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Beijing tours



 
 
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Old November 21st, 2007, 09:36 AM posted to rec.travel.asia
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Default Beijing tours

Currently preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing is investing
billions into becoming an economic powerhouse. Beijing is a
fascinating urban destination for tourists keen to immerse themselves
in China's long and colourful history and culture - and its unique,
vibrant take on city living, 21st century style.

beijing tour operator:
http://www.itourschina.com/City_tour...dename=Beijing

The frenetic building activity is creating a bold and stylish new
Beijing that will surprise even if you have visited just two years
ago. However, old Beijing is still to be found and is easily explored
in the teahouses and temples, the hutongs and courtyards - and the
many museums.

In no other capital on Earth can you enjoy such a wide variety of
gourmet restaurants. Beijing offers excellent value dishes from all of
China's eight regional styles of cuisine, not to mention korean, thai,
japanese and all manner of western dishes too.


Visit the world renowned and exquisitely beautiful Temple of Heaven,
set in large and lively gardens. Nightlife in Beijing is kaleidoscopic
- from dizzying acrobatics, martial arts displays and street theatre
to delicate puppetry, outdoor ballroom dancing, the ubiquitous karaoke
and trendy nightclubs. In addition, many shops in Beijing are open
until 10pm and there are restaurants on every street, often with the
choice of outdoor dining under red lanterns.

Beijing's new-found confidence on the world stage is best experienced
during an evening spent strolling through this wonderfully welcoming
city that retains an intimacy one would find hard to match.


Beijing China World

The Inner Court within the Forbidden City.
Explore China's imperial past in this vast and magnificent World
Heritage site.
This Beijing guide consists of three main sections.

First is the photo-based guide to over 30 places of interest,
including the 'top 5' - the Great Wall of China near Beijing, the
Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven and Beihai
Park.

The second section of our Beijing guide discusses chinese culture,
food, transport and nightlife - and the forthcoming 2008 Beijing
Olympics.


The third section of our Beijing guide discusses the practicalities of
a trip to Beijing - visa requirements, money, telephone, buying
antiques, etc.


NEW : Beijing and China News

Our selection of recent news stories.


History of Beijing
Human activity in the Beijing area goes back about half a million
years, to when 'Peking Man' lived in ZhouKouDian, in the southwestern
suburbs of today's Beijing. The climate at that time was warmer and
more humid than it is today and forests and lakes in the area
supported large numbers of living creatures.

The fossil remains of Peking Man, his stone tools and evidence of the
use of fire, as well as later tools of around 18,000 years ago, bone
needles and articles of adornment from the age of Upper Cave Man are
the earliest cultural relics on record in China today - and among the
earliest in the world.


Tiananmen Gate, between the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
Emperor Wu was the first to declare the site of Beijing as the capital
in 1057 BC. Subsequently, the city has gone by the names of Ji,
ZhongDu, Dadu, then finally Beijing when the name was chosen by the
Ming Dynasty Emperor ChengZu in 1421. Before 1949, Beijing was known
as Peking by the Western world. Beijing was once again the capital
only when Mao ZeDong declared the People's Republic of China on
October 1st 1949.

'BeiJing' literally means 'north capital', in line with the common
east asian tradition whereby capital cities are explicitly named as
such. Another chinese city similarly named is NanJing, meaning 'south
capital'. At times in history, the capital was declared to be NanJing
rather than BeiJing, according to whether the then current powerbase
lay to the north or south of China.

'YanJing' is another popular informal name for Beijing, a reference to
the ancient State of Yan that existed here during the Zhou Dynasty.
For example, there is the locally brewed 'Yanjing Beer'.


Size and Location


China is bordered by the countries of Indochina to the south, has
Russia and Mongolia to the north, rising-star India to the south west,
and Korea and Japan to the east.

Beijing's Latitude: 39° 55' North
Beijing's Longitude: 116° 23' East

Beijing is an independently administered municipal district, situated
in the northeastern part of China at an elevation of 43.5m above sea
level. Beijing municipality is centered around the capital.

Today, Beijing City covers an area of about 7,000 square kilometers
running 38 kilometers from ShiJingShan in the west to TongXian in the
east.

Beijing Municipality (equivalent to a province in China's
administrative structure) has a total area of 17,000 sq km (about
6,500 sq miles), stretching 160 kilometres from east to west and over
180 kilometres from north to south. The population is about 15 million
of which about 10 million have permanent resident status.

Beijing Municipality borders Hebei Province to the north, west, south
and, for a small section, in the east, and Tianjin Municipality to the
southeast.

Beijing is China's second largest city in terms of population, after
Shanghai.

Beijing is widely recognized as the political, educational and
cultural center of China, whereas Shanghai and Hong Kong predominate
in the economic field.

The 38 kilometer long Chang'An (Eternal Peace) boulevard that runs
from east to west through central Beijing concentrates on state,
political and economic affairs. The central areas around the Palace
Museum (Forbidden City) and city gates as well as the lakes -
ZhongNanHai, BeiHai and HouHai - have been designated as protected
landmark districts that retain the features of Old Beijing.


Transportation

Beijing is a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads
and expressways entering and leaving it in all directions. It is also
the focal point of many international flights to China.

Following economic reforms, Beijing has evolved to be an important
transportation hub. Sadly, although it was probably necessary, most of
Beijing's city wall was removed between 1965 and 1969 to make way for
the construction of the 2nd Ring Road.

The traffic network now consists of five concentric ringroads (the
outer three are expressways), 28 radial roads (9 express ways), and
underground and suburban railways that are being further developed to
improve links from the center with outlying areas and surrounding
towns, plus several long distance railway routes and an international
airport.

Following the economic reforms of Deng XiaoPing, the urban area of
Beijing expanded greatly. Formerly within the confines of the 3rd Ring
Road, the urban area of Beijing is now pushing at the boundary of the
recently-constructed 5th Ring Road and even the 6th Ring Road that is
currently under construction. Many areas of Beijing that were formerly
farmland have now been developed into residential or commercial
neighborhoods.


Tourism in Beijing

One of the temples at the Summer Palace. Meander the expansive grounds
and take a Dragon Boat across the beautiful lake.
Experience the ancient Chinese ideal of harmony between Man and
Nature.
China is one of the world's most visited countries. Tourism is now
increasing rapidly and is forming an ever more important part of the
economy. It has been projected that China may become the world's
number one tourist destination by 2020.
Historical Beijing is a key attraction. The Forbidden City receives
over 10 million visitors each year (foreign and domestic). In 2005,
over 3.6 million foreign tourists visited Beijing, constituting an
increase of 15% from 2004.


With an eye to the future, an increasing number of historical,
cultural and revolutionary sites in Beijing are being renovated and
opened to the public, a process that started long before Beijing won
hosting of the 2008 Olympics.


Time Zone
Beijing's time zone is UTC/GMT +8 hours.

The whole of China shares the same time zone. There is no daylight
saving time (or 'summer time') at the moment.






 




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