Introduction to Geography of Beijing
Beijing, or Peking, China, the nation's capital and second largest city. It lies on the edge of the North China Plain in the northeastern part of the country, about 90 miles (145 km) inland from the Bo Hai, an arm of the Yellow Sea. Beijing constitutes a special municipality called a shih, which covers 6,870 square miles (17,790 km2) and is one of China's major administrative units. In addition to the central city, the municipality includes suburbs, rural communities, and extensive farmland.
Beijing is built on a site occupied by a succession of cities since ancient times. The core of the present city consists of an area made up of the Inner and Outer cities, which were laid out and walled in the 15th and 16th centuries during the Ming dynasty. Some of the old walls and gates remain.
The larger Inner City contains the Forbidden City (also called the Imperial Palace). For hundreds of years the Forbidden City was the residence of the emperor and was off limits to those without imperial permission to enter. Also in the Inner City are spacious parks and gardens and a chain of reservoirs. Just south of the Forbidden City is 98-acre (40-hectare) Tiananmen Square, the heart of modern Beijing, used for parades and other official ceremonies. It is surrounded by public buildings, notably the Great Hall of the People, home of the National People's Congress; two historical museums; and the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao. From the Gate of Heavenly Peace on the north side of the square Mao Tse-tung proclaimed the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. The rest of the Inner City and most of the Outer City consist of commercial and residential areas. Industry is concentrated in the adjoining suburbs.
Economy
Beijing's economy has changed greatly since the Communist takeover in 1949. The city has long been a leading Chinese commercial and transportation center, but its manufacturing industries were relatively insignificant until the 1950's, when the government began a program of large-scale industrialization. Today Beijing ranks as an important producer of iron and steel, machine tools, electronic equipment, farm machinery, textiles, and chemicals. Food processing and printing and publishing are also major industries.
An extensive network of railways links Beijing with other major Chinese cities and with Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea. The city is served by some of China's best highways and has an international airport. Also here is the northern terminus of the Grand Canal. The city has a modern subway system.
Prominent Places
Beijing has numerous historic and cultural attractions. The most prominent is the Forbidden City. It includes numerous palaces, audience halls, pavilions, courtyards, and gardens. Much of the Forbidden City is enclosed by a moat. Other notable attractions in or near Beijing include the Summer Palace, the Drum and Bell towers, the exquisite Temple of Heaven, and other temples and shrines scattered throughout the city. The Great Wall of China and the Ming Tombs, burial site of 13 Ming emperors, are about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of the city.
Major cultural institutions in Beijing include the National Library of China, with collections of rare books and manuscripts, the Museum of Chinese History, the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, the Beijing Museum of Natural History, and the China Opera and Ballet Theater.
As China's leading educational center, the city has many colleges and universities. Among the chief ones are Beijing and Qinghua universities. Also in Beijing are the headquarters and numerous institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
History
On the site of present-day Beijing stood Yenching, capital of the feudal state of Yen until its conquest by the first emperor of China in 221 B.C. The Mongols virtually destroyed Yenching in their conquest of northern China in the early 1200's. In 1264 Kublai Khan built a new city, Khanbalik (city of Khan), on the remains of the earlier city and made it the capital of the Mongol Empire.
The Mongols were expelled in the 1300's by the native Ming dynasty, which began its reign from its capital at Nanking. In 1421, however the capital was moved to its former site, and the city was rebuilt and renamed Beijing. The Imperial Palace was constructed at that time. In 1644 the Ming dynasty was overthrown by the Manchus, a union of Tungus tribes from the north. Under the anchus, the Imperial Palace was largely rebuilt. It bacame known as the Forbidden City because commoners and foreigners were forbidden to enter it.
In 1800 an Anglo-French expedition occupied the city in reprisal for violence against French and English residents, and foreign legislations were established in Beijing for the first time. These became the targets of the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, a violent reaction against foreign intrusion. This revolt was crushed by European, Japanese, and United States troops.
Revolution against Manchu rule broke out in 1911, and in the following year a republic was established, with Beijing remaining as capital. Later, a rival government arose in the south. In 1928 its forces overthrew the Beijing government, and the capital was moved once more to Nanking.
From 1937 to 1945 Beijing was occupied by Japanese invaders. At the close of World War II, government tropps returned to the city. They were driven out in 1949 by the Chinese Communists, who made Beijing their capital. The new rulers began an extensive program of rebuilding. Many public buildings were constructed and new residential and industrial districts created. The city's subway system was opened in 1969. The city's Tiananmen Square was the site of massive pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989 that were brutally put down by the government.
Population: Beijing proper, 12,887,000; the municipality, 16,407,734.