"Moscow-Beijin 1988" Beijing by Kuznetsov_Sergey
Beijing Travel Guide: 6,188 reviews and 15,389 photos
Beijing, also known as Peking, is the capital and the second largest city of China.The total area of Beijing is approximately 16,800 sq km, and has over 7.23 million people, 3 million of which are temporary residents.The temporary residents are comprised of business persons, teachers and students.Beijing's permanent residents are from all of the different ethnic groups found in China with the Han's comprising over 96% of the population.Mandarin Chinese is the language spoken in Beijing, with Beijing's dialect being the standard form of Mandarin.
Beijing has four definite seasons. Summer and winter are the two longest seasons with fall and spring being the shortest.The climate varies according to the season with autumn being the most pleasant time to visit.Autumn is usually clear with cool temperatures, while winter is dry and, at times, bitterly cold with temperatures dropping below 5 degrees F (-15 C).Spring is usually dry but very windy (protect eyes to keep out blowing debris), while the summer is rainy and hot with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees F (38 C).
A city plan was first laid out in the Yuan Dynasty. Yet only after extensive reconstruction during the Ming and Qing (1644-1911), did the city emerge as an architectural masterpiece fit to serve as the capital of the Chinese empire. A north-south axis bisects the city with the ImperialPalace was knows as Danei (The Great Within). In the Ming, it was renamed the Forbidden City (Zijincheng), and more recently it has come to be called the PalaceMuseum (Gugong Bowuyuan). Designed with thousands of halls and gates arranged symmetrically around a north?south axis, its dimensions and luxuriance are a fitting symbol of the power and greatness of traditional China.
After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, China fell prey to the Northern Warlords and Kuomintang, Beijing suffered the same fate as the rest of China, hobbling along like an old camel without a sense of direction. The Chinese People's Liberation Army formally entered Beijing on January 31, 1949, opening a new chapter in the long history of the city. It was in Tian'anmen Square on October 1st, 1949, that Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China, with Beijing as its capital.
The city has changed totally since then. It has expanded from its old confines within the nine gates of the Inner City wall (Zhengyangmen, Chongwenmen, Xuanwumen, Chaoyangmen, Dongzhimen, Fuchengmen, Xizhimen, Andingmen and Deshengmen) to the seven outer gates (Dongbianmen, Guangqumen, Xibianmen, Guang?anmen, Yongdingmen, Zuoanmen and Youanmen) and out into the suburbs, Beijing now covers an area of about 750 square kilometers, which includes a dozen new living districts built on the outskirts of town.
Tian'anmen Square is still the center of Beijing, Chang an Boulevard now running 38 kilometers from Shijingshan in the west to Tongxian in the east. The palaces and city towers along both sides have been designated cultural relics for national protection. Former imperial residences and gardens have been opened for public viewing.
New buildings like the International Post Office and Bank of China have been built along the Second Ring Road, the former line of the Inner City wall. Old living quarters and blocks of traditional Beijing style buildings, such as Liulichang Culture Street, have been restored. Large scale construction has been undertaken along the Third Ring Road and the fourth Ring Road.
Future development in Beijing will continue to preserve the symmetry of the old city layout while integrating modern architectural design into the over all plan.
For the first time for last forty years Chinese People Republic represents its treasures in Russia. The exhibition was opened in the Moscow State Historical museum in the summer of 2006.
It was devoted to "the eighth miracle of the world" - to terracotta army of the emperor Tsin Shihuandi. Visitors of an exhibition received a rare opportunity to see 81 original monument from the Museum of terracotta army which is in Sian. These are figures of soldiers and horses, a chariot, bronze products, subjects of life, weapon and coins.
In multimeter trenches, presumably, there are about eight thousand figures of soldiers and horses. Now researches of the monument is proceeding. It is cleared away about two thousand figures, more than thousand are restored.
