 Rulin Subdistrict 102100 3 11 4 34 376Divisions in ChineseEnglish Chinese PinyinBeijing Municipality 北京市 Beijing ShiDongcheng District 东城区 Dōngcheng QuXicheng District 西城区 Xicheng QuChaoyang District 朝阳区 Chaoyang QuFengtai District 丰台区 Fengtai QuShijingshan District 石景山区 Shijǐngshan QuHaidian District 海淀区 Hǎidian QuMentougou District 门头沟区 Mentougōu QuFangshan District 房山区 Fangshan QuTongzhou District 通州区 Tōngzhōu QuShunyi District 顺义区 Shunyi QuChangping District 昌平区 Changping QuDaxing District 大兴区 Daxing QuHuairou District 怀柔区 Huairou QuPinggu District 平谷区 Pinggǔ QuMiyun District 密云区 Miyun QuYanqing District 延庆区 Yanqing Qu Including Ethnic townships amp other township related subdivisions Houhai Lake and Drum Tower at Shichahai in the Xicheng District Towns Edit Main article List of township level divisions of Beijing Beijing s 16 county level divisions districts are further subdivided into 273 lower third level administrative units at the township level 119 towns 24 townships 5 ethnic townships and 125 subdistricts Towns within Beijing Municipality but outside the urban area include but are not limited to Changping 昌平 Huairou 怀柔 Miyun 密云 Liangxiang 良乡 Liulimiao 琉璃庙 Tongzhou 通州 Yizhuang 亦庄 Tiantongyuan 天通苑 Beiyuan 北苑 Xiaotangshan 小汤山 Several place names in Beijing end with men 门 meaning gate as they were the locations of gates in the former Beijing city wall Other place names end in cun 村 meaning village as they were originally villages outside the city wall Judiciary and procuracy Edit The judicial system in Beijing consists of the Supreme People s Court the highest court in the country the Beijing Municipal High People s Court the high people s court of the municipality three intermediate people s courts one intermediate railway transport court 14 basic people s court 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 122 The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People s Court in Fengtai oversees the basic courts of Dongcheng Xicheng Fengtai Fangshan and Daxing 122 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 122 It oversees the district courts of Chaoyang Tongzhou Shunyi Huairou Pinggu and Miyun 122 123 Each court in Beijing has a corresponding people s procuratorate Economy EditMain article Economy of Beijing Xidan is one of the oldest and busiest shopping areas in Beijing Beijing products treemap 2020 As of 2018 update Beijing s nominal GDP was US 458 billion CN 3 0 trillion about 3 45 of the country s GDP and ranked 12th among province level administrative units its nominal GDP per capita was US 21 261 CN 140 748 and ranked the 1st in the country 124 As of 2021 Beijing s gross regional products was CN 4 trillion 965 billion in GDP PPP 125 ranking among the tenth largest metropolitan economies in the world 126 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 Guangzhou and Shenzhen in China according to a study by Oxford Economics 127 and its nominal GDP per capita will reach US 45 000 in 2030 128 Due to the concentration of state owned enterprises in the national capital Beijing in 2013 had more Fortune Global 500 Company headquarters than any other city in the world 129 As of August 2022 Beijing has 54 Fortune Global 500 companies more than Japan 47 the third place country after China 145 and the United States 124 130 131 Beijing has also been described as the billionaire capital of the world 132 133 In 2020 Beijing is the fifth wealthiest city in the world with a total wealth amounts to 2 trillion 134 Beijing is classified as an Alpha global first tier city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network indicating its influence in the region and worldwide and making it one of the world s Top 10 major cities 135 In the 2021 Global Financial Centres Index Beijing was ranked as having the sixth most competitive financial center in the world and fourth most competitive in the whole Asia amp Oceania region behind Shanghai Hong Kong and Singapore 136 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 CASS and the United Nations Programme for Human Settlements UN Habitat 137 Historical GDP of Beijing for 1978 present SNA2008 124 purchasing power parity of Chinese Yuan as international dollar based on IMF WEO October 2017 138 Year CNY millions USD millions PPP Int l millions Real growth CNYper capita USDper capita PPP Int l per capita Reference index USD 1to CNY Reference index Int l 1to CNY2016 2 566 910 386 449 733 214 6 8 118 198 17 795 33 762 6 6423 3 50092015 2 368 570 380 285 667 297 6 9 109 602 17 597 30 878 6 2284 3 54952014 2 194 410 357 233 618 074 7 4 102 870 16 746 28 974 6 1428 3 55042013 2 033 010 328 265 568 372 7 7 97 178 15 691 27 168 6 1932 3 57692012 1 835 010 290 695 516 788 8 0 89 778 14 222 25 284 6 3125 3 55082011 1 662 790 257 446 474 337 8 1 83 547 12 935 23 833 6 4588 3 50552010 1 444 160 213 333 436 223 10 4 75 572 11 164 22 827 6 7695 3 31062009 1 241 900 181 804 393 317 10 0 68 405 10 014 21 664 6 8310 3 15752008 1 139 200 164 029 358 600 9 0 66 098 9 517 20 807 6 9451 3 17682007 1 007 190 132 455 334 071 14 4 61 470 8 084 20 389 7 6040 3 01492006 831 260 104 275 288 863 12 8 52 963 6 644 18 405 7 9718 2 87772005 714 140 87 178 249 787 12 3 47 127 