Beijing

Beijing or Pequínalso transcribed as Beijing(in Chinese simplified and traditional, ▪; pinyin, BěijīngWade-Giles, Pei-ching, pronounced: pèi.t.σ (?·i)literally "North Capital" is one of the four municipalities that, together with the twenty-two provinces, five autonomous regions and two special administrative regions, make up the People's Republic of China. In addition, Beijing is the capital of the country and one of the most populous cities in the world 21 710 000 inhabitants in 2013. Located on the periphery of ancient Chinese civilization, Beijing became the bastion of the foreign powers that occupied North China among the centuries X and XII. The Liao dynasty established here its southern capital, the most accredited of the five of the kingdom. The Jin dynasty, the following "bárbara" dynasty, undertook a broad urban project in the image of the capital of the Northern Songs, Kaifeng. In 1215 the Mongols destroyed the city, but fifty years later Kublai Kan decided to build the new capital.

In the center-south area of the hippodamus layout was the colossal imperial villa that contained the complex of imperial palaces. The Yongle Emperor, the third Ming, decided to transfer the capital to Beijing. The walls on the northern side were moved further south so that the imperial palace complex, the so-called Forbidden City, was exactly in the center of the plan. Thus, the structure of the new Beijing represents the peak of traditional Chinese urbanism, based on the organization introduced by the Mongols as well as on the structure of the imperial palaces of Kaifeng and Nanking, as well as taking into account the rules of Chinese geomancy (風水).

Beijing is one of four municipalities in China that have provincial status and are under the direct control of the central government. Beijing has been a municipality since the creation of the People's Republic of China. It is the second and one of the most populous cities in China, second only to Shanghai in terms of population and apart from the fact that it is considered the cultural, political and social heart of China.

Etymology

Pekín is the Spanish adaptation of the old official Latin form Peking, which, according to the RAE, is the recommended way to call this city in Spanish. The latter form corresponded to the transcription method of the Chinese postal system and reflected the archaic pronunciation of the syllable jing. Currently, the People's Republic of China exclusively uses the form Beijing, corresponding to the official hanyu pinyin transcription system. Note that said transcription pronounced in Spanish is quite far from the original articulation, since it would lead us to use a weak be and a sonorous jota, the traditional spelling being more appropriate; although phonetically for Spanish speakers the closest thing to the current official Chinese pronunciation would be Peiching, since the corresponding pronunciation, [pei²¹⁴.tɕiŋ⁵], is closer to «Pei? ching!” taking into account the tones. In the Spanish-speaking world, some media outlets use the official Chinese transcription, instead of the traditional Spanish form.

However, the Royal Spanish Academy recommends the use of the traditional name, consolidated in Spanish, remembering that when speaking in our language we must use the translated place names and not the official ones, as occurs with other cities such as London/Londres, Moskva /Moscow, Torino/Turin, Firenze/Florence, New York/New York, etc. According to the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas "it is recommended to use in our language the traditional Spanish name, whose name is Pekinés (or Pekinés, if the minority spelling Pequín is used)", since the change of the official name it affects local languages, but not exonyms in Spanish.

The phonetic register «Peking» is attested from the beginning of the XVII century in Cutting ratio, by Juan Jerez; while "the first documentation of "Beijing" (in Spanish) is from 1984", according to the doctor in Hispanic Philology Luis Silva-Villar.

Beijing in Chinese is composed of the characters 北 běi «north» and 京 jīng «capital». Its meaning is "Capital of the North", in contrast to Nanjing (Nanjing), composed of 南 nán "south" and 京 jīng "capital" and with the meaning of "Capital of the South". In China, the city has had many names. Between 1928 and 1949, it was known in Chinese as Běipíng (北平, Peip'ing, in Wade-Giles) or "Peace of the North". The name had already been used at the beginning of the Ming dynasty, in both cases to emphasize that Nanjing, the Capital of the South, was the only capital.

