Beijing,Beijing guide,Beijing tour guide,Beijing travel Service,Beijing tour service

Beijing Brief Introduction

Chapter I Beijing--Past,Present and Future
1.1 Location
Located on the west coast of the Pacific, Beijing stands at
the northern tip of the North China Plain. Tian'anmen
Square in the center of Beijing is situated at 39 56' North
Latitude and 116 20' East Longitude. It lies at approximate-
ly the same latitude as Philadelphia in the U.S. and Madrid
in Spain. Greater Beijing has an area of 16,800 square kin,
and a population of 11 million, about half of which live on
the outskirt. The city is 39% flat land and 61% mountainous
area.
Beijing is surrounded by the Yanshan Mountains on the
west, north and east while the small alluvial plain of the
Yongding River lies to its southeast. Beijing stands on this
terrain and faces the Bohai Sea, which is also called the Bei-
jing Bay.
In China, Beijing is one of the three mega--cities under the
direct jurisdiction of the central government, and it is divid~
ed into 10 districts and 8 counties.
Beijing enjoys a moderate continental climate. The average
yearly rainfall is about 600 to 700 millimetres. Much of it
falls in late June , July and August. Spring in Beijing is dry
and dusty, summer rainy,winter long, sunny and dry. The
best season in Beijing, as in many other parts of China, is
autumn.
1.2 Past
Beijingis both old and young. It is the cultural cradle of the
Chinese nation and also a birthplace of human civilization. It
was here that the ' Peking man" lived and multiplied in
primitive communities 700,000 years ago.
Beginning to take shape during the later period of the Shang
Dynasty, Beijing existed as a city more than 3, 000 years
ago, as a matter of fact, 1995 was the 3040th anniversary of
the founding of Beijing city.
In 352 A. D (Jin Dynasty), Beijing became the capital city of
the Kingdom of Yan, the first ever established by a Chinese
national minority. Later, it was chosen by one dynasty after
another as their capital and turned into a central city for all
nationalities across the country.
From 938 to 1123, Beijing was the alternate capital of the
Liao Dynasty and called 'Yanjing'.
From 1153 to 1214, it was the capital of the Jin Dynasty and
called "Zhongdu".
From 1272 to 1368, it was the capital of the Yuan Dynasty
and called "Dadu".
During both the Ming (1368--1644) and Qing (1644--
1911) dynasties, Beijing was the capital and called
"Jingshi".
Beijing was founded and developed with the joint efforts of
all the Chinese nationalities from generation to generation,
as a melting pot of time-honored Oriental Civilization and
Chinese cultural heritages.
As the capital of the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dy-
nasties, Beijing witnessed centuries of prosperity, many ma-
jor historical events and various nationalities' achievements
and aspirations for a peaceful and happy life.
As an ancient cultural city, Beijing has produced many emi-
nent personages whose achievements have added splendour
to their national history and enriched the whole world's cul-
tural treasure house. At the same time, many outstanding
figures from the west, such as Marco Polo and Matteo Ricci
from Italy, travelled to China and lived for many years in
Beijing, contributing to the cultural exchanges between the
East and West.
Marco Polo came to China in 1275 during the Yuan Dy-
nasty. The Travels of Marco Polo provided the West with
one of the first glimpses into China.
Matteo Ricci came to China in 1582 and arrived in Beijing in
1601. While doing missionary work, he also introduced the
Western natural sciences to China, bringing with him the
"Great Map of Ten Thousand Countries" and translating
Euclid's "Elements'' into Chinese in Cooperation with the
Chinese scientist Xu Guangqi.
Guo Shoujing, a scientist in the Yuan Dynasty, compiled
"Shoushi Calendar" on the basis of his astronomical obser-
vations. This calendar was just as accurate as the present--
day Gregorian Calendar which came into use 300 years later.
Cao Xueqin, a Qing Dynasty writer, wrote the novel '' The
Dream of the Red Mansions" which has become a world-fa-
mous literary masterpiece.
Beijing was renamed Beiping in 1928, when the Republic of
China moved its capital tO Nanjing.
With the founding of the People's Republic of China in
1949, Beijing became its capital and entered a new epoch.
Beijing has very early relations with foreign countries on the
principle of mutual benefit. However, it was only in the late
'70s of this century that Beijing came into full contact with
the outside world, as a result of the reform and open policy
carried out throughout the country. Today, the city is
speeding up its effort in this direction by drawing on the
fruits of human civilization and learning other countries' ad-
vanced methods of management and administration, so as to
achieve better and faster results in its own construction.
We are living in a Beijing that has undergone big changes
and is heading for modernization.
Beijing is rising as a modern city, where ancient Chinese
Civilization meets with modern achievements of human soci-