5 753 16 484 8 1917 2 85902000 321 280 38 809 118 148 12 0 24 517 2 962 9 016 8 2784 2 71931995 150 770 18 054 55 239 12 0 12 690 1 520 4 649 8 3510 2 72941990 50 080 10 470 29 414 5 2 4 635 969 2 722 4 7832 1 70261985 25 710 8 755 18 342 8 7 2 643 900 1 886 2 9366 1 40171980 13 910 9 283 9 301 11 8 1 544 1 030 1 032 1 4984 1 49551978 10 880 6 462 10 5 1 257 747 1 6836 Per capita GDP is based on mid year population Sector composition Edit The Taikoo Li Sanlitun shopping arcade is a destination for locals and visitors The city has a post industrial economy that is dominated by the tertiary sector services which generated 76 9 of output followed by the secondary sector manufacturing construction at 22 2 and the primary sector 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 139 The single largest sub sector remains industry whose share of overall output has shrunk to 18 1 in 2013 139 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 140 The relocation of Capital Steel to neighboring Hebei province had begun in 2005 141 142 In 2013 output of automobiles aerospace products semiconductors pharmaceuticals and food processing all increased 139 In the farmland around Beijing vegetables and fruits have displaced grain as the primary crops under cultivation 139 In 2013 the tonnage of vegetable edible fungus and fruit harvested was over three times that of grain 139 In 2013 overall acreage under cultivation shrank along with most categories of produce as more land was reforested for environmental reasons 139 Economic zones Edit For a more comprehensive list see List of economic and technological development zones in Beijing The skyline of Beijing CBD Zhongguancun is a technology hub in Haidian District 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 143 144 The six zones are Zhongguancun 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 145 Zhongguancun is also the center of Beijing Tianjin Shijiazhuang Hi Tech Industrial Belt Beijing Financial Street 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 bank regulator securities regulator and foreign exchange authority are located in the neighborhood Beijing Central Business District CBD is actually located to the east of downtown near the embassies along the eastern Third Ring Road between Jianguomenwai and Chaoyangmenwai The CBD is home to most of the city s skyscraper office buildings Most of the city s foreign companies and professional service firms are based in the CBD Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area 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 146 Beijing Airport Economic Zone was created in 1993 and surrounds the Beijing Capital International Airport 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 due north of downtown and is developing into an entertainment sports tourism and business convention center Shijingshan on the western outskirts of the city is a traditional heavy industrial base for steel making 147 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 148 Demographics EditMain article Demographics of Beijing Historical populationYearPop p a 19532 768 149 19647 568 495 9 57 19829 230 687 1 11 199010 819 407 2 00 200013 569 194 2 29 201019 612 368 3 75 201321 150 000 2 55 2014 149 21 516 000 1 73 Population size may be affected by changes on administrative divisions 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 139 The encompassing metropolitan area was estimated by the OECD Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development to have as of 2010 update a population of 24 9 million 150 151 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 139 The remaining 8 million residents had hukou permits elsewhere and were not eligible to receive some social benefits provided by the Beijing municipal government 139 The population increased in 2013 by 455 000 or about 7 from the previous year and continued a decade long trend of rapid growth 139 The total population in 2004 was 14 213 million 152 The population gains are driven largely by migration The population s rate of natural increase in 2013 was a mere 0 441 based on a birth rate of 8 93 and a mortality rate of 4 52 139 The gender balance was 51 6 males and 48 4 females 139 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 2 139 152 From 2000 to 2010 the percentage of city residents with at least some college education nearly doubled from 16 8 to 31 5 153 About 22 2 have some high school education and 31 had reached middle school 153 According to the 2010 census nearly 96 of Beijing s population are ethnic Han Chinese 153 Of the 800 000 ethnic minority population living in the capital Manchu 336 000 Hui 249 000 Korean 77 000 Mongol 37 000 and Tujia 24 000 constitute the five largest groups 154 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 153 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 155 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 156 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 156 The population is being redistributed to Jing Jin Ji and Xiong an New Area the transfer to the latter expected to include 300 000 500 000 people working in government research universities and corporate headquarters 157 