The city was renamed Běijīng during the Japanese occupation, and would be renamed Běipíng after the end of World War II, when the Japanese left China. The Communist Party of China changed the name of the city again in 1949, as a sign of its intention to establish the capital of the new regime in the city. After the proclamation of the People's Republic, the name Běipíng continued to be used in Taiwan, where the refugee ROC government denied legitimacy to the communist authorities on the mainland. Since the 1980s, Taiwanese media have also used the name Běijīng. Note that the current and traditional Chinese name Běijīng is the one that corresponds to the traditional Spanish form "Pekín", while the name from the nationalist era Běipíng was usually transcribed in the West in Wade-Giles transcription variants such as Peiping, Peip'ing, Pei-ping or Pei-p'ing.

Yanjing (燕京, pinyin: Yānjīng, Wade-Giles: Yen-ching) is another name that has been and is popularly given to Beijing, referring to the ancient state of Yan that existed in the area during the Zhou dynasty. This name appears in the name of the local Yanjing beer and in that of Yenching University, a high-level institution merged with Peking University. Beijing is the Khanbaliq, Cambaluc or Janbalic described in the voyages of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta.

History

There are traces of human settlements around Beijing from at least 1000 B.C. C. In the city of Ji, close to present-day Beijing, the capital of the Yan State was located, one of the states of the Warring States period. In any case, the exact location of the city of Ji, abandoned in the VI century, is not known.

During the great Tang and Song dynasties, only small villages existed in the area. The Song dynasty lost much of its territory in the north, including Beijing, to the conquests of the new Liao dynasty in the 10th century. The Liao founded a second capital in the city they called Nanjing ("capital of the South"). The Jin dynasty would later conquer Liao and northern China, renaming the city Zhongdu (中都), or "central capital".

Beijing siege (1213-1214)

Mongol invaders founded the Yuan dynasty when they conquered China, razing Zhongdu in 1215 and rebuilding it as the Great Capital (大都), north of the Jin capital, this being the beginning of the current city from Peking. Marco Polo's stories refer to the city as Cambaluc. Kublai Khan, the first Yuan emperor, established his capital in present-day Beijing as it was closer to his power base in Mongolia, which enhanced the city's importance even though it was on the northern edge of China..

The Ming dynasty, which overthrew the Mongols, originally established the capital at Nanjing; but in 1403, the third Ming emperor, Yǒnglè (永樂), who had acceded to the throne after killing his nephew at the end of a long power struggle, moved the capital back to Peking. The Forbidden City was built between 1406 and 1420, followed by the Temple of Heaven (1420), and other projects. Tian'anmen Gate, burned twice during the Ming dynasty and finally rebuilt in 1651. Beijing became the world's most populous city in the 19th century XV when it already had 1,000,000 inhabitants, and remained the most populous city until the XIX.

The history of Beijing or Beijing is closely linked to that of China, having been its capital for much of its history. The area where Beijing is located was already inhabited during the Neolithic period, as demonstrated after finding a homo erectus called "Peking Man", this being one of the oldest links in human evolution found so far. The city of Beijing was born with the name of Ji or Ki, around the VIII century B.C. Centuries later it suffered the wars produced during the Warring States era in the V and III a. C. The first ruler to unify China, basically regulating the writing of Chinese characters, was Qinshi Huangdi, starting with him the Qin dynasty. After him, in 206 B.C. C. The rebels, led by Liu Bang, seized power and the Han dynasty began: it marked the Chinese soul. After the Han for a short period came the Sui, after a convulsive time of occupation by the barbarians of the steppes. Then came the Tang (AD 618-AD 907) marking the period of greatest cultural and artistic growth.

Chongwenmen, a gate in the inner city wall of Beijing, at the beginning of the centuryXX..

The ROC established its capital at Nanjing and Beijing was renamed Beiping. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, it was occupied by Japan on July 29, 1937. During the occupation, Beijing was the capital of the North China Executive Committee, a puppet state that ruled occupied North China. The occupation lasted until the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945.

On January 31, 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, communist forces entered Beijing without violent action. On October 1 of that year, the leader of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong, proclaimed the new People's Republic of China in Tian'anmen Square.

After Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms, the urban area has been greatly expanded. Guomao has become a commercial area, Wangfujing and Xidan have been transformed into shopping districts, while Zhongguancun has become the center of Chinese electronics.

Tiananmén Square in 1988.

