Beijing, One Of The Most Polluted Cities In The World
Temple Of Heaven
Beijing, the capital of China has over 17 million inhabitants and it is one of the most polluted cities in the world.
Beijing is located in northeast China; in fact, its name means “Northern Capital.” It is the third largest city in the country after Chongqing and Shanghai. In 2008, the city hosted the 26th edition of the Olympic Games.
The traffic in town is generally acceptable; the city has five concentric circles roads, two of which are highways. To ease traffic help the four suspended subway and tram lines. In Beijing there is a bicycle rental system, making it one of the most preferred and cheapest means of transport. The public transport system consists of a fleet of buses and trolley buses. These operate between 5 am and 23 pm at every 4 or 5 minutes and during peak hours they are very busy.
The most convenient and fast mean of transport is the subway, but at peak times and it also gets very crowded. Beijing Subway is composed of five lines with a total length of 142 km and 93 stations. It is considered a minimal system, given the population density of Beijing, but it will be extended to more than 560 km by 2015. Beijing International Airport is located in the north of the city, 25 km from it, while being the country’s largest airport. On the airport operate over 38 international airlines and 21 domestic airlines, while being an important hub in the region.
Night In Beijing
Twin cities: Tokyo, Japan from March 14, 1979; New York, United States from February 25, 1980; Belgrade, Serbia from 14 October 1980; Lima, Peru from November 21, 1983; Washington DC, United States from May 15, 1984; Bucharest, Romania from June 21, 2005.
China’s capital is also the most important center of commerce, communications, politics, economics, culture and education. It is one of the six ancient cities of China (along with Xian, Luoyang, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Kaifeng) and accommodates about 15 million inhabitants in the 16,410 km².
It has four seasons and the most beautiful are considered to be spring and autumn (May, September and October are the favorite months because tourists can enjoy a very nice weather). In winter you can ski in the Beihai region. Currently, Beijing is a full-fledged city of the 21st century, with skyscrapers, crowded shopping centers and many cars, but if you want to experience the traditional life, you can go in a tea-shop, trade fairs, at temples and especially have a seat in Beijing Opera.
Beijing Traffic Jam
In Beijing you can see: Tianamnem Square, the largest central market in the world; Forbidden City, the largest and best preserved imperial palace; Heaven Temple, the biggest sacrifice complex in the world; Beijing Opera that has existed for over 200 years – it was very popular in the nineteenth century during the Qing dynasty and is known as one of the three main theatrical systems in the world. At first the performances could be enjoyed only by royal family members and only after many years it was open to the public. The Opera has thousands of songs that cover the entire history of China.
China’s capital is not today what it was decades ago and it will never be a closed city. Beijing lives and enjoys life. China’s second largest city and the capital of a country that has long surpassed the billion inhabitants, Beijing literally whispers. Life pulsates here everywhere, in night markets, the tides of a bike that sweeps the streets, in shopping centers, the alleys of old neighborhoods beyond the walls of the Forbidden City, outside the Great Wall.
Beijing At Night
Once in the city after a dizzying flight, you will not wake throughout your stay here. Firstly because there are many people, and secondly because here is gathered the whole China, with traditions, ethnicities and kitchens. A trip to Beijing requires previous training. When you stay at a luxury hotel with all the amenities you can also find in Europe, perhaps with a lower price, or at a medium hotel where the barely speaks English, take a walk around. This is to get used to people and the atmosphere.
Get a brochure with the transport in the city and plan what you want to see and how to get there. Taxis, trams, buses or metro are all the available for you; the city very large and the sights are spread generously, so usually you will have to change two or three means of transport to get there. And when you’re bored or tired, you will certainly be hungry. Vendors solve this problem immediately and advise you to try as many specialties as you can.
