Beijing

 

(bā-jĭng) or Peking (pē-kĭng, pā–) , city (1994 est. urban pop. 6,093,300; 1994 est. total pop. 7,240,700), capital of the People's Republic of China. It is in central Hebei prov., but constitutes an independent unit (6,564 sq mi/17,000 sq km) administered directly by the national government. The second largest city in China (after Shanghai), Beijing is the political, cultural, and educational center of the country.

Economy and Transportation

Since the Communist victory in 1949, Beijing has become a great industrial area, the heart of a vast complex of textile mills, iron- and steelworks, railroad repair shops, machine shops, chemical plants, and factories manufacturing heavy machinery, electronic equipment, locomotives, plastics, synthetic fibers, and rolling stock. With the construction in the 1970s of a pipeline that links the city with the Daqing oil fields, Beijing has developed a sizable petrochemical industry. Service industries also grew. New industrial development declined in the 1970s and 80s, mainly due to concerns over further pollution. The city is a rail hub, receiving lines from all sections of the country and linked directly with Vietnam and, through both Mongolia and NE China, with Russia. Its airport, greatly expanded in 1999, links it to all major Chinese cities and numerous foreign countries.

Cultural and Educational Institutions

The city has an opera, a ballet, and the impressive national library. It is the seat of many learned societies, research organizations, and academies of fine arts, drama, dance, and music. The more than 25 institutions of higher learning include Beijing Univ., the People's Univ. of China, China Univ. of Science and Technology, Qinghua Univ., the Beijing Institute of Foreign Languages, two medical colleges, and many technical and scientific schools. The Beijing zoo is famous for its collection of pandas. The Workers' Stadium is the scene of the Pan-Chinese games, held every four years.

Points of Interest

Beijing in the main consists of two formerly walled districts, the Outer or Chinese City and the Inner or Tatar City. The 25 mi (40 km) of ramparts and monumental gates that once surrounded the cities have been razed and replaced by wide avenues to aid the traffic flow. Within the Tatar City is the Forbidden City (formerly the emperor's residence), the Imperial City (where his retinue was housed), and the Legation Quarter. The Imperial City is now the seat of the government.

On the southern edge of the Tatar City is Tiananmen Square, which contains the monument to the heroes of the revolution, the Great Hall of the People, and the museum of history and revolution. Celebrations held in the square include May Day and the founding date (Oct. 1) of the People's Republic. In June, 1989, the Square was the site of massive protests for democratic reform, which were violently suppressed by the military, resulting in thousands of deaths and many injuries. Near the Square is the bubble-shaped National Theater.

Beijing is known for its artificial lakes and for its parks and temples. It contains many of the greatest examples of architecture of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties as well as remains from earlier times. The Temple of Heaven (15th cent.) is set in a large park and has a massive altar of white marble before which the emperors prayed at the summer solstice. In the temple of Confucius, built by Kublai Khan, are guarded incised boulders that date from the Chou dynasty. An ancient astronomical observatory, once used by Catholic missionaries, still functions. The Forbidden City, now a vast museum, contains the imperial palaces (two groups of three each) and smaller palaces, all replete with art treasures. Just outside Beijing, rivaling the beauties within, is the imperial summer palace with its lovely parks.

In addition to the many tourist attractions in the city, the Great Wall and the gigantic Ming tombs are easily accessible. At nearby Zhoukoudian were discovered several fossil bones of Sinanthropus pekinensis, or Peking man, an early example of prehistoric man.

History

Since 723 B.C. several cities, bearing various names, have existed at this site. The nucleus of the present city was Kublai Khan's capital, Cambuluc (constructed 1260–90). Under the name Beijing [Chin.,=northern capital] the city was the capital of China from 1421 until 1911. The gateway to Mongolia and Manchuria, it was often the prize of contending armies.

In 1860, Great Britain and France captured it after the battle of Baliqiao and forced the Chinese government to concede the Legation Quarter for foreign settlements. This cession was among the factors responsible for the Boxer Uprising (1900), in which the foreign colony was besieged until relieved by a combined expeditionary force of American, Japanese, and European troops. The foreign powers exacted a treaty that provided for the permanent garrisoning of foreign troops in Beijing.

The city changed hands repeatedly during the civil wars that followed the establishment of the Chinese Republic in 1911–12. From 1912 to 1927, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Hankou alternated as centers of government. In 1928, when the seat of government was transferred to Nanjing [Chin.,=southern capital], the name Beiping (Pei-p'ing) [Chin.,=northern peace] was adopted. Japan occupied the city after the famous Marco Polo Bridge incident in 1937 (see Sino-Japanese War, Second). The Japanese made the city the capital of a puppet state (Dec., 1937).