Reviews (20)
Chinese cabbage
Off The Beaten Path
(3)
Basically Beijing consists of narrow streets with two-storeyed houses. In little shops dealers offer the Chinese... more travel advice
Bicycles
Off The Beaten Path
(3)
Bicycles are the main type of transport in Beijing. more travel advice
Wangfujing Street
Things to Do
(14)
The main business street - Wangfujing is in several minutes of walking from "Forbidden city". At the left side there is... more travel advice
Hutongs
Off The Beaten Path
(3)
The Heart of the Chinese capital - narrow streets which are referring on-chinese "hutong". They are characteristic for... more travel advice
Beijing Travel Guide
Member Travel Pages
- "The Northern Capital"
- "Beijing - Imperial Peking"
- "My wonderful Beijing"
- "Beijing: from the Forbidden City to the Great Wall"
- "Beijing - The Northern Capital"
- "Beijing (北京)"
- "Beijing----gives you much more than you expected!"
- See All...
Explore the World
Badges & Stats in Beijing
- 20 Reviews
- 61 Photos
- 0 Forum posts
- 21 Comments
- 3,274PageViews
- See All Stats
- See All Badges (141)
Have you been to Beijing?
Share Your TravelsLatest Activity in Beijing
- Posted in Technical Help Forum "Re: Ratings not working"
- Commented on one of jumpingnorman's Beijing travel pages
- updated a Beijing Travel Page "Moscow-Beijin 1988"
- Uploaded a Photo to "Moscow-Beijin 1988"
- Wrote a Review Chinese cabbage in Beijing Off The Beaten Path
Photos in Beijing
See All Photos (61)Top 10 Pages
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Istanbul
Intro, 130 reviews, 621 photos, 10 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Jerusalem
Intro, 103 reviews, 535 photos, 10 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Moscow
Intro, 86 reviews, 301 photos, 7 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Kostroma
Intro, 60 reviews, 302 photos, 10 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Nürnberg
Intro, 41 reviews, 286 photos, 19 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Israel
Intro, 62 reviews, 255 photos, 10 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Turkey
Intro, 73 reviews, 233 photos, 8 travelogues
-
Paris
Intro, 56 reviews, 238 photos, 5 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Greece
Intro, 61 reviews, 229 photos, 1 travelogue
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Meteora
Intro, 46 reviews, 242 photos, 10 travelogues
Travel Interests
See All Travel Interests (5)Latest Beijing hotel reviews
- Beijing Rainbow Hotel
- 72 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 18, 2013 - Hilton Beijing Wangfujing
- 665 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 23, 2013 - Home Inn Beijing Dongzhimen
- 3 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 2, 2013 - Sofitel Wanda Beijing
- 284 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 22, 2013 - Landmark Towers
- 71 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 24, 2013 - High-Tech Mansion BUPT Beijing
- 4 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 22, 2013 - Kang Ming Hotel Beijing
- 11 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Oct 4, 2012 - Beijing Friendship Hotel
- 103 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 12, 2013 - Beijing Continental Grand Hotel
- 37 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 17, 2013 - Yong An Hotel Beijing
- 8 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jan 26, 2013 - Commune By The Great Wall Kempinski Hotel
- 97 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Apr 13, 2013 - Jinglun Hotel
- 66 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 22, 2013 - China People's Palace Beijing
- 12 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jan 10, 2013 - The Regent Beijing
- 375 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 22, 2013

Travel with Pets
Historical Travel
Castles and Palaces
Comments (21)
What a wonderful page. I enjoyed the tour!
Thanks for visiting my Ein-Boqeq page! I'm planning my trip to China now, and it's interesting to read your experince there in 1988! Ilan
you look younger and the view of pekin is amazbng bye
Fantastic; it's all I can say!
Forbidden city is a topic in Beijing, thxs for the memories
Nice to see the forbidden city and the great wall - both very topical recently - thanks Sergey for sharing
Another historical city in the world! volopolo
Very good and interesting tips You work hard your tips with very good information
An interesting page on an interesting time to visit China, Sergey, before the giant changes now occurring. You were fortunate to be able to see the 'historic' Beijing.
I must visit this city once! Well done, Sergej and thanks for looking my H. page :)