History of the Mongols - creation of the state and conquests. Stories about Beijing. history and modernity A brief excursion into the history of the Northern capital

Beijing

Beijing

capital of China. First mention of a settlement on site modern Beijing dates back to the 2nd millennium BC. e. Subsequently, the city grew and during its existence repeatedly became the capital of various state formations that arose on WITH. China, and with changes in its watering, affiliation and adm. The provisions changed and so did its names. At first it is a small trading village of Ji (Chinese ji "village, place", and "market, fair") , then the capital of the state Yan Yanjing (Chinese ching "capital") , Yuzhou - "right city" (when focusing on YU. right - "west") . In X V., during the invasion from WITH. Khitan, it gets the name Nanjing - "South Capital", but in XII V. already Zhongdu - "average capital", in the XIII-XIV centuries. capital of the Yuan Empire Dadu - "main capital". After liberation from the Mongols in 1368 G. gets the name Beiping - "pacified north". In 1421 G. The capital of the empire was moved to it from Nanjing, and from that time on the city received its current name Beijing - "northern capital". However, in 1927-1949 gg. When Chiang Kai-shek's capital was Nanjing, the city was returned to its medieval name Beiping; since 1949 G. it is again called Beijing. IN Russian in use, the Beijing form was fixed from that adopted in European countries spelling Peking, based on South China. pronunciation of this name. Cm. also Nanjing.

Geographical names of the world: Toponymic dictionary. - M: AST. Pospelov E.M. 2001.

Beijing

(Beijing), Beijing , capital China, political, economic, financial, scientific and cult. center of the country; The 2nd largest city (after Shanghai) in the country. OK. 5.8 million inhabitants (2000), with subordinate territories of approx. 13.8 million people One of the oldest cities in China, known since the 2nd millennium BC. e. Under different names it was repeatedly the capital of the ancient and middle ages. Chinese states. Since 1368 it was called Beiping (“pacified north”). Named in 1403 Beijing (“northern capital”; hence the Russian name Beijing), and in 1421 it became the capital of the Chinese Ming Empire. In 1644 it was occupied by the Manchus. In 1618, the Russian traveler I. Petlin visited P., and in 1716 a Russian spiritual mission was created. In 1937–45 occupied by Japanese troops.
In the southwest h. buildings of the 12th century have been preserved. By 1553, the outskirts formed the Outer City, which in the past was also surrounded by brick walls. Int. the city (on the site of the Mongol city of Dadu) included a walled and moated complex of the Imperial City with palaces, temples, pagodas, parks, hills and lakes (including the Taimiao Temple - “Temple of Remembrance of Ancestors”, 1420), the Shejitan altar ( "Altar of deities, earth and cereals", XV century), park on Meishan ("Coal Mountain", or Jingshan - "Mountain of Beautiful View"), Beihai Park on the shore and lake. Beihai ("North Sea") with the Baita Lamaist Pagoda ("White Pagoda"), the Baitasy Temple ("White Pagoda Temple", now Yun'ansi, "Temple of Eternal Peace"), Ulunting pavilions ("Five Dragons Pavilions", 1651). South the wall of the Imperial City ended with the Chengtianmen Gate (1420; in its place in 1651 the new Tiananmen Gate - “Gate of Heavenly Peace”) and the square were built. To the south part of the Outer City - the Tiantan ensemble ("Temple of Heaven", 1420–1530); Qingyandian ("Temple of Prayer for a Rich Harvest", 1420); Huangqunyu ("Hall of the Firmament", 1530); altar of Huanqiu ("Altar of Heaven", 1530). At the end of the 17th–19th centuries. Numerous temples (Shangyindian - “Temple of the Source of Kindness”; Wanfolou - “Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas”), gazebos, and galleries arose on the territory of the Imperial City. In the 18th century Yonghegong Lamaist Monastery was built. In the north-west On the outskirts of P. there is the summer imperial residence and Yiheyuan Park on the city of Wanshoushan (XVI-XIX centuries). After 1949, the Great Hall of the People, the Museum of the Chinese Revolution and Chinese History (1959), the mausoleum of Chairman Mao and the monument to the people's heroes, the National Palace were built on Tiananmen Square (the largest in the world). cultures, center telegraph (1958). Main trades. streets in the center of P. - Wangfujindajie, Xidanbeidajie and Qianmindajie. Government institutions are concentrated in the west, and in the northwest. - the most important universities and scientific institutes, in the north - new residential areas, in the east. and south the outskirts are dominated by industrial pr-tiya.
Peking University (1898); Tsinghua University (Tech.), People's University of China, Center. Institute of Nationalities, Pedagogical, Medical, Agricultural in-you; center. conservatory; institutes of iron and steel, aeronautics and astronautics, oil, geological exploration, forestry, rural mechanization. x-va, foreign languages. Academy of Sciences of the People's Republic of China, Academy of Medicine. Sciences, Academy of Agricultural Economics sciences; observatory and planetarium; Botanical Garden; national Beijing Library (13.1 million volumes), center. Library of the Academy of Sciences of the People's Republic of China. Museum in the former imperial palace (Gugong). Chinese artist gallery, military museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, museum of nature, museum of the writer Lu Xun, geol. museum. Capital Theaters, Tianqiao. Zoo (about 5 thousand animals of more than 500 species, including giant pandas).
Ferrous metallurgy, machinery (including transport), oil refining, communications and radio electricity, chemistry. (including petrochemical), text. industry Traditional handicrafts (wood, ivory, jade carving; carpet weaving) are widely known. A metallurgist has been working in Shijingshan (on the Yundinghe River, 20 km west of Poland) since 1920. plant Large transport junction of the People's Republic of China, from which railways depart in all directions. d. and highway. Beijing Station is the largest in the country. Beijing - Capital Airport ("Capital"). Outport P. on the shore of the hall. Bohaiwan of the Yellow Sea (180 km from P.) - Tianjin. The Beijing Canal (25 km; 1956–57) connects Peking with the river. Yundinghe (source of water supply). Metropolitan (1969; 2 lines 40 km). The bicycle is very popular.

Dictionary of modern geographical names. - Ekaterinburg: U-Factoria. Under the general editorship of academician. V. M. Kotlyakova. 2006 .

