Beijing
| Province Abbreviation(s): 京 Jīng | |
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 29th 16,808 km² xx% |
| Population
- Total (Year) - Density |
Ranked 26th
13,820,000 822/km² |
| Administration Type: Municipality | |
 | |
| Table of contents |
|
2 History 3 Geography 4 Economy 5 Demographics 6 Culture 7 Tourism 8 Colleges and Universities 9 Miscellaneous topics 10 See also 11 External links |
Beijing literally means "northern capital" (as opposed to Nanjing, meaning "southern capital" and Tonkin and Tokyo, both of which mean "eastern capital"). Beijing is sometimes referred to as Peking. The term originated with French missionaries four hundred years ago, and corresponds to an archaic pronunciation which does not take into account a 'k' to 'j' sound shift in Mandarin that occurred during the Qing dynasty.
In China, the city has had many names. Between 1928 [1] and 1949, it was known as Beiping (北平 Wade-Giles Peip'ing) or "Northern Peace". The name was changed because jing means "capital" and the Kuomintang government in Nanjing wanted to emphasize that Beijing was not the capital of China, and Beijing's warlord government was not legitimate. From 1937 to 1945, Beijing was occupied by the Japanese.
The name was changed back by the Communist Party of China in 1949 in part to emphasize that Beijing was the capital of China. The government of the Republic of China on Taiwan has not formally recognized the name change, and during the 1950s and 1960s it was common for Beijing to be called Peiping on Taiwan. Today, almost everyone on Taiwan, including the ROC government, uses the term Beijing, although some maps of China from Taiwan still use the old name along with pre-1949 provincial boundaries.
The GDP per capita was ÃÂÃÂ¥24077 (US$2907), ranked no. 41 among all 659 Chinese cities.
For the historical names of Beijing, see Capital of China.
Map of central Beijing (1988)
The metropolitan area of Beijing had been settled in the first millennium BC and the capital of Kingdom Yan (燕) was established there, who named it Ji (蓟). Ji has often been claimed to be the beginning of Beijing; but in reality Ji had been abandoned no later than the 6th century AD. The exact location of Ji remains unknown despite much effort in recent decades to identify the site.
During the great Tang and Song dynasties, only townships existed in this area. Numerous ancient poets came here to mourn the lost city, as testified by their surviving compositions.
By the early 10th century, Kingdom Liao had set up a "secondary capital" in the city proper, and called it Nanjing ("the Southern Capital").
The Jin Dynasty that annexed Liao and ruled northern China built its capital there, called Zhongdu (中都), or "the Central Capital".
Mongol forces burned Zhongdu to the ground in 1215 AD and rebuilt its own "Grand Capital" (大都) to the north of the Jin capital in 1267 AD, which was the true beginning of contemporary Beijing. Apparently, Kublai Khan, who wanted to become a Chinese emperor, established his capital in Beijing instead of more traditional sites in central China because Beijing was closer to his power base in Mongolia. The decision of the Khan greatly enhanced the status of a city that had been situated on the northern fringe of China proper.
In 1403 AD, the 3rd Ming emperor Zhu Li, who had just grabbed the throne by killing his brother after a bloody civil war and moved the capital from southern China to his own power base in the north, renamed the city Beijing (北京), or "Northern Capital".
The Forbidden City was constructed soon after that (1406-1420 AD), followed by the Temple to Heaven (1420 AD), and numerous other construction projects. Tian-An-Men, which has become a state symbol of the PRC in modern times, was burned down twice during the Ming Dynasty and the final reconstruction was carried out in 1651 AD.
Famous landmarks around Beijing include:
[National]
Beijing will be the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics and of the 2008 Summer Paralympics.
Airports include:
Names
History
Geography
Economy
Demographics
Culture
Tourism
Famous Theatres of Beijing include:
Colleges and Universities
[Public]
[Private]
Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.Miscellaneous topics
See also
External links
Province-level Divisions of Mainland China
Provinces:
Anhui | Fujian | Gansu | Guangdong | Guizhou | Hainan | Hebei | Heilongjiang | Henan | Hubei | Hunan | Jiangsu | Jiangxi | Jilin | Liaoning | Qinghai | Shaanxi | Shandong | Shanxi | Sichuan | Yunnan | Zhejiang
Autonomous Regions:
Guangxi | Inner Mongolia | Ningxia | Tibet | Xinjiang
Municipalities:
Beijing | Chongqing | Shanghai | Tianjin