With the end of World War II and the abolition of the last foreign concessions (1946), the city was entirely restored to Chinese sovereignty. In Jan., 1949, it fell to the Communists, who later that year designated it the capital of the newly founded People's Republic of China and restored the name Beijing. Since 1949, Beijing has spread well beyond its two core cities, and hundreds of new buildings, hotels, and cultural centers now dot the city and its suburbs. A subway was completed in 1969 and added to in the 1980s. The government has attempted to restore and preserve many of the country's important artistic and architectural works, many of which are in Beijing, but modern construction in the city has increased since the 1990s, resulting in the loss of most of the traditional neighborhoods that once dominated Beijing.

Bibliography

See R. MacFarquhar, The Forbidden City (1972); O. Cail, Peking (rev. ed. 1973); Zhou Shachen, Beijing—Old and New (1984); P. Fleming, The Siege at Peking (1986).

Běijīng 北京
The Temple of Heaven, a symbol of Beijing
Location within China
Coordinates: 39°54′20″N 116°23′29″E / 39.90556, 116.39139
Country	People's Republic of China
County-level divisions	18
Township divisions	273
Settled	ca. 473 BC
Government
- CPC Beijing	Liu Qi Committee Secretary
- Mayor	Wang Qishan
Area (ranked 29th)
- Municipality	km²  ( sq mi)
Elevation	m ( ft)
Population (2007)
- Municipality	{{formatnum:17,200,000[1] (26th)}}
- Density	/km² (/sq mi)
- Urban	{{formatnum:8,495,000[2]}}
- Mun. Density rank	{{formatnum:(4th)}}
- Major nationalities	{{formatnum:Han - 96% Manchu - 2% Hui - 2% Mongolian - 0.3%}}
Time zone	China Standard Time ([[UTC+8]])
Postal code	100000 - 102600
Area code(s)	+86/10
License plate prefixes	京A, C, E, F, H, J, K 京B (taxis) 京G (outside urban area) 京O (police and authorities) 京V (military headquarters & central government)
ISO 3166-2	cn-11
GDP (2005)	CNY 681.4 billion (15th)
- per capita	CNY 49,273 (2nd)
HDI (2005)	0.882 (2nd) — high
City trees Chinese arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis) Pagoda tree (Sophora japonica) City flowers Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) Chinese rose (Rosa chinensis)
Website: www.beijing.gov.cn www.ebeijing.gov.cn (English)

Beijing (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: Běijīng; Wade-Giles: Peiching or Pei-ching; IPA: [peɪ˨˩ tɕɪŋ˥˥]; literally "Northern capital";  pronunciation?), a metropolis in northern China, is the capital of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was formerly known in English as Peking (English pronunciation (info)). Beijing is also one of the four municipalities of the PRC, which are equivalent to provinces in China's administrative structure. 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 third largest city in terms of population, after Chongqing and Shanghai. It is a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city. It is also the focal point of many international flights to China. Beijing is recognized as the political, educational, and cultural center of the People's Republic of China, while Shanghai and Hong Kong predominate in economic fields.

Beijing is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having hosted the seat of government from Yuan Dynasty in 1264 to the present, with the exception of a period of time during early Ming (1368-1420) and during the period from 1928-1949.

Beijing will host the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Names

Beijing or Peking (北京) literally means "Northern capital", in line with the common East Asian tradition whereby capital cities are explicitly named as such. Other cities similarly named include Nanjing (南京), China, meaning "southern capital"; Tokyo (東京), Japan, and Đông Kinh (東京, known to Europeans as Tonkin) meaning "eastern capital"; as well as Xi'an (西安), which is considered the "western capital". Kyoto (京都), Japan, and Gyeongseong (京城; now Seoul), Korea, both meaning simply "capital". Peking is the name of the city according to Chinese Postal Map Romanization, and the traditional customary name for Beijing in English. The term originated with French missionaries four hundred years ago and corresponds to an older pronunciation predating a subsequent sound change in Mandarin from [kʲ] to [tɕ]^{[citation needed]}. ([tɕ] is represented in pinyin as j, as in Beijing), and is still used in some languages (as in Dutch, German, Hungarian, Polish and Spanish).