Beijing

the capital of the People's Republic of China, located in northeast China, approximately 160 km northwest of the port of Tianjin. Before the formation of the People's Republic in 1949, Beijing was surrounded by a city wall and had a diameter of about 8 km. It occupied the outskirts of an agricultural area with an area of ​​780 square meters. km in Hebei Province. Soon after 1949, the city was given the status of an independent administrative unit, directly subordinate to the Central People's Government, and its territory was expanded to 17,793 square meters. km. Beijing is now one of China's main industrial cities, a cultural center and the heart of one of the most populous metropolitan regions in the world.
Geographical location and climate. Beijing proper is located within the lowlands at the northern end of the North China Plain. About 3/5 of the city's territory, together with its suburbs, lies in the mountainous area that frames the old city from the west, north and east. Several rivers flow through the plains around Beijing, including the Baihe and Yundinghe, which constitute the city's main source of water supply. Beijing is located within a seismic zone, and in 1976 the city of Tangshan, located 160 km east of Beijing, was destroyed by an earthquake, causing significant damage to the capital itself. Weather conditions in Beijing are influenced by spring and summer monsoon winds blowing from the northwest and southeast. In early spring, northwest winds from the Gobi Desert blanket the city in clouds of yellow dust. In summer, southeast winds from the ocean cause heavy downpours, causing about 3/4 of the annual precipitation (610 mm) to occur in the summer season. In general, summers in Beijing are hot and humid, while winters are cold and dry. However, from mid-September to November the weather is clear, cool and very pleasant.
Population. Beijing grew enormously after 1949, when it had just over 2 million inhabitants, 4/5 of whom lived in the city itself. By 1988, the population of Greater Beijing was estimated to be 10,670,000 people, including almost 6,710,000 people living in the city itself. The most important reason for this growth was rapid industrialization.
Planning and architecture. Since its founding during the Yuan dynasty, Beijing has largely been the capital of China. To this day, the appearance of the city clearly shows features associated with its dominant role in the empire. The territory of old Beijing is clearly divided into two parts: the square “Inner” or “Tatar City” in the north and the oblong “Outer” or “Chinese City” adjacent to it from the south.
The "Tatar City", whose name reflects its creation during the reign of the Mongol conquerors in the 13th century, was built along the main axis - a straight line crossing it from north to south, and surrounded by 12-meter walls, which were dismantled only in the 1950s. e years. Inside the walls of the “Tatar City”, about 24 km long, were two palace ensembles, created mainly in the 15th century. during the Ming Dynasty and also surrounded by walls.
In the very center was the Purple, or Forbidden City, framed by a moat. Behind its 3.6 km long walls was the Imperial Palace, built from 1406 to 1420 and currently a museum. The palace complex consists of more than 9,000 rooms, its total area is about 100 hectares. The architectural ensemble includes huge gates, audience halls and living quarters. The yellow tiled roofs of the buildings rise above the red adobe walls of the city. In the center of the “Forbidden City” are the “Pavilion of Supreme Harmony”, where the imperial throne was located, the “Pavilion of Complete Harmony”, where political decisions were developed, and the “Pavilion of Harmony Preservation”, where diplomats and scientific advisers received receptions. The pavilions are located on terraced pedestals; long flights of white marble stairs lead to their entrances. Each of the pavilions was arranged in such a way that the emperor always sat with his face facing exactly south and with the North Star behind him. The same orientation of buildings in the direction from north to south was maintained throughout the “Tatar City”, built symmetrically around a single meridional axis.
In general, the buildings of the Forbidden City are subordinated to a single plan. They are typically single-story, with light timber walls, and their massive roofs, with gracefully raised eaves, are supported by complex systems of beams and brackets supported by strong wooden columns. Structures of this type have an important advantage: they are practically not damaged during earthquakes. However, they are extremely vulnerable to fire, and many of the surviving buildings have required major repairs or rebuilding more than once over their long history. This work is carefully continued by the current Chinese government.
The “Forbidden City” was surrounded by a second square of red walls with a total length of 9.7 km, inside which the so-called. The "Imperial City", which included imperial parks, temples and minor palaces. Its southern wall survives to this day, as do sections of the western wall adjacent to two artificial lakes: Zhonghai (Central Sea) and Nanhai (South Sea). Around them were located secondary palaces, which currently serve as receptions and residences for the Chinese leadership. To the north is a third man-made lake, Beihai (North Sea), which is surrounded by a public park. On an island in the middle of this lake stands the famous White Pagoda in the Tibetan style, built in the 17th century. The National Beijing Library and the All-China Handicraft Exhibition are nearby.
There are three more parks inside the Imperial City. One of them, Meishan Park, or Jingshan, is located directly north of the Forbidden City on the "Coal Mountain" - a mound formed by excavation to create the three artificial lakes of the "Imperial City". From this hill, which is the highest point of Beijing, a wide panorama of the entire capital opens. Two more parks occupy part of the “Imperial City”, located south of the walls of the “Forbidden City”, i.e. territory where imperial temples were previously located. To the east of the Tiananmen Gate, on the site of the family Temple of the Emperor's Ancestors, there is the People's Cultural Park with the Palace of Workers' Culture, and to the west of the Tiananmen Gate, inside the walls that formerly enclosed the imperial "Altar of the Deities of the Earth and Grains", there is currently Zhongshanyuan Park, or Sun Park Yat-sen, leader of the 1911–1912 revolution that destroyed imperial power.
To the south of the two named parks is the surviving southern wall of the “Imperial City”, in the center of which is the famous Tiananmen Gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace) in the center. It was from here that in 1949 Mao Zedong proclaimed the formation of the People's Republic of China, and it was here, on the huge Tiananmen Square, expanded in 1950, that the political life of the republic is concentrated. Tiananmen Square houses the Monument to the People's Heroes and the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, a mausoleum where the body of the Chinese leader is kept, open to the public. Its northern border is Chang'anjie (Eternal Peace Avenue), Beijing's main boulevard. Along it are located many of the city's more modern attractions. On the western side of the square, a monumental building was erected - the House of the National People's Congress, where congresses of this supreme body of power and other important state events are held. Opposite this building is an impressive complex of buildings that houses the Chinese History Museum and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. On the square itself, grandiose demonstrations and fireworks are held on national holidays.
The public buildings in Tiananmen Square are probably the most important structures of this third, outer part of the "Tatar City". Initially, this area was the location of the residences of the nobility, palace courtiers and imperial officials. It later became known as the "Embassy Quarter" as it housed many foreign missions. The area is crisscrossed by many main streets running east-west and north-south, as well as a network of hutongs, side streets containing shops, restaurants, markets and residential areas enclosed by high gray walls with large red gates.
Until the 1950s, the southern wall of the "Tatar City" ran immediately south of Tiananmen Square, and although the walls and massive gates were later dismantled, the line along which they ran can be traced along the remaining canals - former fortress moats filled with water. Behind these walls begins the “Outer” or “Chinese City”, which had a rectangular plan with dimensions of 3.2 km from north to south and 8 km from west to east. Initially, it was an area occupied by shopping and entertainment establishments. Their owners concentrated here to serve the rich people who lived inside the walls of the “Tatar City”. In the middle of the 16th century. and this area was, in turn, surrounded by a protective wall 6 m high, and the network of its streets was ordered in accordance with the specialization of the enterprises located in one or another of them: for example, the sale of paper, writing instruments, ceramic tiles, jade jewelry , cloisonne enamel, etc. This specialization has been partially preserved to this day. The “Outer City” also housed larger shopping areas, as well as religious temples. Most of the latter, both in the "Tatar" and in the "Chinese" city, were later converted into schools and other government institutions, however, despite the fact that the "Outer City" was largely included in the mainstream of modern political life, it remains in many ways the most diverse and colorful part of Beijing.
On the southern outskirts of the old "China Town" there are two large parks. Tiantan (Temple of Heaven Park) in the southeast contains an ensemble of buildings where important state sacrifices were once performed. One of the temple buildings, the “Altar of Heaven,” is a three-stage terrace made of white marble. The three tiers symbolize the three elements: heavenly, earthly and human. The second structure, Huangqunyu (Hall of the Heavenly Vault), is 20 m high and has an octagonal plan. This building is surrounded by an elaborate "wall of echoes". The third building, Qingyandian Hall (Hall of Harvest Prayers), is a 27 m high circular building with a three-tiered roof. Its dark blue glazed roof tiles, intricate woodwork and stunningly decorated interior make it one of Beijing's most popular tourist attractions. This entire pavilion, with its decoration, rich in traditional symbolism, represents one of the main architectural monuments of China.
The second largest park of the Outer City, Taozhanting (which in Chinese means “Gazebo a little drunk”), is located to the west. Between the two named parks is the ancient imperial “Temple of Agriculture” (or “Temple of the God of Agriculture”), where the emperor himself, dressed as a peasant, led a ritual dedicated to spring plowing and offered prayers for a bountiful harvest.
Other attractions in the Outer City include the Beijing Stadium and sports complex, located in the southeast of the city, and the huge Beijing Railway Station, located just outside the wall of the Imperial City on the northeastern edge of the Outer City. Its construction was completed in 1959. Numerous seven- and ten-story residential buildings were also erected in the "Outer City", in addition to the four- and five-story ones built before 1949. However, the overall skyline of Beijing still remains relatively low, due to its old One or two-story buildings were determined by an imperial law that prohibited the construction of buildings taller than the temples of the Forbidden City.
Beijing also lacks a central business district. Instead, large and small shopping centers are scattered throughout the city, allowing city residents to shop mostly in the same areas where they live. Perhaps Beijing's busiest commercial thoroughfare is Wangfujing Street, which runs along the eastern side of the "Imperial City" north of Chang'anjie. This street is home to the 17-story Beijing Hotel, the tallest building in the old city, as well as the Beijing Department Store and Dongfeng Market, the largest indoor shopping center that houses a variety of small shops and restaurants.
Capital region. After 1949, and especially after the old city walls were demolished, Beijing expanded widely in all directions at such a rate that it is now often difficult to determine where Beijing proper ends and the suburbs begin. Moving away from the city center, the traveler sees new residential buildings, factories and office buildings rising everywhere among densely planted fields. The further from the center, the greater the role gardens and farms play in the landscape, however, medium- and large-sized industrial enterprises are also found here. Beijing's original expansion plans called for a concentration of new industrial sites in the southeast of the city to minimize the threat of air pollution given prevailing wind directions, but there are numerous exceptions, chief among them the large Shijingshan Iron and Steel Works, located 19 km west of Beijing. cities. Elsewhere in the west there are numerous military camps as well as military factories, while the southwest is home to one of China's main nuclear research centers. The southern and eastern suburbs are home to a number of large industrial complexes, including oil refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants, engineering and automobile plants, and textile factories. The northern sector contains mainly cultural and scientific institutions, as well as several parks, sports complexes, a zoo and the Druzhba hotel with a tourist center.
Three attractions located outside the old town deserve special attention. The first of them is the old “Summer Palace” (Yiheyuan), located 11 km northwest of the city, one of the most popular vacation spots for Beijing residents. The park has served as the site of imperial gardens and palaces since at least 1153. The modern complex consists mainly of restored buildings, construction of which began in the late 19th century. The park contains Lake Kunminghu and Mount Wanshoushan (Longevity Mountain) to the north of it. Temples and graceful pagodas rise on the mountain. Along the shore of the lake there is a long gallery connecting the buildings of the palace complex at the foot of Wanshoushan Mountain with each other. There are beautiful bridges across the lake: the Camel's Back Bridge and the Shikunqiao Seventeen-Span Bridge. In the distance, behind the bridges, you can see the famous Jade Pagoda.
The Tombs of the Ming Dynasty Emperors, located along an avenue 32 km northwest of Beijing, the burial place of 13 emperors, is another attraction in the capital's suburbs. A smoothly curving road (“The Path of High Virtue”) leads to them, framed by monumental stone sculptures. In front of the oval burial mounds, which contain the tombs themselves, rise ocher-red pavilions under traditional yellow tiled roofs with corners turned up.
The third outstanding landmark near Beijing is the Great Wall of China itself. The only man-made object on Earth large enough to be seen from the Moon, this gigantic fortification lies 48 km from Beijing. The Great Wall of China, 4,000 km long, stretches in a winding ribbon from the Yellow Sea to the Gobi Desert.
Education and cultural life. Beijing has 49 institutions of higher education, including some of China's most prestigious universities. Among them is Peking University, founded in 1898 and which has been the center of Chinese scientific and political activity since the May 4th movement of 1919. In 1953, the university moved from its old location in the city to the northern suburbs, to the town of the former Yanjing University, which existed on American subsidies.
Tsinghua University, Beijing's second eminent academic school, opened in 1911 and quickly became China's leading university in the sciences and humanities. Other well-known educational institutions, mostly opened after 1949, include the People's University of China, which enjoys special authority in economic sciences, and a number of specialized technical institutes.
China's largest library, the Beijing Library boasts an outstanding collection of classical works inherited from imperial collections spanning nearly 1,200 years. Other important libraries in Beijing are based at the Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Historical Museum and the main universities of the capital.
Beijing is also rich in museums. Particularly interesting are the Palace Museum (Gugong), located in the Forbidden City, and the Chinese Historical Museum in Tiananmen Square. Both of these museums have outstanding collections of antiquities. Other notable museums include the Chinese Revolution Museum, the Chinese People's Revolutionary War Museum, the Central Natural History Museum, the Geological Museum and the Chinese Art Museum. Many city parks and churches also host interesting exhibitions of works of art and objects of material culture, and the Minsk Graves Museum displays a unique collection of objects from the Ming period discovered during recent archaeological excavations.
There are more than 25 theaters in Beijing, where Western-style dramas, operas, modern Chinese musicals, concerts, acrobatic and dance performances are staged. Cinema is also very popular in the city, as are competitions in various sports such as basketball, table tennis, gymnastics, athletics and swimming. In addition to practicing many of these sports, Beijing residents place an unusual amount of emphasis on maintaining their usual good physical shape, and every morning the streets and parks of the city are filled with groups of people practicing Wushu and traditional Chinese gymnastics.
Public transport. Beijing is one of China's main transport hubs. The new Beijing airport, located about 16 km northeast of the city, is connected by flights to major cities in China and to foreign countries. There are also 4 major railways leading to Beijing.
Within the city, passenger transportation is carried out by buses and trolleybuses. Although the city transport fleet is somewhat outdated, the routes follow a schedule with small intervals, and ticket prices remain very low. There are also commuter bus routes. In addition, the first line of the modern Beijing Subway links Beijing Station, located in the old "China Town", with the suburb of Shijingshan, located approximately 16 km to the west. The second metro line, encircling the ancient “Tatar City” in a ring, was put into operation in the 1980s.
The private vehicle fleet in China is still small, but Beijing has a good, albeit relatively expensive, taxi service. However, the main means of transport for most city residents is the bicycle, and although goods are mostly transported by trucks today, tricycles, as well as oxcarts, are still widely used for transporting both passengers and small loads.
Control. The Beijing Central Administrative Region consists of 9 urban districts and 9 suburban districts, which are subordinate to the Beijing People's Congress. District leaders carry out the day-to-day management of their areas in accordance with the overall budget and policies established by the municipality. Districts are divided into subdistricts, street committees organized locally, and subordinate organizations of individual educational institutions, enterprises and residential areas. Districts are divided into communes, brigades and work groups.
Economy. Although Beijing is not yet as industrialized as Shanghai or Shenyang, it has nevertheless become a major center for the production of textiles and synthetic fibers, petrochemical products, light and heavy engineering, equipment manufacturing, cars and trucks, agricultural machinery, printing and electronics, including computers and televisions. At the same time, this city remains the main center for the development of artistic folk crafts in China. It is famous for its traditional cloisonne enamels, lacquer, jade and ivory carvings, and paper art. Agricultural production also plays an important economic role in Beijing's suburban area, where farmers grow large quantities of grains and a variety of vegetables for local consumption.
Story. Historically, the site of what is now Beijing has been the site of a large settlement since at least 1027 BC, when the city of Ji, the capital of the feudal state of Yan, was founded here during the Zhou dynasty. The Yan state fell during the unification of China under the rule of the emperors of the Qin dynasty in the 3rd century. BC, but its capital Ji retained its importance, mainly due to its location on the extreme protrusion of the North China Plain. Situated on an important trade route to Mongolia, Manchuria and Korea, the city served both as a fortress to protect the interior of the country from invasions from the north, and as a stronghold for the expansion of Chinese influence in these countries.
In 608 AD Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty ordered the construction of a canal from the Huang He River to Beijing to supply his troops involved in the military campaign against Korea. This canal was later connected to other canals to the south to form the Grand Canal, part of which, near Beijing, is still in use today. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty in 907 AD. Beijing came under the rule of foreign conquerors from Manchuria and served as the provincial capital for more than 300 years (during the Liao and Jin dynasties). Then in 1271, the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan, who conquered the Jin state, declared the city the capital of the Yuan Empire he founded. Dadu, as the new capital was called, quickly became one of the most open, cosmopolitan cities in the world. Marco Polo and other Europeans visited it already in the 13th century. However, in 1367 Dadu fell, conquered by Chinese forces under the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, who moved his capital to Nanjing and renamed Dadu Beiping (Pacified North).
During this period, Beiping was ruled by one of the emperor's sons, Ruler Yan, but at the beginning of the 15th century. he usurped the imperial throne, and in 1420 the capital returned to Beiping, which was accordingly renamed Beijing (in Russian traditional transcription Beijing), meaning “Northern capital”. From that time on, Beijing remained the capital of China, with the exception of a brief period from 1928 to 1949, when the Kuomintang government restored the decision of the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, choosing Nanjing as its capital and renaming Beijing again to Beiping.
In modern times, Beijing has been both the center of China's conflicts with foreign countries and the focus of revolutionary changes associated with China's perception of Western ideas and forms of government. In 1860, British and French troops captured the city, destroying a significant part of the imperial "Summer Palace". In 1900, the city was again occupied by foreign troops during the so-called. Yihetuan, or Boxer, uprising. In 1919, Beijing became the center of activity for political and other forces, including both the May Fourth movement, aimed at renewing China and its liberation from foreign domination, and the communist revolutionary movement, which came to power about 30 years later. In 1937, the city was again captured by foreign troops, this time Japanese, who held it until 1945, when they surrendered to the Kuomintang. On January 23, 1949, Kuomintang troops, in turn, surrendered the city to the communists after a symbolic siege that lasted 6 weeks, and on October 1, 1949, the formation of the People's Republic of China was proclaimed from the Tiananmen Gate rostrum in Beijing.
Communist rule brought relative stability to Beijing, but the city soon faced new challenges resulting from thirty years of rapid industrial and population growth. By 1980, shops, services and transport were overloaded, and the housing crisis worsened. Industrial construction took over much of the city's valuable agricultural land, industrialization strained the city's water supply, and air pollution became a serious threat to public health. As a result, a decision was made to limit the further growth of the city.
LITERATURE
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Kapitsa L.L. Beijing ancient city. M., 1962
Encyclopedia of New China. M., 1989

