Area: 16,800 sq km (6552 sq mi)
Population: 12 million
Country: People's Republic of China
People: 95% Han Chinese
Main language: Mandarin (putonghua)
Time Zone: GMT/UTC plus 8 hours
Telephone Area Code: 010
Peopled some 500,000 years ago, the area that makes up today's Beijing sprouted a frontier trading town for the Mongols, Koreans and tribes from Shandong and central China around 1000 BC. Burnt to the ground by Genghis Khan in 1215 AD, the resurrected city was passed on to Kublai Khan (Genghis's grandson) as Dadu, or Great Capital. The mercenary Zhu Yanhang led an uprising in 1368, taking over the city and ushering in the Ming Dynasty. The city was renamed Beiping (Northern Peace) and for the next 35 years the capital was shifted to Nanjing. When it was shunted back again, Beiping became Beijing (Northern Capital) and up went such foreboding structures as the Forbidden City.
Under the Manchu invaders, who established the Qing Dynasty in the 17th century, Beijing was thoroughly renovated and expanded. From the beginning, however, it was obvious that any city proclaimed China's heart was to endure a tumultuous existence. While invaders have dwindled since the days when Anglo-French troops were razing the Old Summer Palace or the Japanese army was in occupation in the 1930s, internal power struggles will always dog this fiery nation's capital.
With Mao Zedong's proclamation of a `People's Republic' in Tiananmen Square in 1949, the Communists stripped back the face of Beijing. Down came the commemorative arches, along with several outer walls, in the interests of solemnity and traffic circulation. Soviet town-planning know-how was employed at the time, which explains the Stalinesque features of many prominent buildings and landmarks.
Beijing's darkest modern moment came in 1989 when a massive pro-democracy student protest in Tiananmen Square was brutally, bloodily crushed by Deng Xiaoping's government forces. That such an atrocity could happen while capitalist-style reforms flooded the city with shopping malls and foreign money typifies Beijing - a moody city of contrasts and contradictions. These days, both the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square massacre are taboo topics among officials.
Nonetheless, in 1994 the Chinese leadership was confident that their nation had re-established its reputation on the world stage. When cities were being polled to host the 2000 Olympics, the Chinese assumed Beijing would win. They took the rebuff badly when Sydney, Australia was chosen.
Nor did the Chinese win many friends in 1995 when Beijing played host to the United Nations' Conference on Women. Having lobbied the UN hard to get the conference, the Chinese then denied visas to at least several hundred people who wanted to attend because they were regarded as politically incorrect. Things have cooled and Beijing has been trying to polish its image. By the end of March 1999 officials had abolished the last of the off-limit areas, established in the 50s, that quarantined the cultural revolution from foreign influences. The funeral of the paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in early 1997 was a momentous event, with huge crowds of grieving Beijingers lining the streets.
Summer is considered peak season, when hotels typically raise their rates and the Great Wall nearly collapses under the weight of marching tourists. Autumn has the best weather and fewer tourists. Spring is less pleasant - not many tourists but lots of wind and dust. In winter, you'll have Beijing to yourself, and many hotels offer substantial discounts - just remember it's an ice box outside. Everything is chock-a-block during the Chinese New Year (usually in January or February).
 Orientation
Beijing is located in the north-eastern corner of China. The city limits of Beijing extend some 80km (50mi), including the urban and the suburban areas and the nine counties under its administration. Mountainous along the north and west, and flat in the south-east, Beijing municipality has a total area of 16,800 sq km (6552 sq mi).
Though it may not appear so in the shambles of arrival, Beijing is a place of very orderly design. Long, straight boulevards and avenues are crisscrossed by a network of lanes. Places of interest are either very easy to find if they're on the avenues, or impossible to find if they're buried down the narrow alleys. The Forbidden City acts like a bullseye, surrounded by a chessboard of roads.
Then there are the 'villages' (li). Beijing was once surrounded by many tiny villages, though over time these have in fact become neighbourhoods within the megalopolis. The Beijing Municipality is carved up into 10 districts and eight counties.