158 Education and research EditMain articles Education in Beijing Education in China and Higher education in China See also List of universities and colleges in Beijing List of universities in China and Double First Class University PlanBeijing 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 since 2016 32 159 33 The city is also leading the world with the highest share of articles published in the fields of physical sciences chemistry and earth and environmental sciences especially in the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs related output 160 161 162 163 Beijing has over 90 public colleges and universities which is the largest urban public university system in Asia and the first city in China with most higher education institutions 164 165 and it is home to the two best universities Tsinghua and Peking 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 166 167 31 Both are members of the C9 League an alliance of elite Chinese universities offering comprehensive and leading education 168 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 169 A number of Beijing s most prestigious universities consistently rank among the best in the Asia Pacific and the world including Peking University Tsinghua University Renmin University of China Beijing Normal University University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beihang University Beijing Institute of Technology China Agricultural University Minzu University of China University of Science and Technology Beijing Beijing University of Chemical Technology University of International Business and Economics University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Central University of Finance and Economics 28 29 170 171 These universities were selected as 985 universities or 211 universities by the Chinese government in order to build world class universities 172 173 Some of the national key universities in Beijing are Beijing Forestry University Beijing Jiaotong University Beijing University of Technology Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute Beijing Foreign Studies University Beijing Language and Culture University Beijing Sport University Central Conservatory of Music Central Academy of Fine Arts Central Academy of Drama China University of Geosciences Beijing China University of Petroleum Beijing China University of Mining and Technology Beijing China University of Political Science and Law China Foreign Affairs University Chinese People s Public Security University China Women s University China Youth University for Political Sciences China Institute of Industrial Relations Communication University of China North China Electric Power University Peking Union Medical College University of International RelationsBeijing is also home to several religious institutions Some of them are listed as follows China Islamic Institute zh 中国伊斯兰教经学院 Beijing Islamic Institute zh 北京伊斯兰教经学院 The Buddhist Academy of China zh 中国佛学院 High level Tibetan Buddhism College of China zh 中国藏语系高级佛学院 National Seminary of Catholic Church in China 中国天主教神哲学院 The city is a seat of the Chinese Academy of Sciences which has been consistently ranked the No 1 research institute in the world by Nature Index since the list s inception in 2014 by Nature Research 174 175 176 Beijing is also a site of Chinese Academy of Engineering Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and National Natural Science Foundation of China The city s compulsory education system is among the best in the world in 2018 15 year old students from Beijing together with Shanghai Zhejiang and Jiangsu outperformed all of the other 78 participating countries in all categories math reading and science in the Program for International Student Assessment a worldwide study of academic performance conducted by the OECD 177 Culture Edit The Beijing Ancient Observatory People native to urban Beijing speak the Beijing dialect which belongs to the Mandarin subdivision of spoken Chinese This speech is the basis for putonghua the standard spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan and one of the four official languages of Singapore Rural areas of Beijing Municipality have their own dialects akin to those of Hebei province which surrounds Beijing Municipality Beijing or Peking opera is a traditional form of Chinese theater well known throughout the nation Commonly lauded as one of the highest achievements of Chinese culture 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 178 Beijing cuisine is the local style of cooking Peking duck 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 a fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine Teahouses are also common in Beijing The cloisonne 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 Cloisonne making requires elaborate and complicated processes which include base hammering copper strip inlay soldering enamel filling enamel firing surface polishing and gilding 179 Beijing s lacquerware 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 180 Today Houhai Sanlitun and Wudaokou are Beijing s nightlife hotspots In 2012 Beijing was named as City of Design and became part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network 