Encyclopedia Around the World. 2008 .

BEIJING

CHINA
Beijing (Beijing) is the capital and one of the oldest cities in China. The city and its surrounding areas are separated into an independent administrative unit of central subordination. The area of ​​the capital is 16,800 km2 (for comparison, the area of ​​Moscow is 0.9 thousand km2), the population is 5.8 million people (with suburbs - 10.9 million people). Beijing ranks sixth among the world's capitals in terms of population. The average age of Beijing residents is 30 years. The rapid population growth is helped by a favorable climate. The most difficult months are the summer months, when the temperature rises to 40 degrees with 100% humidity. The average summer temperature is 26 degrees. In winter, the thermometer rarely drops below five degrees below zero, and from February it gets noticeably warmer.
Beijing was probably founded in the 16th century BC. Over three millennia, the city has changed several names and is now called Beijing (Northern Capital).
The sights of Beijing have long become world famous, and not in vain. Tourists are unlikely to encounter such a multitude of cultural monuments gathered in one place anywhere: here are the Imperial Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, and the tombs of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and the famous Peking Opera.
In the center of the city is the largest square in the world - Tiananmen Square. Here, from the gates of Heavenly Peace, imperial decrees were once announced, and in 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the declaration of the formation of the People's Republic of China. On the square there is a 38-meter monument to the People's Heroes - a square stele with the sayings of Mao and Zhou Enlai, there is also a huge building of the Great People's Palace, where meetings of the Chinese Parliament are held, and the grandiose mausoleum of Mao Zedong.
Behind the mausoleum is the Imperial Palace. Entering it, you find yourself in an amazing world of perfect harmony of palace pavilions, throne and reception halls, luxury of living quarters, stone lace of white marble bridges spanning an artificial canal with the poetic name “Golden River”. Statues in front of the buildings, huge partially gilded bronze vessels in which water collects during rain, the Wall of the Nine Dragons, mythical figures on the roofs of the pavilions, the imperial garden with mosaic paths and trees as gates and countless more pavilions and apartments make up the “Forbidden City” ", in which in ancient times there were more than a thousand buildings.
Beihai Park is located around the lake, north of Coal Hill, where a memorial marker has been erected at the site of the suicide of the last Ming Dynasty emperor in 1644. In the park you can enjoy Chinese cuisine at the famous Fangshan restaurant, which was opened in 1926 by former court chefs, enjoy ice cream, ride a boat and admire the blooming lotus. In the southern part of the lake is the Jade Island, on which there is a temple complex with the White Pagoda visible from afar, built in honor of the Dalai Lama on the model of a Tibetan monastic tomb made of white shell rock.
In the northeast of the Old Town there is a Lamaist temple, which was built in 1694 as the residence of the prince. In 1744 it was converted into a Lamaist monastery, where 500 monks settled. The huge pavilion contained three huge Buddha statues and 18 tub sculptures. In the old days, the second pavilion was empty so that nothing would distract from meditation. Today it houses a six-meter statue of Tsongkhawa, a Tibetan monk who founded the Yellow Turban sect, which has become the state church of Tibet since 1640. At the exit of the pavilion, an image of a mountain carved from sandalwood with figurines of 500 disciples of Buddha, made of gold, silver, bronze, tin and iron, attracts attention.
On the southern outskirts of Beijing is the world famous temple complex of the Chinese traditional cult of heaven - the Temple of Heaven, built during the Ming Dynasty. In this temple, Chinese Emperors made sacrifices to the spirits of their ancestors and prayed to Heaven to send down the harvest. The Temple of Heaven complex consists of the Temple of Harvest Prayer, the Temple of the Ancestors, which houses tablets with the names of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the Altar of Heaven - the realm of number symbolism, especially 9, the largest simple odd number, the yang symbol. The complex also includes other buildings, including the “Returning Sounds” wall, the acoustic properties of which are such that the voice of someone standing near the wall can be heard throughout the vast courtyard.
20 km from Beijing there is a huge Summer Palace (area - 290 km2) - a park ensemble with residential buildings, temples and pavilions, spread out along the shores of an artificial lake. The first pavilions for the rest of rulers appeared here in the 12th century, and the first temple was built at the beginning of the 16th century. Even the names of the pavilions and secluded corners of the park sound beautiful music: the Garden of Harmony and Virtue, the Pagoda of Spirits and Buddha, the Garden of Harmonious Joy, the Pavilion of Jade Waves. In windy weather, the quiet melodious ringing of bells adorning the roof ridges of the pavilions can be heard throughout the park. A 728-meter covered gallery stretches along the shore of the lake, where you can stroll even when it rains. At the exit from the gallery at the pier stands the infamous Marble Ship, on which a large part of the navy's treasury was once spent.
50 km north of Beijing, 13 Ming Dynasty tombs are located in a secluded valley. The complex includes the Great Red Gate, a special pavilion with a stone turtle, on which stands a stele with inscriptions glorifying the emperors, the Alley of Spirits with life-size sculptures of animals and huge guards, the wooden gates of the Dragon and Phoenix, and the actual tombs with burial chambers and sarcophagi.
90 km north of Beijing there is a restored section of the Great Wall - a favorite place for excursions. At the foot of the wall there are several souvenir shops and many merchants offering a variety of souvenirs right in the open air.
The capital of China is visited annually by up to one and a half million foreigners, who leave over 700 million US dollars in the country's tourism sector (there are 200 major sites in the city).
Work on the construction and improvement of the city does not stop around the clock: potholes on the roads are “healed” overnight, highways are laid in several weeks. For example, over the five summer months of 1992, nine new expressways were built in Beijing. And yet Beijing is a city of cyclists. The bicycle came from Europe, but how Chinese it became can be judged by the Chinese joke: a Chinese child is born sitting on a bicycle.
There are more than two hundred large enterprises (employing over a thousand people) in Beijing, including the coal industry, ferrous metallurgy, automotive industry, chemical industry, and light industry. In addition, the petrochemical, military, radio-electronic, printing, food industries, and production of building materials are developed; artistic crafts. Like most large industrial cities around the world, Beijing faces the problem of environmental pollution. The dustiness of the atmosphere is especially noticeable - the result of the use of coal for heating homes. The amount of dust can be judged at least by the light collar, which turns black in the evening.
Beijing is gradually becoming a real pearl of the East: 7,000 historical monuments have been taken under state protection, traditional spectacles have been revived, and hotels and restaurants can satisfy the most demanding clients.

Encyclopedia: cities and countries. 2008 .