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City, so called because it was more or less off limits for 500 years, is the biggest and best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. It was home to two dynasties of emperors, the Ming and the Qing, who didn't stray from this pleasure dome unless they absolutely had to.
The basic layout of the city was established between 1406 and 1420 by Emperor Yong Le, commanding battalions of labourers and craftspeople - some estimate up to a million of them. From this palace the emperors governed China, often rather erratically as they tended to become lost in this self-contained little world and allocate real power to the court eunuchs.
The palace is so large (720,000 sq metres, 800 buildings, 9000 rooms) that a permanent restoration squad moves around repainting and repairing. It's estimated to take about 10 years to do a full renovation, by which time the beginning is due for repairs again. The complex was opened to the public in 1949.
Summer Palace
One of Beijing's most visited sights, the Summer Palace is an immense park containing some newish Qing architecture. The site had long been a royal garden and was considerably enlarged and embellished by Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century. He deepened and expanded Kunming Lake, which is spanned by a 17-arch bridge, with the help of 100,000 labourers, and reputedly surveyed imperial navy drills from a hilltop perch.
The original palace was used as a summer residence, as its name implies. The residents of the Forbidden City packed up and decamped here for their holidays, so the emphasis was on cool features - water, gardens, hills.
 Summer Palace, the leafiest of Beijing's attractions (22K)
Summer Palace ceiling beams (22K)
Tiananmen Square
Forever sullied, Tiananmen Square lies at the heart of Beijing, and is a vast desert of pavestones and photo booths. Though it was a gathering place and the site of government offices in the imperial days, Tiananmen Square is Mao's creation, as is Chang'an Jie - the street leading onto it. Major rallies took place here during the Cultural Revolution when Mao, wearing a Red Guard armband, reviewed parades of up to a million people. In 1976 another million people jammed the square to pay their last respects. In 1989 PLA tanks and soldiers cut down pro-democracy demonstrators here. Today the square is a place for people to wander and fly kites or buy balloons for the kids.
Surrounding or studding the square is a mish-mash of monuments past and present: Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace), the Chinese Revolution History Museum, the Great Hall of the People, Qianmen (Front Gate), the Mao Mausoleum, where you can purchase Mao memorabilia and catch a glimpse of the man himself (when his mortuary make-up isn't being refreshed), and the Monument to the People's Heroes.
Apocalypse Mao, Tiananmen Square (23K)
Monument to the People's Heroes, Tiananmen Square (21K)
Tiantan Park
The perfection of Ming architecture, Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) has come to symbolise Beijing. Its lines appear on countless pieces of tourist literature and its name serves as a brand name for a wide range of products from tiger balm to plumbing fixtures. In the 1970s the complex got a facelift and was freshly painted. It is sest in a 267ha (660ac) park, with four gates at the compass points, and bounded by walls to the north and east. It originally functioned as a vast stage for solemn rites performed by the Son of Heaven who came here to pray for good harvests, seek divine clearance and atone for the sins of the people.
With this complicated mix in mind, the unique architectural features will delight numerologists, necromancers and the superstitious - not to mention acoustic engineers and carpenters. Tiantan is still an important meeting place. Get there at 6:30 am to see t'ai chi, dancing to western music and other games. This is how Beijing awakens.
The Great Wall of China
Perhaps the most famous of all Beijing's nearby sights are the choice chunks of Great Wall that pass within about 100km (62mi) of the capital and make for great day trips, or more intensive expeditions. It's no accident that some of the greatest wall restoration jobs have been carried out within spitting distance of Beijing, and the best of these are Badaling (70km/43mi from Beijing), Mutianya, Simatai and the more remote Haunghua. Increased tourism has turned some of the areas into a bit of a circus, with a cable car, a film amphitheatre, tacky t-shirts and camel rides on offer.