In China, the city has had many names. During the Jin Dynasty, the city was known as Zhongdu (中都) , and then later under the Mongol Yuan Dynasty as Dadu (大都) in Chinese, and Khanbaliq in Mongolian (recorded as Cambuluc by Marco Polo). After the reconquest of the city by the Ming it was known as Shuntian (順天), and later as Beiping (北平 Pinyin: Beiping; Wade-Giles: Pei-p'ing), literally "Northern Peace", a name it received again from 1928 [3] and 1949. On both occasions, the name changed — with the removal of the element meaning "capital" (jing or king, 京) — to reflect the fact the national capital had changed to Nanjing, the first time under the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the second time with the Kuomintang (KMT) government of the Republic of China, so that Peking was no longer the capital of China.

The Communist Party of China reverted the name to Beijing (Peking) in 1949 again in part to emphasize that Beijing had returned to its role as China's capital. The government of the Republic of China on Taiwan has never formally recognized the name change, and during the 1950s and 1960s it was common in Taiwan for Beijing to be called Beiping to imply the illegitimacy of the PRC. Today, almost all of Taiwan, including the ROC government, uses Beijing, although some maps of China from Taiwan still use the old name along with pre-1949 political boundaries.

Yanjing (燕京; Pinyin: Yānjīng; Wade-Giles: Yen-ching) is and has been another popular informal name for Beijing, a reference to the ancient State of Yan that existed here during the Zhou Dynasty. This name is reflected in the locally-brewed Yanjing Beer as well as Yenching University, an institution of higher learning that was merged into Peking University.

(The history section below outlines other historical names of Beijing.)

History

Main article: History of Beijing

There were cities in the vicinities of Beijing by the 1st millennium BC, and the capital of the State of Yan, one of the powers of the Warring States Period (473-221 BC), Ji (薊/蓟), was established in present-day Beijing.

After the fall of the Yan, the subsequent Qin, Han, and Jin dynasties set-up local prefectures in the area. In Tang Dynasty it became the headquarter for Fanyang jiedushi, the virtual military governor of current northern Hebei area. An Lushan launched An Shi Rebellion from here in 755. This rebellion is often regarded as a turning point of Tang dynasty, as the central government began to lose the control of the whole country.

In 936, the Later Jin Dynasty (936-947) of northern China ceded a large part of its northern frontier, including modern Beijing, to the Khitan Liao Dynasty. In 938, the Liao Dynasty set up a secondary capital in what is now Beijing, and called it Nanjing (the "Southern Capital"). In 1125, the Jurchen Jin Dynasty annexed Liao, and in 1153 moved its capital to Liao's Nanjing, calling it Zhongdu (中都), "the central capital." Zhongdu was situated in what is now the area centered around Tianningsi, slightly to the southwest of central Beijing.

Mongol forces burned Zhongdu to the ground in 1215 and rebuilt it to the north of the Jin capital in 1267. In preparation for the conquest of all of China, Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty founder Kublai Khan made this his capital as Dadu (大都, Chinese for "grand capital"), or Khanbaliq to the Mongols. This site is known as Cambuluc in Marco Polo's accounts. Apparently, Kublai Khan, who wanted to become a Chinese emperor, established his capital at this location instead of more traditional sites in central China because it 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. Dadu was situated north of modern central Beijing. It centered on what is now the northern stretch of the 2nd Ring Road, and stretched northwards to between the 3rd and 4th Ring Roads. There are remnants of Mongol-era wall still standing.

After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty in 1368, the city was later rebuilt by the Ming Dynasty and Shuntian (順天) prefecture was established in the area around the city. In 1403, the third Ming Emperor Yongle moved the Ming capital from Nanjing (Nanking) to the renamed Beijing (Peking) (北京), the "northern capital", situated in the north. The capital was also known as Jingshi 京師, simply meaning capital. During the Ming Dynasty, Beijing took its current shape, and the Ming-era city wall served as the Beijing city wall until modern times, when it was pulled down and the 2nd Ring Road was built in its place.

It is believed that Beijing was the largest city in the world from 1425 to 1650 and from 1710 to 1825 [4].

The Forbidden City was constructed soon after that (1406-1420), followed by the Temple of Heaven (1420), and numerous other construction projects. Tiananmen, which has become a state symbol of the People's Republic of China and is featured on its emblem, was burned down twice during the Ming Dynasty and the final reconstruction was carried out in 1651.

After the Manchus overthrew the Ming Dynasty and established the Qing Dynasty in its place, Beijing remained China's capital throughout the Qing period. Just like during the preceding dynasty, Beijing was also known as Jingshi, which corresponded to the Manchu Gemun Hecen with the same meaning. It was the scene of the siege of the foreign legations during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.