As the nation's capital, Beijing has also been the scene of protests and political events, such as the protests of May 4, 1919, which would give rise to the May Fourth Movement, the proclamation of the People's Republic on October 1949, the Tian'anmen incident of 1976, when there were numerous protests in remembrance of the late Prime Minister Zhou Enlai, and, more recently, the Tian'anmen Square protests of 1989, which ended up being violently put down by the intervention of the army on June 4, in one of the most controversial actions in the history of the People's Republic of China. The square has also been the site of protests by Falun Gong followers.

In recent years, Beijing has suffered the consequences of rapid urbanization, in areas such as traffic congestion, air pollution, destruction of historical heritage, and the massive influx of immigrants from other parts of the country.

Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympic Games, famous for being one of the best and most structured Olympics seen since their inception.

Geography

Beijing view by Sentinel-2 of the European Space Agency.

Beijing is located at the northern end of the roughly triangular North China Plain, which opens to the south and east of the city. Mountains to the north, northwest and west protect the city and the agricultural heart of northern China from 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 is framed by the Xishan or Western Hills. The Great Wall of China, in the northern part of the Beijing municipality, was built on top of the rugged topography to defend against nomadic raids from the steppes. Mount Dongling, in the western foothills and bordering Hebei, is the highest point in the municipality, with an elevation of 2,303 meters.

The Great Wall of China as you step north of the city

The main rivers flowing through the municipality are the Chaobai, Yongding and Juma, all tributaries in the Hai River system, and flow in a southeasterly direction. Miyun Reservoir, on the upper reaches of the Chaobai River, is the largest reservoir within the municipality. Beijing is also the northern terminus of the Grand Canal to Hangzhou, which was built over 1,400 years ago as a transportation route, and the South-North Water Transfer Project, built in the past decade to bring water from the Yangtze River basin..

The urban area of Beijing, on the plains in the center-south of the municipality with an elevation of 40 to 60 meters, occupies a relatively small but expanding portion of the municipality area. The city extends in concentric ring roads. The Second Ring Road traces the old city walls and the Sixth Ring Road connects the satellite cities in the surrounding suburbs. Tian'anmen and Tian'anmen Square are in the center of Beijing, directly south of the Forbidden City, the former residence of China's emperors. To the west of Tian'anmen is Zhongnanhai, the residence of the current leaders of China. Chang'an Avenue, which cuts between Tiananmen and the square, forms the main east-west axis of the city.

Climate

Beijing's climate is a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification, Dwa), characterized by higher humidity in summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and colder, drier, and windier winters reflecting the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone. Spring can see sandstorms blowing from the Gobi desert across the Mongolian steppe, accompanied by rapidly warming conditions. but generally dry. Autumn, like spring, is a time of transition and minimal precipitation. The daily monthly average temperature in January is –3.7 °C, while in July it is 26.2 °C. Rainfall averages around 570mm annually, with about three quarters of that total falling from June to August. With a monthly percentage of sunshine ranging from 47% in July to 65% in January and February, the city receives 2,671 hours of radiant sunshine per year. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from -27.4 °C on February 22, 1966 to 41.9 °C on July 24, 1999 (the unofficial record of 42.6 °C was set on June 15, 1942).

Average climatic parameters of Beijing (normals 1971-2000, extremes 1961-2000)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	12.9	25.7	26.4	33.0	38.3	40.6	41.9	36.1	34.4	29.8	22.0	19.5	41.9
Average temperature (°C)	1.8	5.0	11.6	20.3	26.0	30.2	30.9	29.7	25.8	19.1	10.1	3.7	17.9
Average temperature (°C)	-3.1	0.3	6.7	14.8	20.8	24.9	26.7	25.5	20.8	13.7	5.0	-0.9	12.9
Temp. medium (°C)	-8.4	-5.6	0.4	7.9	13.6	18.8	22.0	20.8	14.8	7.9	0.0	-5.8	7.2
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	−22.8	−27.4	-16.0	-13.2	1.5	3.8	12.3	11.4	2.7	-9.9	-14.5	-19.7	−27.4
Total precipitation (mm)	2.7	4.9	8.3	21.2	34.2	78.1	185.2	159.7	45.5	21.8	7.4	2.8	571.8
Precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	1.8	2.3	3.3	4.3	5.8	9.7	13.6	12.0	7.6	5.0	3.5	1.7	70.6
Hours of sun	194.1	194.7	231.8	251.9	283.4	261.4	212.4	220.9	232.1	222.1	185.3	180.7	2670.8
Relative humidity (%)	44	44	46	46	53	61	75	77	68	61	57	49	57
Source: Chinese Meteorological Administration (extreme values)

Economy

Wangfujing Street, one of the centers of commerce in the Chinese capital.