Beijing

Beijing is the capital of China (cm. China)- surprises with its scale and growth rate. The city's population has exceeded 9 million people, its area is 17.8 thousand square meters. km (for comparison, the area of ​​Moscow is 0.9 thousand sq. km). Work on the construction and improvement of the city does not stop around the clock: potholes on the roads are “healed” overnight, highways are laid in several weeks. For example, over the five summer months of 1992, nine new expressways were built in Beijing. And yet Beijing is a city of cyclists. The bicycle came from Europe, but how Chinese it became can be judged by the Chinese joke: a Chinese child is born sitting on a bicycle.
There are more than 200 large enterprises (employing over a thousand people) in Beijing, including the coal industry, ferrous metallurgy, automotive industry, chemical industry, and light industry. Like most large industrial cities around the world, Beijing faces the problem of environmental pollution. The dustiness of the atmosphere is especially noticeable - the result of the use of coal for heating homes. The amount of dust can be judged at least by the light collar, which turns black in the evening.
The sights of Beijing have long become world famous and not in vain. Tourists are unlikely to encounter such a multitude of cultural monuments gathered in one place anywhere: here are the Imperial Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, and the tombs of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and the famous Peking Opera. In the center of the city is the largest square in the world - Tiananmen Square. Here, from the gates of Heavenly Peace, imperial decrees were once announced, and in 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the declaration of the formation of the People's Republic of China. On the square there is a 38-meter monument to the People's Heroes - a square stele with the sayings of Mao and Zhou Enlai, there is also a huge building of the Great People's Palace, where meetings of the Chinese Parliament are held, and the grandiose mausoleum of Mao Zedong.
Behind the mausoleum is the Imperial Palace. Entering it, you find yourself in an amazing world of perfect harmony of palace pavilions, throne and reception halls, luxury of living quarters, stone lace of white marble bridges spanning an artificial canal with the poetic name “Golden River”. Statues in front of the buildings, huge partially gilded bronze vessels in which water collects during rain, the Wall of the Nine Dragons, mythical figures on the roofs of the pavilions, the imperial garden with mosaic paths and trees as gates and countless more pavilions and apartments make up the “Forbidden City” ", in which in ancient times there were more than a thousand buildings.
Beihai Park is located around the lake, north of Coal Hill, where a memorial marker has been erected at the site of the suicide of the last Ming Dynasty emperor in 1644. In the park you can enjoy Chinese cuisine at the famous Fangshan restaurant, which was opened in 1926 by former court chefs, enjoy ice cream, ride a boat and admire the blooming lotus. In the southern part of the lake is the Jade Island, on which there is a temple complex with the White Pagoda visible from afar, built in honor of the Dalai Lama by a Tibetan monastic tomb made of white shell rock.
In the northeast of the old city there is a Lamaist temple, which was built in 1694 as the residence of the prince. In 1744 it was converted into a Lamaist monastery, where 500 monks settled. The huge pavilion contained three huge Buddha statues and 18 tub sculptures. In the old days, the second pavilion was empty so that nothing would distract from meditation. Today it houses a six-meter statue of Tsongkhawa, a Tibetan monk who founded the Yellow Turbans sect, which has become the state church of Tibet since 1640. At the exit of the pavilion, an image of a mountain carved from sandalwood with figurines of 500 disciples of Buddha, made of gold, silver, bronze, tin and iron, attracts attention.
On the southern outskirts of Beijing is the world-famous temple complex of the Chinese traditional cult of heaven - the Temple of Heaven, built during the Ming Dynasty. In this temple, Chinese emperors made sacrifices to the spirits of their ancestors and prayed to Heaven to send down the harvest. The Temple of Heaven complex consists of the Temple of Harvest Prayer, the Temple of the Ancestors, which houses tablets with the names of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the Altar of Heaven - the realm of number symbolism, especially 9, the largest simple odd number, the yang symbol. The complex also includes other buildings, including the “Returning Sounds” wall, the acoustic properties of which are such that the voice of someone standing near the wall can be heard throughout the vast courtyard.
20 km from Beijing there is a huge Summer Palace (area - 290 km2) - a park ensemble with residential buildings, temples and pavilions, spread out along the shores of an artificial lake. The first pavilions for the rest of rulers appeared here in the 12th century, and the first temple was built at the beginning of the 16th century. Even the names of the pavilions and secluded corners of the park sound beautiful music: the Garden of Harmony and Virtue, the Pagoda of Spirits and Buddha, the Garden of Harmonious Joy, the Pavilion of Jade Waves. In windy weather, the quiet melodious ringing of bells adorning the roof ridges of the pavilions can be heard throughout the park. A 728-meter covered gallery stretches along the shore of the lake, where you can stroll even when it rains. At the exit of the gallery at the pier stands the infamous Marble Ship, on which most of the navy's treasury was spent.
50 km north of Beijing, 13 Ming Dynasty tombs are located in a secluded valley. The complex includes the Great Red Gate, a special pavilion with a stone turtle, on which stands a stele with inscriptions glorifying the emperors, the Alley of Spirits with life-size sculptures of animals and huge guards, the wooden gates of the Dragon and Phoenix, and the actual tombs with burial chambers and sarcophagi. 90 km north of Beijing there is a restored section of the Great Wall - a favorite place for excursions. At the foot of the wall there are several souvenir shops and many merchants offering a variety of souvenirs right on the street.

Encyclopedia of tourism Cyril and Methodius. 2008 .

History of Beijing

1 Prehistoric times
2 The beginning of Chinese statehood
3 First Chinese empires
4 Liao and Jin Dynasties
5 Yuan Dynasty
6 Ming Dynasty
8 Republic of China
9 People's Republic of China

bones of synanthropes were found - representatives of the species Homo erectus, who lived in these places between 77 and 230 thousand years ago.

Traces of representatives of the species Homo sapiens, who lived in these areas during the Paleolithic period, between 27 and 10 thousand years ago, were also found in the caves. On the plains around Beijing, archaeologists have discovered the remains of Neolithic settlements, indicating that already 6-7 thousand years ago people were engaged in agriculture in these places.

2. The beginning of Chinese statehood

Shao Gong Shi was from the same family as the founder of the house of Zhou and bore the family surname Ji. The Zhou Wu-wan, having defeated the Yin ruler of Zhou, granted Shao-gun land in Northern Yan.

lands from barbarian raids. Since these lands were limited to the north by the Yanshan Mountains, after the name of the mountains the entire estate began to be called “Yan”.

Ji薊), which was located in the southwestern part of modern Beijing, in the Xuanwu and Fengtai districts. Initially, it was a separate city-state (Confucius mentions that the rulers of Ji were descendants of Huang Di), but around the 9th-8th centuries BC. e. Yan was absorbed and became its capital; Previously, the capital of Yan was located in the area of ​​​​the village of Dongjialin, which is in Liulihe on the territory of the modern Fangshan region (it was there that the remains of a walled settlement and the graves of about 200 noble people were discovered). For these reasons, Beijing is often figuratively called Yanjing(Chinese 燕京, “capital of Yan”). Like the subsequent rulers of Beijing, the Yan kingdom was constantly under threat of attack by nomads from the northern steppes, and therefore built defensive structures along its northern borders.

In the 3rd century BC. e. The Yan kingdom was destroyed by the Qin kingdom, forming the first centralized empire in Chinese history.

3. The first Chinese empires

With the formation of the Qin Empire, the city of Ji became just a provincial town near its northern border. Qin was a highly centralized state, and as part of the unification of the administrative-territorial division, it was divided into 48 regions - jun(Chinese: 郡), two of which were located on the territory of the modern city of Beijing: Ji became the capital of the Guangyang region (Chinese: 广阳郡), and to the north, in the territory of modern Miyun County, the Yuyang region was created.

The Qin Empire turned out to be short-lived and was soon replaced by the Han Empire. Initially, the bonds of centralization were weakened, and Ji City became Guangyang's destiny广阳国), but in 106 BC. e. Emperor Wu divided the territory of the empire into 13 districts - zhou(Chinese: 州), and Ji became the capital of Yuzhou County (Chinese: 幽州).

During the era of the Three Kingdoms, when instead of one state three were formed on Chinese territory, 10 of the 13 Han districts (including Yuzhou) went to the Wei kingdom. Subsequently, when China united again, forming the state of Jin, Ji lost its status as a district center (modern Zhuoxian of Hebei Province became the administrative center of Youzhou). During this period, the Buddhist temple complex of Tanzhe was built in the Xishan Mountains.

In 304, the state of Jin was destroyed by the steppe people, who formed sixteen barbarian states in its place. During this period, the territory of modern Beijing was in turn part of the states of Early Qin, Later Zhao, Early Yan and Later Yan. Finally, in 386, northern China was united under the rule of the Northern Wei dynasty, and Ji regained its status as a district center. However, due to the fact that back in 370, Jizhou County was created on the territory of modern Tianjin (Ji County still exists there), the city of Ji, located on the site of modern Beijing, began to be called Yuzhou

plain. These wars were continued by the Tang Dynasty that succeeded the Sui Dynasty; In memory of the victims of these wars, Emperor Taizong erected the Fayuan Temple 3 km southeast of Yuzhou.

renamed to area Fanyang(Chinese: 范阳郡), however, already in 758 it regained its old name Youzhou. Beginning in 710, in the border regions, to protect against the attacks of nomads, general governorates began to be established, headed by the Jedushi; Yuzhou became the headquarters of Fanyang Jedushi, which was supposed to protect the Tang Empire from si and Khitans. In 755, Yuzhou rebelled to northern China, which ultimately led to the rise of Beijing.

After the collapse of the Tang Empire at the beginning of the 10th century, the era of five dynasties and ten kingdoms began in China. In the north of China at this time, dynasties replaced one another, ruling for only a few years. In 923, the Shatuo Turks founded the Later Tang dynasty, which at the peak of its power controlled almost all of Northern China. In 936, the military leader Shi Jingtang decided to revolt, and at the same time turned to the Khitans for help. The Khitan demanded territorial concessions for their help. When Shi Jingtang proclaimed the founding of the Later Jin dynasty, he was forced to hand over sixteen counties (including Yuzhou) to the Khitans for their support.

幽州) the southern capital of the Liao state, giving it its official name Nanjing Yudufu(Chinese: 南京幽都府).

The Song Empire, which unified much of China in 960, attempted to recapture the lost northern territories. Song Taizu personally led the troops that in 979 approached Liao Nanjing and besieged the city. The city withstood a three-month siege until, finally, in the battle on the Gaoliang River (northwest of modern Xizhimen), the Song army was defeated by the Khitans. After this, the troops of the Song Empire never again went so far to the north.

Nanjing Xijinfu. The Niujie Mosque, which still exists today, was built in 996, and the Tianning Temple was built in 1100-1119.

In 1125, the Khitans were driven out by the Jurchens, who founded their own state, Jin. After the Jin military leader Wangyang Liang killed Emperor Xizong and took the throne himself, in the fourth month of the third year of his reign, under the motto “Tiande” (1151), he issued an edict to move the capital from Shangjing to Nanjing. The city was renamed from “Nanjing” (“Southern Capital”) to “Zhongdu” (“Central Capital”), and its full official name became Zhongdu Daxingfu中都大兴府). Thus, for the first time in its history, Beijing became the capital of a large empire.

Zhongdu was surrounded by a fortress wall with 13 gates (4 in the northern wall, and 3 in each of the others), the remains of which are still preserved in the Fengtai region. In 1198, the Lugouqiao stone bridge was built across the Yundinghe River.

5. Yuan Dynasty

For half a century, there were only ruins on the site of Zhongdu. In 1264, Khubilai decided to build his own capital near this place. The construction was led by architects Liu Bingzhong and Amir ad-Din. After its founding in 1271 by the Yuan Dynasty, the city became the new capital of the empire (Khubilai's former headquarters - Shangdu - received the status of "summer capital"). In Mongolian the city was called Khanbalyk(“City of Khan”), in Chinese - Daidu(“Great Capital”).

The new city was built northeast of the ruined Zhongdu, around the Gaoliang River, transformed into six "seas" (lakes): Houhai, Qianhai, Xihai (together known as Shichahai), Beihai, Zhonghai and Nanhai (together known as Zhongnanhai). To further improve the city's water supply, engineer Guo Shoujing built a network of canals, through which water from springs from the Yuquan Mountain located in the northwest through the Kunminghu Reservoir began to flow to Khanbalik. The extension of the Grand Canal allowed grain barges from the southern provinces to unload directly into the city center, which also contributed to population growth.

