History

• Although prehistoric skeletal remnants have been found in the location presently known as Beijing, the cities around the area are not known of until one thousand years BC. The State of Yan was established in the cities local between 473 to 221 BC. After Yan fell, three dynasties were known to occupy the area, Han, Qin and Jin.
  In 936 AD the Liao Dynasty claimed the area and named it Nanjing. Some of the oldest buildings still standing in Beijing, such as the Tianningsi Temple, were constructed during this time period. The Jurchen Jin Dynasty conquered Nanjing in 1125. However, they didn't move their capital to the location until 1153, renaming it Zhongdu.
  Mongolian forces burned the city and took it over in 1215. Kublai Khan, of the Yuan Dynasty, rebuilt it slightly to the north of the former city and called his new capital Dadu. Zuu Yuanzhang, Ming Dynasty, took over the city in 1368. By 1403 the third Ming Dynasty emperor was in control when the city was renamed Beijing. In 1644 Li Zicheng's army took 40 days to take over the city. However, it was short lived as a Manchu force crept to the outskirts of the city causing Li Zicheng and his army to flee without bloodshed. At this point the Qing Dynasty under the Mnchu Dorgan ruled the city.
  The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 replaced the Qing Dynasty with a republic and the capital city was renamed Nanjing, once again. Yuan Shikai became the president of the Republic of China. After another take over the city was renamed Beiping. Beiping fell to Japan in 1937, ruling the northern portion of China. During the Chinese civil war of 1949 communist factions moved in without a struggle. The new leader, MaoZedong announced the city to be renamed Beijing and the country to be the People's Republic of China. The city and country of China remain under communist control today.
  
  

Geography

• The northern tip of the North China Plane is home to the capital city of China, Beijing. There are mountainous regions to the north, northwest and west sides of the city. The Jundu Mountains are to the northwest while the Xishan Mountains are on the west. The north is skirted by the Great Wall of China over Mount Donging. The Grand Canal of China runs through the northern end of Beijing. The city, however, is on a rather flat area which is open to the south and east. The city covers a total of 16,807.8 sq. km. and consists of eight city districts, two rural counties and eight suburban districts.
  
  

Features

• The two most notable features of Beijing is that it's the capital city of the country and it is the seat of the communist government that rules all of China. But, it's architecture is noticeably featured as well. There are three types of architecture that predominates throughout Beijing. The Tian'anmen Gate, the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven are all part of China's traditional architecture. Between 1950 and 1970 a type of architecture referred to as Sino-Sov came into existence portraying boxy, poorly constructed buildings. And then there is the modern architecture that can be seen on Beijing's Financial Street.
  Beijing is considered the transpiration hub of China. The air pollution rate of this city is almost five times over the World Health Organization safety standards, on an average day. The population including both municipality and metro areas is nearly 30,000,000 divided into four major ethnic groups of Han, Manchu, Hui and Mongolian.
  
  

Misconceptions

• Although there were many people throughout the world who believed the 2008 Olympics should not have been held in Beijing, China, it broke some misconceptions outsiders held about the people there. We saw the raw emotions of those who did not meat their goals and the emotions of those who won a medal for their country. Indeed, they seemed like us, and that was a shock. They were not the communist party machines we thought them to be. What a great opportunity this was for the free world. On the other hand, what we watched of the Beijing (Chinese) government did not surprise us or change our opinions.
  
  

Warning

• A word of warning for those planning a trip to Beijing. Although getting the necessary vaccinations before your trip is an excellent precaution, there are still viruses and respiratory infections brought back to America after a visit to this city. The worst culprit to be cautious of is the danger related to animal bites. Until recently, Beijing, in fact all of China, has not had a rabies policies in effect. It is still haphazard at best. As an example to show how problematic it is, the U.S. had three human rabies cases. There were 3,000 cases of human deaths due to rabies, in that same year.