ety, creating a new spirit and charm.
Like other parts of the country, Beijing has embarked on a
comprehensive reform and open policy since the late '7Os,
pushing economic development vigorously and laying a foun-
dation for further growth in the '9Os, as may be seen from
the following facts and figures.
2) The level of modernization has remarkably improved for
both urban and rural areas. During the decade from 1980 to
1991, Beijing invested 16.44 billion yuan in the construction
of infrastructure, resulting in an improvement of water sup-
ply, transportation, communications, cooking gas supply,
central heating, afforestation, environmental protection,
etc.
During this period, a total floor space of 97. 32 million
square meters was built, of which 57. 20 million were for
living quarters. Among projects completed were the Asian
Games Village, 33 gymnasiums and stadiums Z--either newly
built or renovated. Four satellite towns have sprung up,
and a large number of public buildings were completed for e-
ducation, science and technology, cultural activities, medi-
cal care and social welfare.
3) Beijing has made vigorous progress in education, science,
technology and culture. During the past decade, it brought
up a professional personnel of 650,000 at intermediate and
advanced levels and made a great number of achievements in
science and technology. The country's first experimental
zone for new technological and industrial development was
established in Beijing. Now the city boasts 61, 000 hospital
beds.
4) The people's livelihood has improved remarkably in both
urban and rural areas. In 1991, the actual per caita income
of urban households increased 69. 3~ over that of 1980,
while the actual per capita net income of peasant households
was three times that of 1980. The per capita living space
reached 8.0 square meters in the urban area and 21.9 square
meters for the peasants.
living quarters. Among projects completed were the Asian
Games Village, 33 gymnasiums and stadiums --either newly
built or renovated. Four satellite towns have sprung up,
and a large number of public buildings were completed for e-
ducation, science and technology, cultural activities, medi-
cal care and social welfare.
3) Beijing has made vigorous progress in education, science,
technology and culture. During the past decade, it brought
up a professional personnel of 650,000 at intermediate and
advanced levels and made a great number of achievements in
science and technology. The country's first experimental
zone for new technological and industrial development was
established in Beijing. Now the city boasts 61, 000 hospital
beds.
4) The people's livelihood has improved remarkably in both
urban and rural areas. In 1991, the actual per capita income
of urban households increased 69. 3% over that of 1980,
while the actual per capita net income of peasant households
was three times that of 1980. The per capita living space
reached 8.0 square meters in the urban area and 21.9 square
meters for the peasants.
An even better picture is expected for the next decade. It is
estimated that by the end of this century, the Gross Domes-
tic Products in terms of comparable price will have more
than quadrupled that of 1980, increasing by an average an-
nual rate of 9~/40. By then, Beijing residents will have been
much better off. After deducting the factors of inflation,
our actual consumption level will have increased at an aver-
age annual rate of 4%. Our living.conditions will be further
improved. The per capita living space in townships will
reach 9. 5 square meters (equivalent to 14 square meters of
usable floor area). Our means of subsistence will be more
abundant, our cultural life more colorful and our fitness
level a lot higher. We will enjoy a wider range of social ser-
vices and a higher level of modern life.
Specific goals include:
A readjustment will be made in the economic structure by
increasing the proportion of tertiary industry from the pre-
sent 38. 8% to 5O%, and by developing the rural economy
vigorously, with the annual grain output surpassing 3 mil-
lion tons, the total industrial output value of township en-
terprises reaching 41.5 :billion yuan and the suburban areas'
total social output value reaching 100 biilion yuan.
The reform and open policy will be further carried out
through more economic and technological exchanges with
foreign countries.
More will be done for modernization, with cooking gas
available to 95% of the urban households, and more than
1.8 million telephone sets for 35% of urban households.
The building of residential quarters will be sped up, and en-
vironmental protection work will be strengthened by devel-
oping pollution--free industries. By 2000, 60% of the city's
solid wastes will be disposed of in a harmless way. Wider
areas will be planted with trees.
In the development of science, technology and education a
professional personnel of about one million at intermediate
and advanced levels will be trained from 1990--2000.
Further steps will be taken to improve people's livelihood
and social security. A total of 70,000 hospital beds will be
provided by 2000.

Back