6. Ming Dynasty

In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang, shortly after proclaiming himself the first emperor of the Ming dynasty in Nanjing, set out on a campaign against Dadu. The last Yuan emperor, Toghon Temur, fled to Shandu, and General Xu Da, having occupied the city, razed the Yuan palaces to the ground. The city itself was renamed Beiping(Chinese 北平, “Northern pacification”); Nanjing became the capital of the new state.

the task was to protect Chinese lands from a possible attack by the Mongols from the north. Since Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son died during his lifetime, after the death of the emperor in 1402, the 16-year-old grandson inherited the throne, which did not please the living sons of Zhu Yuanzhang. During the fast-moving civil war, Zhu Di won, and in 1403 he became the new emperor. In 1421, he moved the capital of the empire from Nanjing to Beiping, and renamed the city 北京, "Northern Capital", in Russian tradition read as Beijing that part of the Great Wall that runs through the territory of the central city of Beijing was mainly built during the Ming Dynasty.

In 1550, the Mongol Altan Khan raided Beijing. He plundered the northern suburbs, but did not attempt to attack the city itself. To protect the southern suburbs, where, in particular, the Temple of Heaven was located, additional city walls were built, forming the so-called. "Outer City"

From the 15th to the 19th centuries, Beijing was, if not the largest, then one of the largest cities in the world. To provide food for the rapidly growing urban population, as well as the army garrison, Jingtong warehouses were erected at the end of the Grand Canal. Grain from these warehouses was used to keep food prices down, but growing populations and increasing demand made this policy increasingly ineffective.

At first, Beijingers used wood for cooking and heating. Due to rapid population growth, by the middle of the 15th century, the forests around Beijing were largely cut down, and the city's residents began to switch to coal mined in the Xishan Mountains. This transition worsened living conditions in the city and led to environmental problems.

During the Ming Dynasty, Beijing experienced 15 epidemics, including several outbreaks of plague. The health care system managed to cope with all of them, except for the epidemic of 1643, which claimed about 200 thousand lives of city residents. These losses sharply reduced the city's defenses, and it was taken by rebel peasants under the leadership of Li Zicheng, leading to the fall of the Ming Dynasty. The commander of the country's last combat-ready army, Wu Sangui, in order to recapture the capital from the rebels, teamed up with the Manchus and opened passages in the Great Wall for them. In May 1644, Li Zicheng was defeated at the Battle of Shanhaiguan, and the combined forces of the Manchus and Wu Sangui moved towards Beijing.

7. Qing Dynasty

Manchu troops under the command of Dorgon entered Beijing under the slogan of expelling Li Zicheng. The body of the last Ming Dynasty emperor was given a state funeral, and Ming Dynasty officials were reappointed. However, already in October, the young Manchu Emperor Fulin was transported from Shenyang to the Forbidden City, and Beijing became the new capital of the Manchu Qing state. During the Qing dynasty, the city was also called 京师, "Capital City"), or in Manchu.

The Manchus generally preserved the layout of Beijing within the city walls. Each of the eight Manchu “banners” was assigned to guard one of the gates of the Inner City, near which members of this “banner” settled. Outside the city walls, land was distributed to high-ranking Manchus.

To the northwest of the city, the emperors of the Qing dynasty laid out garden and palace complexes. In 1684, Shangchun Park was built on the site of the former Tsinghua Park. At the beginning of the 17th century, the construction of the Yuanmingyuan garden and palace complex began, and in 1750 Yiheyuan was built; Both of these palaces symbolized the peak of the Qing dynasty's power, and were destroyed by European troops during its decline.

In 1790, four theater troupes from Anhui Province were invited to celebrate the 80th birthday of Emperor Qianlong. From then on, Anhui troupes became regular performers at court. In 1827, Daoguang invited troupes from Hubei province to perform in parallel with the Anhuis. By 1845, the famous Peking Opera was formed from a mixture of Anhui and Hubei theatrical styles.

In 1813, a group of militants from the White Lotus Buddhist sect made a surprise attack on the Forbidden City. They were repulsed by the guards, but to control the population, the authorities then introduced a system of mutual responsibility ( ).

In 1860, during the Second Opium War, Anglo-French troops destroyed the Qing army during the Battle of Baliqiao Bridge, plundered Yuanmingyuan Palace and occupied Beijing. As punishment for the murder of European envoys, Yuanmingyuan was burned; The Forbidden City was spared for the peace treaty signing ceremony. The Qing authorities had to agree to place diplomatic residences of Western states in the city. For this purpose, an area was allocated to the southeast of the Forbidden City, which became known as the Ambassadorial Quarter. In 1886, Empress Dowager Cixi rebuilt Yuanmingyuan again, using funds intended for the construction of the fleet.

After China's defeat in the war with Japan in 1895 and the signing of the humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao began a movement to reform China. Influenced by their ideas, Emperor Guangxu launched the Hundred Days of Reform in 1898. Alarmed by these reforms, Cixi, with the help of her cousin Ronglu and the general Yuan Shikai, staged a coup, imprisoning the emperor on an island in the middle of a lake in Beihai Park. One of the results of this brief period of reform was the founding of Peking University.

In 1898, the Yihetuan uprising began in Shandong province. In the spring of 1900, the Yihetuan entered Beijing, and the 55-day Siege of the Embassy Quarter in Beijing began. By the end of the summer, the Eight Power Alliance troops had made their way to Beijing, captured the city, and occupied northeast China. Cixi fled to Xi'an, taking the emperor with her, and did not return until the signing of the Final Protocol, according to which, in particular, China had to pay a gigantic indemnity. With the money received from this indemnity, the US government established a program to educate Chinese students abroad. As part of this program, an American college was founded in Tsinghua Gardens, northwest of what was then Beijing, and was renamed Tsinghua University in 1912.

In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China was proclaimed. Beijing remained the capital of the state, but political instability in the country led to a long civil war, during which Beijing became the site of struggle between various military factions and changed hands more than once.

and zoning. From the west, through Japan, the idea of ​​city parks came to China, where ordinary people could relax, and it appealed to both the Beijing authorities and ordinary residents. The areas of some of the former imperial gardens, as well as the grounds of some temples, were converted into parks. The city authorities also began serious work to introduce modern standards of sanitation and hygiene in the city.

When, at the end of the First World War, the Paris Peace Conference decided not to return the former German concessions in Shandong province seized by Japan to China, a massive student protest demonstration took place on May 4, 1919 in Tiananmen Square. This demonstration began the May 4th Movement, which had a huge impact on the political life of China.

In 1927, the Kuomintang Party declared Nanjing the alternative capital of China, and on June 8, 1928, the National Revolutionary Army established control over Beijing, which was renamed (Chinese: 北平, “Pacified North”).

On July 7, 1937, following the Marco Polo Bridge incident, the Japanese attacked Beiping, and by July 29 they had taken full control of the city (renaming it back to Beijing). Thus began the Sino-Japanese War. To control the occupied territories of Northern China, the Japanese created the puppet Provisional Government of the Republic of China, whose capital was Beijing. On March 30, 1940, the "Provisional Government" was merged with the "Reformed Government of the Republic of China" into the pro-Japanese puppet government of the Republic of China, with its capital in Nanjing, although de facto Throughout the war, Beijing remained independent from Nanjing.

After Japan's surrender in August 1945, Beiping returned to Chinese control. During the war, the Kuomintang Party and the Communist Party of China were allies, but now a civil war has broken out between them. At the end of 1948, the People's Liberation Army of China launched the Beiping-Tianjin Operation, and on January 31, 1949, Fu Zuoyi, who commanded the defense of Beiping, defected to the Communists and surrendered Beiping without a fight; Fu Zuoi's troops joined the ranks of the PLA.

9. People's Republic of China

On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the formation of the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square. Peiping was renamed Beijing again and became the capital of China again.

The new authorities set about rebuilding the city. The old city walls were demolished, and in their place streets were laid, which currently form the Second Ring Road. By 1959 (on the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China), the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People and the National Museum of China were erected in Tiananmen Square.

As the capital of China, Beijing was in the thick of the country's political life. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) it was a center of Red Guard activity; in 1976, the Tiananmen incident took place here, when, despite a government ban, millions of people came to honor the memory of the deceased Premier Zhou Enlai, and in 1989, a series of demonstrations were held here, suppressed by troops.

Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening-up policies led to Beijing's explosive growth in the 1990s; New districts grew in the countryside surrounding the city. However, rapid modernization and sharp population growth have led to numerous problems: heavy traffic, environmental pollution, destruction of historical buildings, and a large number of migrants from villages. Air pollution led to the city's failure to win a bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games in 1993. In 2005, the city government tried to take control of the problems by allowing development of the city only in the eastern and western directions (the previous long-term plan provided for the development of the city in radial directions from the center in all directions). The efforts of the city authorities bore fruit, and the 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing at the highest level.

Beijing (Chinese: 北京, pal. Beijing, pinyin Běijīng, literally “Northern Capital”) is the capital and one of the central cities of the People's Republic of China. Beijing is surrounded on three sides by Hebei Province and borders Tianjin in the southeast.

Beijing (Beijing) is the second city in China in terms of population after Shanghai. It is the largest railway and road junction and one of the main air hubs in the country. In addition, Beijing is the political, educational and cultural center of the PRC, while Shanghai and Hong Kong are considered the main economic centers. At the same time, Beijing has recently taken on more and more the role of a locomotive of entrepreneurial activity and the main field for creating innovative enterprises.

Beijing is one of the four ancient capitals of China. In 2008, the Summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing.

Name
Beijing (in normative northern pronunciation - Beijing, Chinese 北京, pinyin Běijīng) literally means "Capital of the North", following a common East Asian tradition in which capital status is directly reflected in the name. Other cities named similarly are Nanjing in China (南京 - "Southern Capital"), Dongkinh (now Hanoi) in Vietnam, and Tokyo in Japan (with the same hieroglyphic spelling 東京 and the same meaning - "Eastern Capital"). The name of another Japanese city, Kyoto (京都) and the old name of Seoul, Gyeongseong (京城), simply mean “capital” or “capital city”.

The name Beijing does not actually correspond to modern Chinese pronunciation. In the official Putonghua dialect (which largely follows the Beijing phonetic norm), the city's name is pronounced Beijing. In English and some other languages ​​in the second half of the 20th century, the name of the city was brought into line with the real pronunciation and is usually written as Beijing. However, in Russian and in many languages ​​the old name is still used (for example, Port. Pequim, Dutch. Peking, etc.). The city was first named “Beijing” by French missionaries four hundred years ago, when the consonant shift had not yet occurred in the northern Chinese dialects, when almost all sounds were transformed into . In the southern dialects this shift did not occur, and, for example, in Cantonese the name of the capital of China is still pronounced "Bakgin".

Beijing has been known by different names in China throughout history. From 136 to 1405 and then from 1928 to 1949 it was called Beiping (Chinese: 北平, pinyin Beiping, literally "Northern Calm"). In both cases it was associated with the transfer of the capital from Beijing to Nanjing (first by the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the second - by the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China) and the loss of Beijing's capital status.

In 1949, after the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party of China returned the name Beijing (Beijing), thereby emphasizing the return of the city's functions as a capital. The government of the Republic of China, which fled to Taiwan, never officially recognized the name change, and in the 1950s and 1960s in Taiwan, Beijing often continued to be called Peiping, indicating the illegitimacy of the PRC. However, today almost all Taiwanese, including Taiwanese authorities, use the name "Beijing", although some maps published in Taiwan still show the old name, as well as the pre-1949 administrative divisions of China.

