"Beijing, too large and hot to see it all" Beijing by tompt
Beijing Travel Guide: 7,402 reviews and 14,770 photos
Beijing, is capital of China since it was first declared so by King Wu in 1057 BC. The city had several names since then: Ji, Zhongdu, Dadu, and Beijing how Emperor ChengZu named in 1421. Beijing is also known as Peking, which is actually just another (old)way of writing the same name.
Beijing municipal district is at an elevation of 43.5m above sea level. Beijing has a continental type climate, with cold and dry winters and hot summers. And July is HOT, we know.
The municipality is stretching 160 kilometres from east to west and over 180 kilometres north to south. Population in Beijing is about 12 million.
Beijing has several Hutongs, old cityareas, living quarters to the ordinairy people of Beijing. The name hutong means small lanes.
It is said the word is originating from the Mongolian language.
In the early 13 century, a Mongolian tribe led by Genghis Khan occupied Beijing. Unfortunately, the old city was destroyed during the war. So they had to rebuild it. In this newly-built city, you can find streets and Hutongs. At that time, there was a clear definition for a street or a lane. A 36-metre-wide road was called a big street. An 18-metre-wide one was called a small street. And a 9-metre-wide lane was called a Hutong.
Opposed to the poor looking hutongs there are some sights in Beijing that look very rich. For instance the Summer Palace or the Forbidden City.
The sights we visited are in our must see tips, but there is much, much more to see in Beijing.
To enjoy the evenings during your stay you can go to several cultural performances, there is ofcourse the famous Beijing Opera, or see the acrobatic theater.
More info:
- http://www.beijingpage.com/
Reviews (21)
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Local Customs
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subway, the lines
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subway, the ticket
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The subway ticket costs 3 RMB. After you bought it at the ticket counter go to the ticket check. They will tear off a... more travel advice
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Comments (8)
I hope the hutongs are still there when I (hopefully) visit Beijing next year. Great info.
Interesting, accurate and informative. And I do think that hutongs will soon belong to the past.
a great page!!! and ofcourse the combination of the good writing and the marvelous pictures did it again!
Fantastic report on Beijing Tom & Goonie ! Thx for sharing !
Hutongs, crowds and sights - great mixture of Beijing!!
Nice! you seems almost a Chinese expert. Someone come to China just look around but ignore real culture. You do really taste Chinese culture
Was in Beijing 2 months ago & recognise that hazy sky in your main photo so well. Fascinating city in many ways. Let me know if you add more tips please. Cheers from downunder.
maybe not as colorfull but must have been great to visit temple of confusius:-) come back later to see more, have a nice weekend:-)
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