The Xinhai Revolution of 1911, aimed at replacing Qing rule with a republic, originally intended to establish its capital at Nanjing. After high-ranking Qing official Yuan Shikai forced the abdication of the Qing emperor in Beijing and ensured the success of the revolution, the revolutionaries in Nanjing accepted that Yuan should be the president of the new Republic of China, and that the capital should remain at Beijing.

Yuan gradually consolidated power, culminating in his declaration of a Chinese Empire in late 1915 with himself as emperor. The move was highly unpopular, and Yuan himself died less than a year later, ending his brief reign. China then fell under the control of regional warlords, and the most powerful factions fought frequent wars (the Zhili-Anhui War, the First Zhili-Fengtian War, and the Second Zhili-Fengtian War) to take control of the capital at Beijing.

Following the success of the Kuomintang's Northern Expedition which pacified the warlords of the north, Nanjing was officially made the capital of the Republic of China in 1928, and Beijing was renamed Beiping (Peip'ing) (北平), "northern peace" or "north pacified", to emphasize that the warlord government in Beijing was not legitimate.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Beiping fell to Japan on 29 July 1937. During the occupation, the city was reverted to its former name, Beijing, and made the seat of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, a puppet state that ruled the ethnic Chinese portions of Japanese-occupied North China. It was later merged into the larger Wang Jingwei Government based in Nanjing. The Imperial Japanese Army established in the city the bacteriological research unit 1855, a section of unit 731 where Japanese doctors experimented on humans.

With Japan's surrender in World War II, on 15 August 1945, Beijing's name was changed back to Beiping.

On January 31, 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, Communist forces entered Beijing without a fight. On October 1 of the same year, the Communist Party of China, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, announced in Tiananmen the creation of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. Just a few days earlier, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference had decided that Beiping would be the capital of the new government, and that its name would be changed back to Beijing.

At the time of the founding of the People's Republic, Beijing Municipality consisted of just its urban area and immediate suburbs. The urban area was divided into many small districts inside what is now the 2nd Ring Road. Since then several surrounding counties have been incorporated into the Municipality, enlarging the limits of Beijing Municipality by many times and giving it its present shape. The Beijing city wall was torn down between 1965 and 1969 to make - way for the construction of the 2nd Ring Road.

Following the economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping, the urban area of Beijing has expanded greatly. Formerly within the confines of the 2nd Ring Road and the 3rd Ring Road, the urban area of Beijing is now pushing at the limits of the recently-constructed 5th Ring Road and 6th Ring Road (under construction), with many areas that were formerly farmland now developed residential or commercial neighborhoods. A new commercial area has developed in the Guomao area, Wangfujing and Xidan have developed into flourishing shopping districts, while Zhongguancun has become a major center of electronics in China.

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 significant influx of migrants from poorer regions of the country, especially rural areas.

Early 2005 saw the approval by government of a plan to finally stop the sprawling development of Beijing in all directions. Development of the Chinese capital would now proceed in two semicircular bands just outside of the city centre (both west and east) instead of being in concentric rings.

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of Beijing

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 County and Huairou District, are dominated by the Jundu Mountains, while the western part of the municipality is framed by the Xishan Mountains. The Great Wall of China, which stretches across the northern part of Beijing Municipality, made use of this rugged topography to defend against nomadic incursions from the steppes. Mount Dongling in the Xishan ranges and on the border with Hebei is the municipality's highest point, with an altitude of 2303 m. Major rivers flowing through the municipality include the Yongding River and the Chaobai River, part of the Hai River system, and flowing in a southerly direction. Beijing is also the northern terminus of the Grand Canal of China which was built across the North China Plain to Hangzhou. Miyun Reservoir, built on the upper reaches of the Chaobai River, is Beijing's largest reservoir, and crucial to its water supply.

The urban area of Beijing, located at 39°54′20″N, 116°23′29″E (39.9056, 116.3914), is situated in the south-central part of the municipality and occupies a small but expanding part of the municipality's area. It spreads out in bands of concentric ring roads, of which the fifth and outermost (the Sixth Ring Road; the numbering starts at 2) passes through several satellite towns. Tian'anmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) and Tian'anmen Square are at the centre of Beijing, and are directly to the south of the Forbidden City, former residence of the emperors of China. To the west of Tian'anmen is Zhongnanhai, residence of the paramount leaders of the People's Republic of China. Running through central Beijing from east to west is Chang'an Avenue, one of Beijing's main thoroughfares.