The poetic name of Beijing - Yanjing (Chinese 燕京, pinyin Yānjīng, literally "Capital of Yan") goes back to the ancient times of the Zhou Dynasty, when the kingdom of Yan existed in these places. This name is reflected in the name of the local beer brand (Yanjing Beer) and in the name of Yanjing University (later incorporated into Peking University). During the Mongolian Yuan dynasty, the city was called Khanbalik, it can be found in the notes of Marco Polo in the spelling Cambuluc.

Main article: History of Beijing
Cities in the Beijing area have existed since the first millennium BC. On the territory of the modern capital of China, the city of Ji (薊/蓟) was located - the capital of the kingdom of Yan, one of the states of the Warring States period (473-221 BC).

After the fall of Yan, the subsequent Han and Jin dynasties included this area in various counties. During the Tang Dynasty, this area became the headquarters of Jiedushi Fanyang, the military governor of the northern part of modern Hebei Province. The An Lushan Rebellion began here in 755, which is often seen as the starting point of the fall of the Tang Dynasty.

In 936, the northern Chinese Later Jin (936-947) gave most of the northern borderlands, including the territory of modern Beijing, to the Khitan Liao dynasty. In 938, the Liao dynasty established the second capital of its state on the site of present-day Beijing, calling it Nanjing (“Southern Capital”). In 1125, the Jurchen Jin Dynasty annexed the Liao Kingdom and in 1153 moved its capital to Nanjing, renaming it Zhongdu (中都 - "Central Capital"). It was located in the modern Tianning district, just southwest of the center of Beijing.

Zhongdu was burned to the ground by Mongol troops in 1215 and rebuilt a little further north in 1267. In preparation for the conquest of all of China, the future founder of the Yuan dynasty, Kublai Khan, made the city his capital and called it Dadu in Chinese (Chinese 大都, pinyin Dàdū, literally “Great Capital”), and in Mongolian - Khanbalik (Great Residence of the Khan). It was at this time that Marco Polo visited China, and in his records this city is found under the name Cambuluc. Previously, the capitals of the Chinese state were usually located in the central regions of the country, but Kublai Kublai's main base was located in Mongolia, so he chose this place because of its proximity. This decision of the khan elevated the status of the city, located on the northern outskirts of historical China. Dadu was located slightly north of the modern center of Beijing, between the northern sections of the current Second and Third Ring Roads. Remnants of Mongol fortress walls still stand in this area.

In 1368, the Yuan Dynasty fell, the city was again destroyed, but later rebuilt by the Ming Dynasty, and Shuntian County (順天) was established around it. In 1403, the third Ming Emperor Yongle again moved the capital from Nanjing to this city, renaming it Beijing (Chinese: 北京, Pal. Beijing, literally “Northern Capital”). The city also became known as Jingshi (京師 - "capital"). During the Ming Dynasty, Beijing acquired its modern contours, and the Ming fortress wall served as the city wall of Beijing until recently, when it was demolished to build the Second Ring Road in its place.

It is believed that Beijing was the largest city in the world during the periods from 1425 to 1650 and from 1710 to 1825. The Forbidden City, the residence of the Ming and Qing emperors, was built in 1406-1420, after which the Temple of Heaven (1420) and other significant structures were built. The main entrance to the Forbidden City - the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen Gate), which became the state symbol of the People's Republic of China and depicted on its coat of arms, burned twice during the Ming Dynasty and was finally restored in 1651.

The Manchus invaded China and overthrew the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty. Beijing remained the capital of Qing China throughout the dynasty's reign. As during the previous dynasty, the city was also called Qingshi, or in Manchu - Gemun Heceng. In 1900, the city suffered a siege and invasion by a combined army of Western powers during the Boxer Rebellion.

In 1911, China experienced the bourgeois Xinhai Revolution, which overthrew Qing rule and established a republic, and the capital was initially planned to be moved to Nanjing. However, after the high Qing dignitary Yuan Shikai sided with the revolutionaries and forced the emperor to abdicate, thereby ensuring the success of the revolution, the revolutionaries in Nanjing agreed that Yuan Shikai would become president of the established Republic of China and that the capital would remain in Beijing.

Yuan Shikai began to gradually consolidate power in his hands, which in 1915 ended with him declaring the creation of the Chinese Empire, and himself as the emperor. This decision turned many revolutionaries away from him, and he himself died a year later. After his death, China disintegrated into regions controlled by local warlords, the strongest of which began frequent clashes for control of Beijing (Zhili-Anhui War, First Zhili-Fintian War and Second Zhili-Fintian War).

After the success of the Kuomintang's Northern Expedition, which pacified the northern warlords, in 1928 the capital of the Republic of China was officially moved to Nanjing, and Beijing was renamed Beiping - (Chinese 北平, pinyin Běipíng, literally "Northern Calm"), which was intended to emphasize illegitimacy military government in Beijing.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Beijing fell into Japanese hands on July 29, 1937. During the occupation, the name "Beijing" was returned to the city, and the puppet Provisional Government of the Republic of China was established, under which the ethnically Chinese parts of Japanese-occupied northern China were assigned. It was then merged with Wang Jingwei's main occupation government in Nanjing. The Imperial Japanese Army stationed Detachment 1855 for Bacteriological Research in the city, which was a subdivision of Detachment 731. Japanese doctors conducted experiments on humans there.

On August 15, 1945, simultaneously with the surrender of Japan in World War II, Beijing was again renamed Peiping.

On January 31, 1949, during the civil war, the city was taken by the communists without a fight. On October 1 of the same year, the CCP, led by Mao Zedong, announced the creation of the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square. A few days earlier, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference decided to establish the capital in Beiping and return its name to Beijing (Beijing).

At the time of the formation of the administrative unit of the central city of Beijing, it included only the urban area and the nearest suburbs. The urban area was divided into many small districts, which were located inside the modern Second Ring Road. Since then, several counties have entered the territory of the city of central subordination, thus increasing its area several times and giving its borders the current outline. Beijing's fortress wall was destroyed between 1965 and 1969. for the construction of the Second Ring Road in its place.

After Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms began, Beijing's urban area expanded significantly. If before this it was located inside the modern Second and Third Ring Roads, now it gradually extends beyond the recently built Fifth Ring Road and approaches the Sixth Ring Road under construction, occupying territories previously used for agriculture and developing them as residential or business areas. A new business center emerged in the Guomao area, Wangfujing and Xidan areas became booming commercial areas, and Zhongguancun Village became one of the main centers of China's electronics industry.

In recent years, urban expansion and urbanization have brought with them many problems, including traffic congestion, air pollution, the destruction of historic buildings and a significant influx of migrants from poorer regions of the country, especially rural areas.

In early 2005, the government adopted a plan designed to stop Beijing's expansion in all directions. It was decided to abandon further development of the city in the form of concentric rings, concentrating it in two semicircular stripes to the west and east of the city center.

Geography and climate

Beijing sits at the northern tip of the roughly triangular Great Plain of China. The plain extends on the southern and eastern sides of the city. The mountains located to the north and west of Beijing protect the city and the main agricultural breadbasket of northern China from the advance of the Mongolian deserts and steppes. The northwestern regions of Beijing's administrative territory, especially Yanqing County and Huairou District, include the Jundu Mountains, while the western regions of the city are bordered by the Xishan Mountains. The construction of the Great Wall of China, which in this section stretches along the mountain ridges along the northern border of Beijing, took advantage of these landscape advantages to protect against northern nomadic tribes. Mount Dongling, part of the Xishan Mountains and located on the border with Hebei Province, is the highest point in Beijing, its height is 2303 m. Among the major rivers flowing through Beijing, the Yunding River and the Chaobai River are both part of the Haihe River basin and flow in the southern direction. In addition, Beijing is the northern terminus of the Great Canal of China, which passes through the Great Chinese Plain and ends in the south at Hangzhou. The Miyun Reservoir, built on the upper reaches of the Chaobai River, is the largest in Beijing and is a key element of the city's water supply system.

The Beijing urban area is located at 39°54′20″ N. w. 116°23′29″ E. d. / 39.905556° n. w. 116.391389° E. (G)39.905556, 116.391389 (39.9056, 116.3914) in the central-southern part of the administrative territory of Beijing and occupies a smaller but constantly increasing part of its area. It diverges in circles enclosed between the concentric ring roads of Beijing, the fifth and largest of which, the Sixth Beijing Ring Road (ring numbering starts from 2) passes through the satellite cities of the Chinese capital. Tiananmen Gate and Tiananmen Square form the center of the city. Adjacent to the north is the Forbidden City, the former residence of Chinese emperors. West of Tiananmen is the government headquarters of Zhonnanhai. From east to west, the center of Beijing is crossed by Chang'anjie Street, one of the main transport arteries of the city.

Beijing is located in a monsoon-prone humid continental climate (Dwa according to the Köppen climate classification), characterized by hot, humid summers due to the influence of the East Asian monsoons and cold, windy, dry winters influenced by the Siberian anticyclones. The average temperature in January is −7… −4°C, in July - 25… 26°C. There is more than 600 millimeters of precipitation per year, 75% of which falls in the summer, so in Beijing it can often be below -10 in winter, without snow.

A serious problem in Beijing is severe air pollution and poor air quality due to emissions from industrial plants and transport. Sand produced by desert erosion in northern and northeastern China leads to seasonal sandstorms that can paralyze city life. In the first four months of 2006 alone, there were eight sandstorms in Beijing. The fight against pollution has become one of the main tasks of the authorities in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The area around modern Beijing began to be settled in the 1st millennium BC. e. Ji, Nanjing, Zhongdu, Dadu - all these are the names of cities erected by the Chinese, Mongolian and Manchu ruling dynasties on the territory of today's metropolis and subsequently successfully destroyed by them to the ground.

At the end of the 14th century, during the era of the Ming Empire, a new settlement grew from the ashes of the former Dadu - Beijing, which the Yongle Emperor liked so much that he moved the capital of the country to it, having previously deprived Nanjing of this honorary title - a fairly large port at that time on the Yangtze River. By the way, the word “Beijing” itself is not considered truly Chinese. Residents of the Celestial Empire call their administrative center Beijing, which means “Northern Capital”.

In 1928, after the unification of China, the status of the main city of the country was again assigned to Nanjing, and Beijing was renamed Beiping (“Northern Calm”). But already in 1937, the Japanese, who had taken over the Celestial Empire, returned the metropolis to its original name, however, only for the period of occupation. In 1945, the Chinese capital became Beiping for the second time and bore this name for another 4 years, until the “Great Helmsman”, Mao Zedong, came to power.

Geography, water resources, climate

Beijing is located in the northern part of the Great Chinese Plain. From the northwest and west, the capital is protected by the Jundushan and Xishan mountain ranges. As for water resources, two relatively large rivers flow through the main city of the country - Yundihe and Chaobaihe, but only Chaiobahe supplies the capital with water, since the famous Miyun reservoir is built on it. Another waterway connecting the metropolis with other cities and provinces of the PRC is the Grand Canal.