The total gross domestic product for 2007 was 125 billion yuan, an increase of 50.2% over the previous year. The GDP per capita was 20,746 yuan.

The tertiary sector, especially the real estate and automobile branch, especially luxury, has grown spectacularly in recent years. In 2002, a total of 19.044 million square meters of housing were sold, for an amount of 81.380 million yuan. In the same period, 946,000 cars were sold. The total number of registered cars exceeds six million, of which 79% are privately owned.

Beijing's Central Business District, in the Guomao area, is recognized as the new core of the city's economic and financial life, and it houses offices and corporate headquarters of various regional companies, shopping malls, department stores and luxury homes. Wangfujing and Xidan are streets famous for their shops. Zhongguancun, the "Silicon Valley" China, continues to be an important center for the electronics and computer industries, as well as for pharmaceutical research.

Population

People in Beijing

The total population of Beijing Municipality as of February 2010 was 22 million, including both permanent residents (with hukou permits, the majority), and permit holders of temporary residence (between 8 and 9 million). In addition, many migrant workers live in the city without any kind of residence permit.

In 2006, the population of the urban core was 13.33 million, 84.3% of the population of the municipality, which at that time was officially 15.81 million. Most of the residents are of ethnic origin. They have although there are also some Manchus, Huis and Mongols; Furthermore, in recent years there has been a large influx of South Koreans, who come to the city for business or study and are concentrated in the Wangjing and Wudaokou areas.

The north, northeast and east of the urban area are hyperpopulated and concentrate the majority of the foreign population. The southwest and southern parts are less densely populated.

Districts and neighborhoods

There are eight urban districts:

• District of Dongcheng (developmental destination: Dōngchéng Qū)
• Xicheng District (developmental corridor: Xīchéng Qū)
• Chaoyang District (TEAD: Cháoyáng Qū)
• Haidian District (lice de passage: Hăidiàn Qū)
• Fengtai District (deγ: Fēngtái Qū)
• District of Shijingshan (.)

Eight other districts are located on the outskirts of the municipality, mainly satellite cities, commuter towns, villages and rural areas:

• District of Mentougou dismissed (Mentóugōu Qū)
• District of Fangshan (CIATING: Fángshān Qū)
• Tongzhou District (thousands: Tōngzhōu Qū)
• Shunyi District (spoke: Shùnyì Qū)
• Changping District (平 margin: Chāngpíng Qū)
• Dàxīng Qū District
• Pinggu District (TARTED: Píngg/2006 Qū)
• Huairou District (de️: Huáiróu Qū)
• District of Miyun (associated: Mìyún Qū)
• District of Yanqing

Culture

Bookshop of Beijing, surrounded by ginkgos.

The Temple of Heaven

Beijing people speak the Pekingese dialect of Mandarin, on which pǔtónghuà, the standard form of Chinese, is based.

Peking Opera (京剧 jīngjù), is well known in the capital. It is said to be one of the greatest expressions of Chinese culture. The performances are made up of a combination of singing, dialogue, gesture-encoded action scenes, walking, fighting, and stunts. Many of the operas are written in an archaic dialect quite different from modern Chinese, so the dialogue is difficult to understand, and the problem is compounded if you are not familiar with Chinese; This is why modern theaters have panels that display Chinese and English subtitles.

The sìhéyuán (四合院) is the type of house representative of the traditional architectural style of Beijing. It consists of square houses with a corridor around a central courtyard, which usually has trees, flowers and fishponds.

The hútòng, or alleys, connect the interior of the old city of Beijing. They are generally straight and run from east to west. Thus, the doors of the houses can be opened to the north and south to follow the rules of Feng Shui. Some are really narrow and only allow a few pedestrians to pass at a time. The vehicle of transport that reigns in the hútòng is the bicycle.