181 Places of interest Edit See also Major National Historical and Cultural Sites Beijing and List of Beijing landmarks the city remains an epicenter of tradition with the treasures of nearly 2 000 years as the imperial capital still on view in the famed Forbidden City and in the city s lush pavilions and gardens National Geographic 182 Qianmen Avenue a traditional commercial street outside Qianmen Gate along the southern Central Axis At the historical heart of Beijing lies the Forbidden City the enormous palace compound that was the home of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties 183 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 Zhongnanhai Jingshan and Zhongshan These places particularly Beihai Park are described as masterpieces of Chinese gardening art 184 and are tourist destinations of historical importance 185 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 the Great Hall of the People the National Museum of China the Monument to the People s Heroes and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong The Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace both lie at the western part of the city the former a UNESCO World Heritage Site 186 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 Tiantan located in southeastern Beijing also a UNESCO World Heritage Site 187 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 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 Tanzhe Temple Miaoying Temple White Cloud Temple Yonghe Temple Fayuan Temple Wanshou Temple and Big Bell Temple The city also has its own Confucius Temple and a Guozijian or Imperial Academy The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception built in 1605 is the oldest Catholic church in Beijing The Niujie Mosque is the oldest mosque in Beijing with a history stretching back over a thousand years Inside the Forbidden City 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 17th century Baliqiao bridge and the 18th century Jade Belt Bridge The Beijing Ancient Observatory 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 exhibits over 6 000 species of plants including a variety of trees bushes and flowers and an extensive peony garden The Taoranting Longtan Chaoyang Haidian Milu Yuan and Zizhu Yuan parks are some of the notable recreational parks in the city The Beijing Zoo is a center of zoological research that also contains rare animals from various continents including the Chinese giant panda There are 144 museums and galleries as of June 2008 update in the city 188 189 190 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 Capital Museum the Beijing Art Museum the Military Museum of the Chinese People s Revolution the Geological Museum of China the Beijing Museum of Natural History and the Paleozoological Museum of China 190 Located at the outskirts of urban Beijing but within its municipality are the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming dynasty 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 191 The archaeological Peking Man site at Zhoukoudian is another World Heritage Site within the municipality 192 containing a wealth of discoveries among them one of the first specimens of Homo erectus and an assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris There are several sections of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Great Wall of China 193 most notably Badaling Jinshanling Simatai and Mutianyu According to the World Travel amp Tourism Council WTTC Beijing is the second highest earning tourist city in the world after Shanghai 194 Intangible cultural heritage Edit Beijing Acrobatic Performance 10553642935 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 195 196 197 198 199 200 Folk music Zhihua Temple music Tongzhou shanty Folk dance Tongzhou Dragon dance Miliangtun Stilts Traditional opera Kunqu Peking opera Melodious art Xiangsheng Acrobatic Performance and game Weiqi Go Xiangqi Folk art Ivory carving Traditional handicraft Peking duck manufacturing techniques Cloisonne manufacturing techniques Traditional medicine Tong Ren Tang culture Folk literature Yongding River legend Folklore Miaohui Lantern Festival Religion Edit A Temple of the Goddess in Gubeikou Fire God Temple in Di anmen The religious heritage of Beijing is rich and diverse as Chinese folk religion Taoism Buddhism Confucianism Islam and Christianity all have significant historical presence in the city As the national capital the city also hosts the State Administration for Religious Affairs and various state sponsored institutions of the leading religions 201 In recent decades foreign residents have brought other religions to the city 201 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 202 According to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2009 Christians constitute 0 78 of the city s population 203 According to a 2010 survey Muslims constitute 1 76 of the population of Beijing 204 Chinese folk religion and Taoism Edit 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 祭天 jitian at the Temple of Heaven have been resumed by Confucian groups in the 2010s There are temples dedicated to the worship of the Goddess 娘娘 Niangniang