Beijing
Almost everything is good and what looks weird it probably is, so you can not be deceived. After dinner go to bed, even if it mid afternoon. The change in the time zone can be frustrating for some people, and for days to come you need all the energy in the world. Start your day early, before sunrise, in parks, where the city residents do their revival. Join them, mimic their movements. You’ll do well. After a breakfast taken on the street, make your way towards the Forbidden City. It is vital to get here early, around 8.00, before hordes of tourists in the bus attack.
You will have the palace for yourself and the morning light will give to it a mysterious aura to the ancient Chinese imperial apartments. You know the Palace from movies and books, but the feeling you will experience getting there is unique. It’s a city within a city, and that says everything about its size. After the Forbidden City, the following objectives are the Temple of Heaven and Tiananmen Square. They are both symbols of the country and they are both deeply rooted in history.
Beijing, Temple Of Heaven
If the Temple of Heaven comes to mind when we think of China, Tiananmen market image will forever be linked to pro-democratic meetings of Chinese students in the late 80s, so that in these circumstances the market goes back to the seventeenth century. It can be crowded, it can be warm or snow, you must go in Tiananmen if you want to say that you really visited Beijing.
The mandatory trip to the Great Wall of China rounds out the list of objectives that should not be absent from the itinerary of anyone who visiting Beijing. Then, let the city surprise prey occurring at every street corner. In Beijing architecture is of three kinds: the imperial, colorful, elaborately decorated and detailed, the soviet, the buildings and blocks known as you seem, and modern bringing you to think of New York or, if you want more south to Hong Kong. Taste them all.
Small streets with traditional houses create true rural areas in the inner city: the so-called Hutongs. Although little is left today as a living proof of how life in past centuries and especially cultural centers are true: many artists and art people choosing to live and create in such places.
Nightlife in Beijing is fabulous. Young people are becoming increasingly pastern to the Western culture, so that bars and clubs, especially karaoke eyes are full every evening. You should not look for long, they are everywhere, and the atmosphere is about the same, you do not need a specific recommendation. Beijing cuisine is the most diverse in China, and that is because all four traditional styles are present here. You can stay one month and three times a day to try other varieties and will be tried away from them all.
Shops selling natural medicine and traditional remedies soon find their place on the list of objectives because it deserves to pass the threshold even if you have nothing. Most have English translations with the benefits of plants, fungi, marine vegetation or animal bodies strung you’ll find on the stalls or in shop windows and on that are said to have magical powers. The Chinese continue to use them for thousands of years.
Shopping is the favorite sport of any tourist in these places. The Chinese have no lack of hand labor and production costs are extremely low, so that shopping becomes a pleasure for any pocket. Dare and take markets by storm or large shopping malls to buy everything from antiques to silk, from tableware to furniture, from clothing to decorative items. Chinese prices can often be of low quality. But you get what you pay for. All across the markets do not hesitate to ask for a discount.
Beijing, CCTV Headquarters
Negotiating price is even encouraged by the merchants. But do not do this in major malls where prices are fixed. And do not be scared that you will find only Chinese stores. Those willing to break a holiday card company name to find good prices and highest quality.
No matter what neighborhood you accommodate things above are at the other corner, so you’ll have the chance to experience the event called Beijing. Otherwise, patience and iron lungs – Beijing is not exactly the most eco-friendly city in the world. Everything in town is very well signposted, the most important indicator of interest are translated into English, and if it is not the first city you ever visited, it sure can not be handled by everyone, regardless of IQ. The hostel is right in the center, among other luxury hotels, about 500 meters from Tian An Men Square, which is in fair navel.
Aerial View Of Beijing
Conditions are not much, but there is something more than decent for the $ 13 per person charge. You can have a shock at the hotel when you see that your blogg is not loaded. That is because everything that runs on WordPress does not work in China. So is Facebook. And Google is censored.
Beijing, over 700 years of political and administrative center of China is a huge city. The word order here is a lot. In fact very much the watchword is, huge, colossal. A lot of people, crowds, many colors, more noise, more shops, more tourists, more police on the streets (everything seems very safe here) and a lot of bureaucracy (many acts even for a simple exchange).11
