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Beijing Facts

Natural Environment

    Beijing Municipality covers nearly 17,000 sq kms. Mountainous areas surround Beijing from the west to the northeast, occupying over 10,000 sq kms, and accounting for 62% of the municipal land area. The remaining, 6,400 sq km area is a level plain, approximately 1,000 sq km of which comprises the built-up area of Beijing.

    Located 39 degrees 56'N and 116 degrees 20'E, Beijing belongs to a warm, temperate zone with a semi-humid climate; in meteorological terms "continental monsoon". It has four distinctive seasons, with a short spring and autumn and a long summer and winter. Summer is hot and humid with an average temperature in July reaching 32 degrees (90F). In winter it freezes and is very cold and dry with average temperatures reaching  -10 degrees (14F) in January.

The best season for travel is at the turn of summer and autumn, in September and October, when temperatures cool down and range from 15-20 degrees (59-68F).

History

   According to archaeological findings, present-day Beijing is the site of an ancient city that dates to 475-221 BC. Before that, Beijing was half a million years in the making and began with Peking man in Zhoukoudian, hundreds of thousands of years ago. In 1260, Kublai Khan (AD1215-1294) started to change a frontier-trading city into what was to become Beijing. The Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644) spent 15 years renovating Beijing as its capital. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1644-1911) added to Beijing's charm by constructing several large royal gardens in the city's northwest. Since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Beijing has undergone something of a transformation. Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Olympics in 2001 brings its history up to date.

Population

Beijing's registered population is 14.2 million. The floating, or migrant- worker population, is estimated at 4 million. China's 56 ethnic groups are all represented in Beijing; the majority of the city's population are from the Han ethnic group.

Administrative Districts

The municipality governs 16 urban districts and 2 rural counties. There are 16 districts and two counties under the jurisdiction of Beijing. These are Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen, Xuanwu, Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Mentougou, Fangshan, Changping, Shunyi, Tongxian, Daxing, Pinggu and Huairou districts as well as Miyun and Yanqing counties.

Main language: Mandarin (putonghua)

Time zone: GMT/UTC plus 8 hours

City flowers: Chinese rose and chrysanthemum

City trees: Oriental arborvitae and cypress.