in the city one of them near the Olympic Village 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 药王 Yaowang to Divus Guan Guan Yu to the Fire God 火神 Huǒshen to the Wealth God temples of the City God and at least one temple consecrated to the Yellow Deity of the Chariot Shaft 轩辕黄帝 Xuanyuan Huangdi 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 205 206 The national Chinese Taoist Association and Chinese Taoist College have their headquarters at the White Cloud Temple of Quanzhen Taoism which was founded in 741 and rebuilt numerous times The Beijing Dongyue Temple outside Chaoyangmen is the largest temple of Zhengyi Taoism in the city The local Beijing Taoist Association has its headquarters at the Luzu Temple near Fuxingmen 207 Buddhism Edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed October 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message The tomb pagodas at Tanzhe Temple Yonghe Temple of Tibetan Buddhism 11 of the population of Beijing practices East Asian Buddhism citation needed The Buddhist Association of China the state s supervisory organ overseeing all Buddhist institutions in mainland China is headquartered in the Guangji Temple a temple founded over 800 years ago during the Jin dynasty 1115 1234 in what is now Fuchengmennei 阜成门内 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 near Caishikou The Fayuan Temple which dates to the Tang dynasty 1300 years ago is the oldest temple in urban Beijing The Tongjiao Temple inside Dongzhimen is the city s only Buddhist nunnery The Xihuang Temple originally dates to the Liao dynasty In 1651 the temple was commissioned by the Qing Emperor Shunzhi to host the visit of the Fifth Dalai Lama to Beijing Since then this temple has hosted the 13th Dalai Lama as well as the Sixth Ninth and Tenth Panchen Lamas The largest Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Beijing is the Yonghe Temple which was decreed by the Qing Emperor Qianlong in 1744 to serve as the residence and research facility for his Buddhist preceptor of Rolpe Dorje the third Changkya or living Buddha of Inner Mongolia The Yonghe Temple is so named because it was the childhood residence of the Yongzheng Emperor 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 in the Western Hills also dates to the Tang dynasty The temple s Zhaoxian Pagoda 招仙塔 was first built in 1071 during the Liao dynasty to hold a tooth relic of the Buddha The pagoda was destroyed during the Boxer Rebellion 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 In addition other notable temples in Beijing include the Tanzhe Temple founded in the Jin dynasty 266 420 is the oldest in the municipality the Tianning Temple oldest pagoda in the city the Miaoying Temple famed for Yuan era white pagoda the Wanshou Temple home to the Beijing Art Museum and the Big Bell Temple Dazhong Temple Islam Edit Niujie Mosque Beijing has about 70 mosques recognized by the Islamic Association of China whose headquarters are located next to the Niujie Mosque the oldest mosque in the city 208 209 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 and made Eid prayers at the mosque on 2021 210 211 The largest mosque 212 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 213 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 Edit Church of the Saviour also known as the Xishiku Church built in 1703 Catholicism Edit In 1289 John of Montecorvino came to Beijing as a Franciscan missionary with the order from the Pope After meeting and receiving the support of Kublai Khan in 1293 he built the first Catholic church in Beijing in 1305 The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association CPCA based in Houhai 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 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 Edit 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 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 Eastern Orthodox Edit There was a significant amount of Orthodox Christians in Beijing Orthodoxy came to Beijing with Russian prisoners from the Sino Russian border conflicts of the 17th century 214 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 Edit Television and radio Edit The China Central Television Headquarters building in CBD Beijing Television broadcasts on channels 1 through 10 and China Central Television 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 on FM 91 5 and the newly launched Radio 774 on AM 774 Beijing Radio Stations is the family of radio stations serving the city Press Edit The well known Beijing Evening News covering news about Beijing in Chinese is distributed every afternoon Other newspapers include Beijing Daily The Beijing News the Beijing Star Daily the Beijing Morning News and the Beijing Youth Daily as well as English language weeklies Beijing Weekend and Beijing Today The People s Daily Global Times and the China Daily 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 Beijing This Month Beijing Talk That s Beijing and The Beijinger Beijing rock Edit 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 Dou Wei He Yong Pu Shu Tang Dynasty Black Panther The Flowers 43 Baojia Street etc 215 Beijing born celebrities EditMei Lanfang 22 October 