Both the hútòng and the sìhéyuán are disappearing from Beijing. The city is replacing the old buildings with huge skyscrapers. The inhabitants of the old neighborhoods are relocating to new apartments the same size as their old residences. However, everyone agrees that the sense of community and lifestyle of the hútòng can never be replaced.

Some hútòng were preserved and restored by the government. They wanted to make sure that during the celebration of the 2008 Summer Olympics at least some of these old neighborhoods would remain; neighborhoods that maintain tradition and recall old China in this great city that Beijing has become. Some examples of these restored hútòng can be seen in the Nanchizi area.

Traditional cuisine in Beijing is Mandarin-style cuisine. The "Peking Duck" or "lacquered duck" It is perhaps their most internationally known dish. This is a recipe that dates back to the 13th century for which specially fattened ducks are used. Its meat undergoes a complicated cooking process. This roast duck is served with a cereal sauce, leek slices and special pancakes.

Teahouses are very popular in Beijing. Chinese tea has many varieties, some of which are really expensive. Traditional Chinese medicine attributes healing powers to tea.

Education

There are plenty of universities in Beijing. The most famous are: Peking University, Tsinghua University, Peking Normal University, Communication University of China, University of Foreign Studies, and People's University of China, among others.

Architecture

The Great National Theatre of China

Three architectural styles predominate. The first corresponds to the traditional architecture of the imperial era. The second, called Sino-Sov, was used between the years 1950 and 1970. Constructions in this style are characterized by having a rather cubic shape and being made of cheap materials.

There are many other forms of modern architecture, most notable in the Central Business District of Beijing.

Sports

Beijing was the host city of the 1990 Asian Games, the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2015 World Championships in Athletics as well as the 2022 Winter Olympics and the Basketball World Cup FIBA China 2019.

Predecessor: Athens	Olympic City 2008	Successor: London
Predecessor: Pieonchang	Olympic City 2022	Successor: Milan - Cortina d'Ampezzo

Transportation

Beijing Central Station

The growth of the city from economic reforms has turned Beijing into a major transportation hub. The city is surrounded by five ring roads, nine highways, eleven main roads, several railway lines and an international airport.

Railway

There are two main stations: the Central Railway Station and the Western Railway Station. Five other minor stations have passenger traffic: East Station, North Station, South Station, Fengtai Station and Guang'anmen Station.

There are rail lines to Guangdong, Shanghai, Harbin, Baotou, Taiyuan, Chengde, and Qinhuangdao, as well as international lines to Pyongyang, Kowloon, and Russia.

• High Speed Line Beijing-Tianjín.

Roads

Cycling and cars in Beijing

Beijing is connected by road or highway to the rest of China. The increase in the number of cars and the decrease in the use of bicycles, due to the economic growth of the city, is aggravating the problem of traffic jams, especially at rush hour. To this must be added the scarce development of public transport.

Air transportation

The main airport is Beijing International Airport, near Shunyi, 20 km northeast of Beijing, which is the main airport for Air China. Other airports include Liangxiang Airport, Beijing Nanyuan Airport, Xijiao Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport.

Public transportation

The Beijing Metro (Chinese: 北京地铁; pinyin: Běijīng Dìtiě) is the metropolitan rail transportation system in Beijing. In 2012 it was 442 km long, with 16 lines in total, making it the longest metro service in the world. It serves approximately 8.5 million people daily. It is managed by the public Beijing City Underground Railway Company.

Tourism

Forbidden City

Despite the damage caused by the Cultural Revolution and urban growth, such as the demolition of the hútòng, some historic attractions still exist. The best known are the Badaling extension of the Great Wall of China, the Summer Palace or the Forbidden City. Due to its historical, political and cultural value, Tian'anmen Square is also highly visited.

Famous places:

• The Forbidden City
• Tian'anmen Square
• The Great Wall China
• The Ming Tombs
• The Temple of Heaven
• The Summer Palace
• The Ruins of the Old Summer Palace
• Gulou and Zhonglou
• Beijing Man Museum in Zhoukoudian (World Heritage of Humanity)

Twin cities