The climate in Beijing is moderate monsoonal: in summer, due to the action of East Asian winds blowing from the ocean, the city is hot and rainy. The average July temperature in this part of the country is +25...+26 ºС. In winter, things are exactly the opposite: with the arrival of the Siberian anticyclones, dry, windy and very cold weather sets in in Beijing. By the way, despite the traditional frosts, snow is in great short supply here, which is why the cold is felt much more acutely. The average January temperature in the metropolis ranges from –7 to –4 ºС.

The optimal time to visit Beijing is traditionally considered to be the period from September to October, when the city is still quite dry, sunny and warm, but no longer has the sweltering heat that is typical for the summer months. You can also enjoy wandering the streets in April, which is surprisingly warm in the Chinese capital.

Ecological situation

Beijing had to pay for its status as the country's largest transport hub and one of its economic centers with clean air. Daily emissions from industrial facilities, exhaust gases, coal heating on the outskirts of the metropolis - these are some of the main reasons for the dense veil of smog that periodically covers the city. It’s easy to guess that in this situation, masks and respirators that protect the respiratory system from harmful fumes are the most popular goods in the Chinese capital.

Not everything is perfect with drinking water either: drinking the liquid that flows from the tap in every Beijing apartment is strictly not recommended. By the way, the residents of the capital themselves, as well as residents of other cities in the country, drink mainly warm water, which they constantly carry with them in thermoses and containers like My Bottle. On this matter, the Chinese even have their own philosophical doctrine, according to which only heated liquid helps to achieve longevity and inner harmony.

Beijing districts

The first thing that strikes a tourist who comes to Beijing is the amazing symmetry of the city layout. If you look at a map of the metropolis, the modern capital of the Celestial Empire will appear as a cluster of giant concentric circles, “cut” by arrows of boulevards and avenues. The main axis of Beijing, along which its main historical and cultural symbols are lined up in a strict order, stretches from east to west and is called Chang'anjie (literally "Street of Eternal Peace"). The dimensions of the prospectus are a separate issue; in some places Chang'anjie can stretch up to 100 m in width, but the length of the most beautiful street in China is at least 40 km.

Beijing is administratively divided into 14 districts and two counties. For sightseeing hunters, guidebooks usually recommend the Dongcheng Qū area. Firstly, there is a large rental housing market here, both elite and economy class. And secondly, it is in Dongcheng that there are such national symbols of the Chinese capital as the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the National Museum and even several ancient temples. Shopaholics and fans of Asian street food will not get bored here: you can taste fried silkworms and shop for creations by Chinese designers on the city’s main shopping street, Wangfujing, which today is almost entirely pedestrian.

The second most popular district among tourists is Xicheng Qū, which occupied part of the old city and, accordingly, grabbed a decent number of ancient attractions, in particular, all kinds of temples and museums. In addition, on its territory there are the famous Beijing Zoo, the Beihai Imperial Garden, the National Grand Theatre, Shichahai Park and Zhongnanhai Lake.

The business center of the capital is the Chaoyang district (Cháoyáng Qū). Living here is expensive, but prestigious, since this part of Beijing is aimed primarily at businessmen and representatives of the tourist elite. This is where the center of the city's nightlife is located - the Sanlitun quarter with its fashionable restaurants, bars and nightclubs, where you can not only leave all your savings in the evening, but also get into debt. Chaoyang is better known to Russian tourists for Yabaolu Street, which specializes in wholesale and small wholesale trade with Russia. You can understand that you have arrived at Yabaolu by the Russian-language (in the Chinese version) signs at shopping centers and the street thieves who masterfully fish out your wallet from your bag. The majority of representatives of the Russian diaspora live in this part of the city. Chaoyang is not rich in historical sights, but you will nevertheless find a couple of ancient sanctuaries in it - the Temple of the Sun and the Dongyue Temple.

If you have free time, it is worth taking a look at the Haidian district (Hǎidiàn Qū), which has the status of a student town due to the prestigious educational institutions concentrated on its territory. Among the interesting places in the area, we can particularly highlight the Summer Imperial Palace, Xiangshan Park, the architectural heritage of the Ming Dynasty - Dajue Temple, the botanical garden and the Zhongguancun Technology Center, which Western media dubbed "China's Silicon Valley".

Beijing sights

Modern Beijing is not only typical buildings and futuristic designs of business centers, but also all kinds of ancient sanctuaries. Temple of the Earth, Temple of Heaven, Temple of the Sun, Yonghe Temple, Temple of Confucius, Temple of the Great Bell - the list of capital attractions includes almost two and a half dozen religious buildings that survived both the destructive force of military conflicts and the blind mercilessness of the Cultural Revolution.

It is in Beijing that the largest palace complex in the world is located, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gugun or the Forbidden City covers an area of ​​72 hectares, on which about 800 different buildings fit. Erected at the beginning of the 15th century, the palace ensemble for several centuries served as the main residence of Chinese emperors, entry into which was punishable by cruel execution for a mere mortal.

Not far from the Forbidden City is the second largest attraction in Beijing - Tiananmen Square, which received its name in honor of the main gate that guarded the entrance to the Imperial City. As in the case of Gugun, the Chinese’s constant desire for everything large-scale was also reflected here: the main square of the country, according to experts, is capable of accommodating a million spectators. It is better to come to admire its architectural monuments in the morning, when the ceremony of raising the national flag takes place on the square - an event that amazes with its strict solemnity. The nearby National Museum of China, which houses unique historical artifacts dating back several millennia, is also included in the obligatory program of visits. There is another cult place on Tiananmen that every Chinese patriot must visit - this is Mao’s mausoleum.

On Chang'anjie Boulevard, in close proximity to Tiananmen Square, you can see the building of the Opera House, more often referred to by Beijingers as the “Egg”. The futuristic ellipsoidal structure rests in the center of an artificial pond and looks more like an alien spaceship than the classic concert venue that, in fact, it is.

To tour the summer residence of the Chinese emperors of the Qin Dynasty, head to the outskirts of Beijing. Surrounded by a well-kept park, the palace complex on the shores of Lake Kunming is interesting for its elegant buildings, including fancy bridges, exquisite marble pavilions, and the 700-meter Changlang Gallery.

Beijing parks also make a pleasant impression, where everything is “feng shui”. To the northeast of the Forbidden City is the Beihai Imperial Garden, founded in the 10th century, on the territory of which several ancient sanctuaries are nestled. Be sure to take time for a walk through Shichahai Park (Xicheng District), which includes three lakes. On summer days, you can rent a boat here to ride on the surface of the water, and in winter, amateur skaters strip the lake ice.

And in Beijing, you should definitely visit the stunning zoo, one of the seven largest zoos in the world. This is where the symbols of China, charming in their clumsiness, live - giant pandas, and along with them snub-nosed monkeys, South Chinese tigers and another 600 species of amazing living creatures. Tourists who prefer more active entertainment to quiet contemplation can recommend the local Happy Valley park, where there are about 100 types of carousels alone, not to mention other crazy attractions. An excellent opportunity to travel around the world without leaving Beijing is to visit the Peace Park, which has collected on its grounds copies of the most recognizable architectural monuments of the planet, reduced in a ratio of 1 to 10. If you want Asian exoticism in maximum concentration, welcome to the Beijing Opera (Jingxi) , which will completely change your ideas about this form of art.

The legendary Beijing hutongs with their cozy stone courtyards are gradually giving way to modern buildings. However, if you really want to wander through the medieval streets and look at the life of an ordinary Chinese “uncut,” you will find several authentic places in Beijing. The most “glossy” hutongs are located in the area of ​​Yonghegong Monastery and Shichahai Park. In fact, all tourists coming to the capital of China wander through these areas with their countless shops and newly restored houses. If you really want, you can come across very slum areas where the urban poor live, but such an excursion is unlikely to leave a pleasant impression.

Among the must-see suburban attractions of Beijing is the most beautiful section of the Great Wall of China - Badaling, passing through the territory of Yanqing County. The building looks like new, thanks to the large-scale restoration carried out under the “Great Helmsman”.

All attractions of Beijing

Hotels and hostels

Hotels in the capital of China are found literally at every turn. The same Booking.com offers more than 2,000 accommodation options in Beijing, including both luxury hotels and cheap hostels. A double room in “five” hotels like Celebrity International Grand Hotel and Beijing Prime Hotel Wangfujing will cost 451-734 yuan. The classics of the genre for the average budget traveler are three-star hotels, where prices for a fairly decent room range from 293 to 417 yuan. The interiors of the capital's three-ruble apartments are often made in traditional Chinese style, so if you are looking for authentic housing, take a closer look at these options.

The cheapest and most comfortable hostels are grouped in the Dongcheng and Xuanyu areas - Happy dragon, 365 Inn, Spring Time Hostel and others. If necessary, you can arrange a relatively quiet overnight stay in such establishments for 100 yuan (the cost of a bed in a common room).

Food in Beijing

In Beijing (Mandarin) cuisine, rice is respected much less than in other parts of China, but noodles, lamb and dark soy paste are adored here. The queen and at the same time the gastronomic symbol of the local table is the Peking duck. By the way, eating poultry baked over a live fire also has its own subtleties. It is better to consume aromatic meat with a crispy crust immediately after cooking, since a cooled duck automatically ceases to be considered a delicacy.

A traditional snack that can be ordered at most eateries in Beijing is sweet mulberry spring roll (fuling jiabing). Many people like the so-called hot pot - a variation on the theme of fondue, where noodles, meat, vegetables, tofu and seafood are mixed in a container with boiling broth. Those with a sweet tooth will be helped by the local confectionery brand Daoxiangkan, whose cupcakes and cookies are considered the best in the city.

For grilled scorpions, fried spiders and other unusual delicacies, go to the hawkers of Wangfujing Street. Contrary to the prevailing stereotype, Beijingers themselves treat such food with a fair amount of contempt. Arthropod skewers, which have become the hallmark of local markets, are more of a gastronomic show designed for tourists. But the caramelized fruits and meat on skewers here are really delicious.

The constant favorite among Chinese drinks is tea, although recently Beijing’s youth are increasingly leaning on coffee, which McDonald’s and Starbucks regularly supply residents of the metropolis with. Well, for tourists interested in the famous tea ceremony and who want to take part in tasting new varieties of aromatic drink, there are special tea houses.

For your information: despite the somewhat Europeanized nature of the Chinese capital, gastronomic traditions are respected here in the same way as in the provinces. Starting from 12 noon, the whole of Beijing begins to have lunch, therefore, according to the rules of local etiquette, at this time it is better not to go on visits and not to bother friends with calls. Another subtlety concerns behavior at the table: a well-fed Beijinger will definitely leave some food on the plate. Empty dishes mean that you were not fed well, so wait for the obligatory supplement.

Shopping

Beijing is the birthplace of fake products and a Mecca for shopaholics on a budget. Where else, if not in the capital of the Celestial Empire, can you buy a Louis Vuitton bag at the price of consumer goods or the latest iPhone model for a fifth of the real cost. The main shopping areas of the city are Wangfujing and Liulichang streets, famous for their antique shops (yes, in Beijing you can buy not only cheap replicas, but also real rarities). Authentic souvenirs that you are not ashamed to take with you as a reminder of your trip include Jingdezhen porcelain, jade crafts, ginseng root, silk embroidery and real Chinese tea. The latter can be purchased at a special market in Maliandao.