1894 8 August 1961 is a Beijing opera singer 216 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 217 In November 2007 a theater namely Mei Lanfang Grand Theater opened in Xicheng District Beijing to memorize him 218 Yuan Longping 7 September 1930 22 May 2021 is a Chinese agronomist 219 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 220 Cui Jian August 1960 present is a Chinese rock singer Various media praised him as the father of China s rock music 221 222 223 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 52 223 Yang Jiang 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 224 Shu Qingchun 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 225 He has been living in Britain Singapore and United States During the Chinese Culture Revolution he committed suicide by drowning in Taiping Lake 226 Sports EditEvents Edit Fireworks above Olympic venues during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics Tai chi Taijiquan practitioners at the Fragrant Hills Park Beijing Workers Stadium at night as viewed from Sanlitun Beijing has hosted numerous international and national sporting events the most notable was the 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games Other multi sport international events held in Beijing include the 2001 Universiade and the 1990 Asian Games Single sport international competitions include the Beijing Marathon annually since 1981 China Open of Tennis 1993 97 annually since 2004 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Cup of China 2003 2004 2005 2008 2009 and 2010 WPBSA China Open for Snooker annually since 2005 Union Cycliste Internationale Tour of Beijing since 2011 1961 World Table Tennis Championships 1987 IBF Badminton World Championships the 2004 AFC Asian Cup football and 2009 Barclays Asia Trophy football Beijing hosted the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Athletics Beijing s LeSports Center is one of the main venues for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup 227 The city hosted the second Chinese National Games in 1914 and the first four National Games of China in 1959 1965 1975 1979 respectively and co hosted the 1993 National Games with Sichuan and Qingdao Beijing also hosted the inaugural National Peasants Games in 1988 and the sixth National Minority Games in 1999 In November 2013 Beijing made a bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics 34 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 becoming the first ever to host both Summer and Winter Paralympics 35 Venues Edit Major sporting venues in the city include the National Stadium also known as the Birds Nest 228 229 National Aquatics Center also known as the Water Cube National Indoor Stadium all in the Olympic Green to the north of downtown the MasterCard Center at Wukesong west of downtown the Workers Stadium 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 Edit Professional sports teams based in Beijing include China Baseball League Beijing Tigers Chinese Basketball Association Beijing Ducks Beijing Royal Fighters Women s Chinese Basketball Association Beijing Shougang Kontinental Hockey League HC Kunlun Red Star Chinese Super League Beijing Guoan China League One Beijing BSU China League Two Beijing BIT Chinese Women s National League Beijing BG Phoenix The Beijing Olympians of the American Basketball Association formerly a Chinese Basketball Association team kept their name and maintained a roster of primarily Chinese players after moving to Maywood California in 2005 China Bandy Federation is based in Beijing one of several cities in which the potential for bandy development is explored 230 Transportation EditMain article Transport in Beijing Beijing railway station one of several rail stations in the city Beijing is an important transport hub in North China with six ring roads 1167 km 725 miles of expressways 231 15 National Highways nine conventional railways and six high speed railways converging on the city Rail and high speed rail Edit Beijing serves as a large rail hub in China s railway network Ten conventional rail lines radiate from the city to Shanghai Jinghu Line Guangzhou Jingguang Line Kowloon Jingjiu Line Harbin Jingha Line including Qinhuangdao Jingqin Line Baotou Jingbao Line Chengde Jingcheng Line Tongliao Inner Mongolia Jingtong Line Yuanping Shanxi Jingyuan Line and Shacheng Hebei Fengsha Line In addition the Datong Qinhuangdao railway passes through the municipality to the north of the city Beijing also has six high speed rail 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 232 From Beijing direct passenger train service is available to most large cities in China International train service is available to Mongolia Russia Vietnam and North Korea Passenger trains in China are numbered according to their direction in relation to Beijing Roads and expressways Edit Further information Expressways of Beijing and China National Highways of Beijing Badaling Expressway overpass near the Great Wall Beijing traffic in the city in 1987 Typical Beijing traffic signage found at intersections 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 that concentrically surround the city with the Forbidden City 