Beijing

Licensing Lightbox About Contact Guestbook

Beijing (literally "northern capital" in Chinese) is the capital of the People's Republic of China and its second largest city in terms of population, after Shanghai. It is the political, educational, and cultural center of the People's Republic of China, while Shanghai and Hong Kong predominate in economic fields.Beijing has been settled since 1000 BC, but only became the capital of China under the Mongol rule in the 13th century. Beijing is a huge city (the emphasis being on "huge", with huge buildings, wide 12-lane streets and large open spaces in between (the Tiananmen square is 1 km wide). Beijing has a rough climate with cold winters, hot summers and short intermediate seasons in-between. The city also suffers from heavy pollution and poor air quality from industry and traffic.


The Forbidden City 43 photos of the Forbidden City, the former Chinese imperial palace in Beijing	Tiananmen square 17 photos of the Tiananmen square, a large square in the centre of Beijing


Wangfujing 26 photos of Wangfujing, a shopping area in central Beijing with souvenir shops and malls	Temple of Heaven 18 photos of the Temple of Heaven, a large park with several religious buildings in Beijing	Summer palace 25 photos of the Summer Palace in Beijing, a huge park with a lake and several palaces, temples and pavilions


Central business district 31 photos of the central business district in Beijing with its iconic architecture	Hutongs 25 photos of the Hutong area in Beijing with the Bell and Drum towers	Tiananmen square park 12 photos of the new park between the Tiananmen square and the Forbidden city	The Great Wall of China in Jinshanling 12 photos of the Great Wall of China in Jinshanling, a remote place about three hours by car northeast of Beijing.


Ming tombs 75 photos of the Ming tombs near Beijing, where 13 of the 16 emperors of the Ming dynasty are buried	Tanzhe temple 37 photos of the Tanzhe temple, a 1700 years old Buddhist temple near Beijing	Sanlitun 19 photos of Sanlitun, a modern and hip area of Beijing with many shops, restaurants and cool architecture


Lama temple 15 photos of the Lama temple in Beijing, one of the most impressive Tibetan Buddhist temples outside of Tibet	National Centre for the Performing Arts 19 photos of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, a glass and titanium ellipsoid in Beijing, which hosts cultural events	Shopping malls 18 photos of several large shopping malls in Beijing


Beihai, Jingshan and Houhai 17 photos of the Jingshan, Beihai and Houhai areas near the Forbidden city in Beijing	Fragrant Hills 14 photos of the Fragrant Hills / Xiangshan park in the west of Beijing	Dongyue, Confucius and Fayuan temples and Niujue mosque 35 photos of the Dongyue, Confucius and Fayuan temples and the Niujue mosque in Beijing	Hutongs 25 photos of the Hutong area in Beijing with the Bell and Drum towers


Skylines, Olympic park, train station and airport 24 photos of Beijing skylines, the Olympic park, the southern train station and the airport of Beijing	Miscellaneous photos 22 miscellaneous photos of Beijing and the surroundings

Other China galleries: Tibet ▪ Yunnan ▪ Xinjiang ▪ Gansu ▪ Tianjin ▪ Liaoning ▪ Shanghai ▪ Zhejiang ▪ Anhui ▪ Shandong ▪ Chongqing ▪ Shaanxi ▪ Sichuan ▪ Three Gorges ▪ Hubei ▪ Hong Kong ▪ Macau ▪ Guangxi ▪ Guangdong ▪ Hunan ▪ Fujian

Categories: Cities

Related travelogues

China 2006: Shenzhen, Urumqi, Kashgar, Silk road, Khunjerab pass, Dunhuang, Chongqing, Three gorges, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Dalian, Beijing
China 2005: two weeks spent travelling to Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, Lhasa and Guangzhou

Page viewed 53704 times since 03.08.2006