Excellent souvenirs will include Chinese prints, New Year's popular prints from Yangliuqing County, as well as religious paintings - tanka. If you are into painting in the Guohua style, buy a jar of real Chinese ink and a stack of rice paper. But with healing potions and all kinds of herbal potions, which are littered with pharmacies and shops in the metropolis, it is better to be careful.

Even if you are not yet ready for huge expenses, do not miss the opportunity to hang around the Chuanwan pearl market, where Hollywood stars and world-famous celebrities periodically shop. It makes sense to visit the silk market on Xiushuijie Street, where, if you bargain correctly, you can buy a lot of interesting goods, from clothes to electronics. Hundreds of antique shops and cozy shops await their customers on the main street of Beijing - Chang'anjie. Well, fans of European-style shopping will be helped by large shopping malls like 3d3 Mall, New Yansha Mall, Oriental Plaza Mall, Ginza Mall.

Population

The number of permanent residents of the metropolis began to approach 22 million back in 2015. Well, since for the Chinese provinces Beijing is like the Mother See for the Russian periphery, about 10 million illegal immigrants and labor migrants who arrived in the capital from the regions in search of work should be added to this already rather large figure.

The average Beijinger, in the eyes of a Chinese provincial, is an open, self-confident intellectual, not concerned about financial problems and slightly despising those who have come in large numbers. This stereotype is also supported by the fact that in the capital of the PRC they do not particularly care about politeness. Sales, a departing bus, a queue at a street stall - any ordinary situation can be a reason to demonstrate one’s own resourcefulness for a metropolis dweller. For your information, stepping on feet and using elbows is even fashionable here. At the same time, Beijingers are quite friendly towards tourists. True, as before, people no longer take photographs here hugging a “white man,” but they try to answer questions politely and with visible participation.

Another interesting phenomenon that can be found, perhaps, only in Beijing are cheerful pensioners who in the evenings besiege public gardens and city parks to meditate, do gymnastics in the company of their same grandparents, or delight (but more often - torment) their ears. passers-by with their vocal talents.

The language barrier

You can speak English in Beijing, but there is no guarantee that you will be understood correctly. Representatives of the younger generation and people involved in the tourism sector can more or less communicate in the language of Shakespeare. The indigenous residents of the capital themselves speak the Beijing dialect. Well, since there are several million visitors to the metropolis, a provincial accent, which, by the way, is very different from the capital, is also not uncommon here.

The easiest way to explain to a Beijinger what you are looking for is to show him the hieroglyph representing a particular attraction. This way they will definitely understand you and, most likely, show you the right route. Well, or, if the option with hieroglyphs seems too complicated, you can transcribe the desired word using the Pinyin system (the phonetic designation of the hieroglyph in Roman), which residents of the PRC are taught in elementary school. True, the same principle applies here as in the case of English: older Chinese do not always remember the basics of this subject.

Urban transport

The cheapest and most popular form of public transport in Beijing is, of course, the subway. For the 2008 Olympics, the capital's metro was thoroughly updated, so now it has 9 lines connecting all areas of the metropolis. As for the cost of the trip, it can be called symbolic - only 2 yuan. But traveling by subway from the airport to the city center will cost a more significant amount (about 25 yuan).

With ground transport, things are worse: despite the fact that there are about 600 bus and trolleybus routes in the capital, they still cannot cope with the huge flow of passengers. So be prepared for the fact that getting on a Beijing bus during rush hour will be problematic. Another difficulty with local motor transport is the names of stops, which are written and announced mainly in Chinese.

Prices for travel in the capital of China are very humane. For example, traveling on buses No. 1-122 will cost 1 yuan. A ticket for night flights No. 201-212 costs the same. The payment system for commuter buses is a little more complicated: 1 yuan for the first 12 kilometers and 0.5 yuan for every subsequent 5 kilometers (No. 300-899).

How to save money: for holders of an Ikatun smart card, travel on bus routes No. 1-499 costs significantly less (about 0.4 yuan per trip). In addition, you can pay by card in any type of public transport, including the metro and some types of taxis. You can buy Ikatun in city supermarkets, metro stations, and post offices.

Taxis in Beijing are relatively inexpensive: as a rule, payment is made at the meter at the rate of 10 yuan for the first 3 kilometers, and then 2-3 yuan for each subsequent kilometer. At the same time, the cost of night trips increases by 1/3. By the way, cheating a naive tourist out of money is still a practice in the metropolis, so getting into a taxi where the driver himself acts as a counter is extremely undesirable.

Extreme enthusiasts craving road adventures can rent a car: most of the local rental offices are located right at the Beijing airport. The rental cost directly depends on the car model: an economy version will cost 265 yuan, an SUV will cost about 495 yuan, and for a premium car you will have to pay at least 1,425 yuan.

As for the driving itself, this is a test for the experienced and strong-willed, because only the lazy do not break the traffic rules in Beijing. Another unspoken law that local car enthusiasts sacredly respect: in any unclear situation, press the horn. It is for this reason that there is an unimaginable din on the capital’s streets, which can lead an unprepared driver to a nervous breakdown. If you want to maintain the health of your nervous system, but are not ready to sacrifice convenience in favor of public transport, use the services of a hired driver. The pleasure will cost a little more than just renting a car (about 660 yuan), but it will provide the opportunity to choose a driver who speaks your language, or, in extreme cases, English.

Fans of a healthy lifestyle may prefer a bicycle: there are several dozen bicycle rental points in Beijing. An hour's drive will cost 5 yuan, but daily rent is more profitable - about 20 yuan. And of course, don’t forget about the traditional Asian exotic – pedicabs. For just 180 yuan, a tireless Chinese cyclist will happily take you around Beijing's iconic landmarks and hutongs, professionally maneuvering through the endless stream of street traffic. The average duration of such a trip is 2.5 hours.

Connection

Cellular communication services in China are provided by two largest operators - China Unicom and China Mobile. The main difference between the companies is that the first has the advantage of high-quality 3G Internet, while the second attracts with a wider network coverage area, which is especially important if you are planning to travel outside the metropolis.

You can purchase a local SIM card at the airport or at the offices of mobile operators. Connection cost is 100-300 yuan. The first option will cost more, but it provides a chance to get the most complete information on tariffs and services, since almost all airport employees speak English.

As for the Internet, in numerous Internet cafes in the city, an hour of online surfing will cost from 10 to 30 yuan. But keep in mind that the great Communist Party does not sleep here either, so social networks are officially banned in the PRC. However, if you ask the establishment’s administrator carefully, there is a chance that they will tell you how to bypass the blocking. Free Wi-Fi in Beijing can be found in restaurants, shopping centers and chain cafes such as Starbucks and McDonald's. However, to receive an SMS with a password in such establishments you usually need a SIM card from a local mobile operator.

Safety

Order in Beijing is carefully monitored, so you can walk along the city streets without risking life and health at almost any time of the day. The only thing that cannot yet be eradicated is petty theft, so, in order to avoid unpleasant conflicts, it is better to leave valuables in the hotel safe. If you still find yourself in a situation in which you cannot do without the participation of law enforcement officers, dial 101 - the number of the local police.

Note: the capital's thieves are after not only jewelry, but also identity cards, so it is better not to carry a passport with you in Beijing - a simple photocopy of the document is enough.

If you urgently need medical help, call 102 to call an ambulance or go to the first hospital you come across, where in emergency cases they are accepted without an appointment or other paper formalities. And one more thing: you will have to pay for treatment in cash.

Phone numbers that may be useful

• 10 – Beijing telephone code;
• 115 – international reference (in English);
• (+86 10) 6532 1381, 6532 2051 – telephone numbers of the Russian embassy in Beijing.

How to get there

The most convenient form of transport for traveling to the capital of the Celestial Empire is an airplane. Direct flights from Moscow to Beijing are operated by two airlines: Aeroflot and Air China. The flight duration is usually 7 hours 15 minutes. In addition, there are options with transfers (with connections in Vienna, Zurich, Guangzhou, Dubai, Warsaw) offered by Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines, Air China, Emirates, Finnair. The duration of the transfer can vary from 45 minutes to 23 hours.

Flights to Beijing from St. Petersburg are operated by Aeroflot, Emirates, China Eastern, SAS, Finnair, while direct flights can only be found with Ural Airlines. You can get to the center of the Chinese capital from Capital Airport by metro (the line runs directly to one of the terminals), taxi or bus.

Another way to get to Beijing from Moscow is the Vostok train, departing from Yaroslavsky Station. This option is suitable for fans of long trips, since you will have to spend about 6 days on the road. In addition, trains from Korea and Vietnam run to the capital of China.

Beijing (in normative northern pronunciation - Beijing, Chinese 北京, pinyin Běijīng) literally means "Capital of the North", following a common East Asian tradition in which capital status is directly reflected in the name. Other cities named similarly are Nanjing in China (南京 - "Southern Capital"), Dongkinh (now Hanoi) in Vietnam, and Tokyo in Japan (with the same hieroglyphic spelling 東京 and the same meaning - "Eastern Capital"). The name of another Japanese city, Kyoto (京都) and the old name of Seoul, Gyeongseong (京城), simply mean “capital” or “capital city”.

The name Beijing does not actually correspond to modern Chinese pronunciation. In the official Putonghua dialect (which largely follows the Beijing phonetic norm), the city's name is pronounced Beijing. In English and some other languages ​​in the second half of the 20th century, the name of the city was brought into line with the real pronunciation and is usually written as Beijing. However, in Russian and in many languages ​​the old name is still used (for example, Port. Pequim, Dutch. Peking, etc.). The city was first named “Beijing” by French missionaries four hundred years ago, when the consonant shift had not yet occurred in the northern Chinese dialects, when almost all sounds were transformed into . In the southern dialects this shift did not occur, and, for example, in Cantonese the name of the capital of China is still pronounced "Bakgin".

Beijing has been known by different names in China throughout history. From 136 to 1405 and then from 1928 to 1949 it was called Beiping (Chinese: 北平, pinyin Beiping, literally "Northern Calm"). In both cases it was associated with the transfer of the capital from Beijing to Nanjing (first by the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the second - by the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China) and the loss of Beijing's capital status.

In 1949, after the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party of China returned the name Beijing (Beijing), thereby emphasizing the return of the city's functions as a capital. The government of the Republic of China, which fled to Taiwan, never officially recognized the name change, and in the 1950s and 1960s in Taiwan, Beijing often continued to be called Peiping, indicating the illegitimacy of the PRC. However, today almost all Taiwanese, including Taiwanese authorities, use the name "Beijing", although some maps published in Taiwan still show the old name, as well as the pre-1949 administrative divisions of China.

The poetic name of Beijing - Yanjing (Chinese 燕京, pinyin Yānjīng, literally "Capital of Yan") goes back to the ancient times of the Zhou Dynasty, when the kingdom of Yan existed in these places. This name is reflected in the name of the local beer brand (Yanjing Beer) and in the name of Yanjing University (later incorporated into Peking University). During the Mongolian Yuan dynasty, the city was called Khanbalik, it can be found in the notes of Marco Polo in the spelling Cambuluc.