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 is located in the inner city Ring roads tend to resemble 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 outward A final outer orbital the Capital Area Loop Expressway G95 was fully opened in 2018 and will extend into neighboring Tianjin and Hebei 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 Traffic jam in the Beijing CBD Beijing s urban design layout further exacerbates transportation problems 233 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 234 By the end of 2010 the government forecast 5 million In 2010 new car registrations in Beijing averaged 15 500 per week 235 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 236 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 237 Air Edit Beijing Capital International Airport Edit Terminal 3 of the Beijing Capital International Airport Beijing has two of the world s largest airports The Beijing Capital International Airport IATA PEK located 32 kilometres 20 mi northeast of the city center in Chaoyang District bordering Shunyi District is the second busiest airport in the world after Atlanta s Hartsfield Jackson International Airport 20 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 and 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 and the Capital Airport Bus serves the Capital Airport Beijing Daxing International Airport Edit Beijing Daxing International Airport The Beijing Daxing International Airport IATA PKX located 46 kilometres 29 mi south of the city in Daxing District bordering the city of Langfang Hebei Province opened on 25 September 2019 238 239 240 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 Edit With the opening of the Daxing Airport in September 2019 the Beijing Nanyuan Airport IATA NAY located 13 kilometres 8 1 mi 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 Edit As of 1 January 2013 update 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 241 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 242 Public transit Edit Two Line 1 trains on the Beijing Subway which is among the longest and busiest rapid transit systems in the world An articulated Beijing bus The Beijing Subway which began operating in 1969 now has 25 lines 459 stations and 783 km 487 mi of lines It is the longest subway system in the world and first in annual ridership with 3 66 billion rides delivered in 2016 In 2013 with a flat fare of 2 00 US 0 31 per ride with unlimited transfers on all lines except the Airport Express the subway was also the most affordable rapid transit system in China The subway is undergoing rapid expansion and is expected to reach 30 lines 450 stations 1 050 kilometres 650 mi in length by 2022 When fully implemented 95 of residents inside the Fourth Ring Road will be able to walk to a station in 15 minutes 243 better source needed 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 244 Under the new system a trip under 6 km 3 1 2 mi will cost 3 00 US 0 49 an additional 1 00 will be added for the next 6 km 3 1 2 mi and the next 10 km 6 mi until the distance for the trip reaches 32 km 20 mi 244 For every 20 kilometres 12 miles after the original 32 kilometres 20 miles an additional 1 00 is added 244 For example a 50 kilometre 31 mile trip would cost 8 00 There are nearly 1 000 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 Edit Metered taxi in Beijing start at 13 for the first 3 kilometres 1 9 mi 2 3 Renminbi per additional 1 kilometre 0 62 mi 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 12 kilometres per hour 7 5 mph Most taxis are Hyundai Elantras Hyundai Sonatas Peugeots Citroens and Volkswagen Jettas After 15 kilometres 9 3 mi 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 15 km 9 mi 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 Edit Bicyclists during rush hour at the Chang an Avenue 2009 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 245 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 246 Cycling has seen a resurgence in popularity spurred by the emergence of a large number of dockless app based bikeshares such as Mobike Bluegogo and Ofo since 2016 247 Defence and aerospace Edit KJ 2000 and J 10s started the flypast formation on the 70th anniversary of the People s Republic of China The command headquarters of China s military forces are based in Beijing The Central Military Commission the political organ in charge of the military is housed inside the Ministry of National Defense located next to the Military Museum of the Chinese People s Revolution in western Beijing The Second Artillery Corps which controls the country s strategic missile and nuclear weapons has its command in 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 38th and 65th Armies which are based in Hebei Military institutions in Beijing also include academies and thinktanks such as the PLA National Defence University and Academy of Military Science military hospitals such as the 301 307 and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and army affiliated cultural entities such as 1 August Film Studios and the PLA Song and Dance Troupe The China National Space Administration which oversees country s space program and several