The city's climate is a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dwa), characterized by hot, humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and harshly cold, windy, dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone. Average temperatures in January are at around -7 to -4 °C (19 to 24 °F), while average temperatures in July are at 25 to 26 °C (77 to 79 °F). Annual precipitation is over 600 mm, with 75% of that in summer. [5]

Beijing also suffers from heavy pollution and poor air quality from industry and traffic. Dust from erosion of deserts in northern and northwestern China result in seasonal dust storms that plague the city. In the first four months of 2006 alone, there were no fewer than eight such storms. [6] Efforts have been made of late to clean up Beijing in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Weather averages for Beijing, China
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °F (°C)	34 (1)	38 (3)	52 (11)	67 (19)	78 (25)	85 (29)	86 (30)	85 (29)	78 (25)	66 (18)	49 (9)	37 (2)	()
Average low °F (°C)	17 (-8)	22 (-5)	33 (0)	47 (8)	57 (13)	66 (18)	72 (22)	69 (20)	59 (15)	47 (8)	32 (0)	22 (-5)	()
Precipitation inch (cm)	0.2 (0)	0.2 (0)	0.3 (0)	0.7 (1)	1.3 (3)	3.1 (7)	8.8 (22)	6.7 (17)	2.3 (5)	0.7 (1)	0.4 (1)	0.1 (0)	()
Source: Weatherbase[1] Feb 2007

City layout

Neighborhoods

Major neighbourhoods in urban Beijing include the following. Neighborhoods may overlap across multiple districts (see below):

• Andingmen 安定门
• Beiyuan 北苑
• Chaoyangmen 朝阳门
• Dongzhimen 东直门
• Fangzhuang 方庄
• Fuchengmen 阜成门
• Fuxingmen 复兴门
• Guomao 国贸
• Hepingli 和平里
• Wangjing 望京
• Wangfujing 王府井
• Wudaokou 五道口
• Xidan 西单
• Xizhimen 西直门
• Yayuncun 亚运村
• Zhongguancun 中关村

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.

Towns

Towns within Beijing Municipality but outside the urban area include:

• Changping 昌平
• Huairou 怀柔
• Miyun 密云
• Liangxiang 良乡
• Liulimiao 琉璃庙
• Tongzhou 通州
• Yizhuang 亦庄
• Xiaotangshan 小汤山

Subdivisions

Beijing Municipality comprises 18 administrative sub-divisions, county-level units governed directly by the municipality (second-level divisions). Of these, 16 are districts and 2 are counties.

The urban and suburban areas of the city are divided into eight (8) districts:

District	Population (2000 census)	Area (km²)	Density (per km²)
Dongcheng District (东城区: Dōngchéng Qū)	536,000	24.7	21,700
Xicheng District (西城区: Xīchéng Qū)	707,000	30.0	23,567
Chongwen District (崇文区: Chóngwén Qū)	346,000	15.9	21,761
Xuanwu District (宣武区: Xuānwǔ Qū)	526,000	16.5	31,879
Chaoyang District (朝阳区: Cháoyáng Qū)	2,290,000	470.8	4,864
Haidian District (海淀区: Hǎidiàn Qū)	2,240,000	426.0	5,258
Fengtai District (丰台区: Fēngtái Qū)	1,369,000	304.2	4,500
Shijingshan District (石景山区: Shíjǐngshān Qū)	489,000	89.8	5,445
City proper + inner suburbs	8.50 million	1377.9	6,171

The following six districts encompass the more distant suburbs and satellite towns, constituting part of the metropolitan area:

District	Population (2000 census)	Area (km²)	Density (per km²)
Mentougou District (门头沟区: Méntóugōu Qū)	267,000	1,331.3	201
Fangshan District (房山区: Fángshān Qū) Fangshan County until 1986	814,000	1,866.7	436
Tongzhou District (通州区: Tōngzhōu Qū) Tong County until 1997	674,000	870.0	775
Shunyi District (顺义区: Shùnyì Qū) Shunyi County until 1998	637,000	980.0	650
Changping District (昌平区: Chāngpíng Qū) Changping County until 1999	615,000	1,430.0	430
Daxing District (大兴区: Dàxīng Qū) Daxing County until 2001	672,000	1,012.0	664
Outer suburbs	3.68 million	7,490	491

The other two districts and the two counties located further out govern semirural and rural areas:

District	Population (2000 census)	Area (km²)	Density (per km²)
Pinggu District (平谷区: Pínggǔ Qū) Pinggu County until 2001	397,000	1,075.0	369
Huairou District (怀柔区: Huáiróu Qū) Huairou County until 2001	296,000	2,557.3	116
Miyun County (密云县: Mìyún Xiàn)	420,000	2,335.6	180
Yanqing County (延庆县: Yánqìng Xiàn)	275,000	1,980.0	139
Peripheral areas	1.39 million	7,947.9	175

Source: Geohive

Beijing's 18 districts and counties are further subdivided into 273 lower (third)-level administrative units at the township level: 119 towns, 24 townships, 5 ethnic townships and 125 subdistricts. HUasd

Economy

In 2005, Beijing's nominal GDP was 681.45 billion RMB (about 84 billion USD), a year-on-year growth of 11.1% from the previous year. Its GDP per capita was 44,969 RMB, an increase of 8.1% from the previous year and nearly twice as much as in 2000. Beijing's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were worth 9.77 billion RMB, 210.05 billion RMB, and 461.63 billion RMB. Urban disposable income per capita was 17,653 yuan, a real increase of 12.9% from the previous year. Per capita pure income of rural residents was 7,860 RMB, a real increase of 9.6%. Per capita disposable income of the 20% low-income residents increased 16.7%, 11.4 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the 20% high-income residents. The Engel's coefficient of Beijing's urban residents reached 31.8% in 2005 and that of the rural residents was 32.8%, declining 4.5 percentage points and 3.9 percentage points, respectively, compared with 2000. [7]

Beijing's real estate and automobile sectors have continued to bloom in recent years. In 2005, a total of 28.032 million square metres of housing real estate was sold, for a total of 175.88 billion RMB. The total number of automobiles registered in Beijing in 2004 was 2,146,000, of which 1,540,000 were privately-owned (a year-on-year increase of 18.7%). [8]

The Beijing CBD, centered at the Guomao area, has been identified as the city's new central business district, and is home to a variety of corporate regional headquarters, shopping malls, and high-end housing. The Beijing Financial Street, in the Fuxingmen and Fuchengmen area, is a traditional financial center. The Wangfujing and Xidan areas are major shopping districts. Zhongguancun, dubbed "China's Silicon Valley", continues to be a major center in electronics- and computer-related industries, as well as pharmaceuticals-related research. Meanwhile, Yizhuang, located to the southeast of the urban area, is becoming a new center in pharmaceuticals, IT, and materials engineering. [9] Urban Beijing is also known for being a center of pirated goods and anything from the latest designer clothing to the latest DVDs can be found in markets all over the city, often marketed to expatriates and international visitors.

Major industrial areas include Shijingshan, located on the western outskirts of the city. Agriculture is carried out outside the urban area of Beijing, with wheat and maize (corn) being the main crops. Vegetables are also grown in the regions closer to the urban area in order to supply the city.

Beijing is increasingly becoming known for its innovative entrepreneurs and high-growth start-ups. This culture is backed by a large community of both Chinese and foreign venture capital firms, such as Sequoia Capital, whose head office in China resides in Chaoyang, Beijing. Though Shanghai is seen as the economic center of China, this is typically based on the numerous large corporations based there, rather than as a center for Chinese entrepreneurs. It is also a world leader in the production and distribution of melamine and melamine-related compounds, (ammeline, ammelide and cyanuric acid).

The development of Beijing continues to proceed at a rapid pace, and the vast expansion of Beijing has created a multitude of problems for the city. Beijing is known for its smog as well as the frequent "power-saving" programs instituted by the government. Citizens of Beijing as well as tourists frequently complain about the quality of the water supply and the cost of the basic services such as electricity and natural gas. The major industrial areas outside of Beijing were ordered to clean their operations or leave the Beijing area in an effort to alleviate the smog that covers the city. Most factories, unable to update, have moved and relocated to other cities such as Xi'an, China.

Architecture

Three styles of architecture predominate in urban Beijing. First, the traditional architecture of imperial China, perhaps best exemplified by the massive Tian'anmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace), which remains the PRC's trademark edifice, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven. Next there is what is sometimes referred to as the "Sino-Sov" style, built between the 1950s and the 1970s, which tend to be boxy, bland, and poorly made. Finally, there are much more modern architectural forms — most noticeably in the area of the Beijing CBD. Pictured below are some images of Beijing architecture — blending the old and the new.

The ancient Beijing skyline.

The boxy look of buildings built in the 1970s. </