space related state owned companies such as CASTC and CASIC are all based in Beijing The Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center in Haidian District tracks the country s crewed and uncrewed flight and other space exploration initiatives Nature and wildlife EditBeijing Municipality has 20 nature reserves that have a total area of 1 339 7 km2 517 3 sq mi 248 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 249 250 251 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 252 The Beijing Milu Park south of the city is home to one of the largest herds of Pere David s deer now extinct in the wild The Beijing barbastelle a species of vesper bat discovered in caves of Fangshan District 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 253 Each year Beijing hosts 200 300 species of migratory birds including the common crane black headed gull swan mallard common cuckoo and the endangered yellow breasted bunting 254 255 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 256 257 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 255 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 255 258 The city flowers are the Chinese rose and chrysanthemum 259 The city trees are the Chinese arborvitae an evergreen in the cypress family and the pagoda tree also called the Chinese scholar tree a deciduous tree of the family Fabaceae 259 The oldest scholar tree in the city was planted in what is now Beihai Park during the Tang dynasty 260 International relations EditThe capital is the home of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank a multilateral development bank that aims to improve economic and social outcomes in Asia 261 and the Silk Road Fund an investment fund of the Chinese government to foster increased investment and provide financial supports in countries along the One Belt One Road 262 Beijing is also home to the headquarters of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO 263 making it an important city for international diplomacy Twin towns and sister cities Edit See also List of twin towns and sister cities in ChinaBeijing is twinned with the following regions cities and counties 264 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 Ile 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 Jose 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 Edit See also list of diplomatic missions in ChinaIn 2019 China had the largest diplomatic network in the world 265 China hosts a 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 266 267 Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Benin Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile Colombia Comoros Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guinea Guinea Bissau Guyana Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Mongolia Monaco consulate Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Samoa Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Representative offices and delegations Edit Haiti Representative Office Faroe Islands Representative Office European Union Delegation of the European Union to China See also Edit China portalBeijing 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 BeijingNotes Edit Loaned earlier via French Pekin References EditCitations Edit a b c d Township divisions ebeijing gov cn Archived from the original on 3 September 2009 Retrieved 22 July 2009 Doing Business in China Survey Ministry of Commerce of the People s Republic of China Archived from the original on 26 May 2014 Retrieved 5 August 2013 Communique of the Seventh National Population Census No 3 National Bureau of Statistics of China 11 May 2021 Archived from the original on 11 May 2021 Retrieved 11 May 2021 GDP 2022 is a preliminary data Home Regional Quarterly by Province Press release China NBS Retrieved 22 January 2023 World Economic Outlook WEO database International Monetary Fund CN 6 3527 per dollar according to International Monetary Fund on January 2022 publication IMF Retrieved 20 January 2022 CN 4 096 per Int l dollar according to International Monetary Fund in October 2022 publication IMF Subnational Human Development Index Global Data Lab China 2020 Archived from the original on 23 September 2018 Retrieved 9 April 2020 Beijing Lexico UK English Dictionary Oxford University Press Archived from the original on 25 October 2020 Wells John 3 April 2008 Longman Pronunciation Dictionary 3rd ed Pearson Longman ISBN 978 1 4058 8118 0 China Postal Album Showing the Postal Establishments and Postal Routes in Each Province 1st ed Shanghai China Directorate General of Posts 1907 Peking Oxford English Dictionary Online ed Oxford University Press Subscription or participating institution membership required Beijing info english beijing gov cn Retrieved 22 September 2022 CHINA Provinces and Major Cities Population Statistics Charts and Map Figures based on 2006 statistics published in 2007 National Statistical Yearbook of China and available online at 2006年中国乡村人口数 中国人口与发展研究中心 archive Retrieved 21 April 2009 Basic Information Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics Archived from a, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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