Twilight kite-flyer, Tiananmen Square (22K)
Ancient Observatory
Mounted on the battlements of a watchtower which was once part of the city walls, this observatory, just east of central Zhongshan Park, gives an interesting perspective on Beijing. Today it's dwarfed by embassy housing blocks in a wilderness of traffic loops and highways but the sky-gazing dates back to Kublai Khan's days, when it was north of the present site. It was here that the Great Khan, as well as later Ming and Qing emperors, consulted the stars before making any major decisions.
Guardians, Palace of Heavenly Purity (19K)
In the late 1960s, with a Soviet invasion looming, Beijing's citizens started to go underground. The shadow-city which resulted was constructed by volunteers and shop assistants living in the Qianmen (Front Gate) area south of Tiananmen Square. About 2000 people with simple tools and 10 years of spare-time work created this subterranean network which has now been put to use as an unofficial tourist attraction and site for everything from warehouses to hotels, restaurants and even a roller-skating rink. There are roughly 90 entrances to the complex, all of which are hidden in shops along Qianmen's main streets. A fluorescent wall map reveals the routing of the entire tunnel system.
Big business on Wall Street (22K)
While the tourist masses tend to head for Badaling to grope the Great Wall, there are more challenging stretches of this historical and architectural marvel within an easy day-trip from Beijing proper. One of the least developed (for now) is Simatai, and it's not for the faint-hearted. The 19km (12mi) section is very steep, with a few slopes built at a 70-degree incline but it's worth it to see the Wall au naturel, in contrast to the heavily-touristed Badaling and Mutianyu sections, which are so well restored they could have been built yesterday.
The Great Wall at Matianyu, north-east of Beijing (24K)
OK, it's not in Beijing - but it is Beijing's port. Officially a special municipality belonging to no province. Tianjin is nicknamed `Shanghai of the North' because of its history as a foreign concession port, its Europeanised architecture and impressive industrial output. Apart from wandering around imagining you're in Vienna, you should investigate Tianjin's antique market, a massive collection of junk and gems which miraculously survived the Cultural Revolution. Ancient Culture Street is an attempt to re-create an ancient Chinese street, complete with traditional-looking buildings and vendors flogging cultural goodies to the strains of Western music. Hai River Park is lined with photo booths, people fishing, early-morning t'ai chi exponents, outdoor opera singers and old men toting birdcages. The old part of town is chock-a-block full of lanes, traditional architecture and dilapidated temples.
Reptilian remedies (20K)
 Activities
The art of poking a white ball around a lawn enjoys high prestige in face-conscious China. If you too want to golf, check out the Beijing International Golf Club, which is considered the best course in Beijing. There are heaps of outdoor ice skating venues in winter. Popular spots include Beihai Lake, Kunming Lake, Zizhuyuan Park and the moat around the Forbidden City. Compared to the ice skating situation, rollerskating (not to mention rollerblading and skateboarding) in the capital comes as a disappointment. Tiananmen Square looks ideal, but the stern-faced security types will not be amused. On the other hand, flying kites is an old tradition in China, and Beijing's venue for this activity is Tiananmen Square. Kites are for rent in the square itself.
Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, starts on the first day of the first moon according to the traditional lunar calendar. The Chinese New Year will fall on the following dates: 16 February 1999, 5 February 2000, 24 January 2001 and 12 February 2002. Although officially lasting only three days, many people take a week off work. Beijing is probably at its prettiest on the first of May, a holiday for Communists and officially known as International Labour Day. During this time, the whole city (especially Tiananmen Square) is decorated with flowers.
The Lantern Festival is also a relatively colourful time to visit Beijing. People take the time to walk the streets at night carrying coloured paper lanterns. It falls on the 15th day of the 1st moon. Tomb Sweep Day is a day for worshipping ancestors; people visit the graves of their dearly departed relatives and clean their gravesites. They often burn 'ghost money' (for use in the afterworld) for the departed. It falls on 5 April in the Gregorian calendar in most years; 4 April in leap years. The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Moon Festival and is the time to eat tasty moon cakes. The festival takes place on the 15th day of the 8th moon.
Beijing has direct air connections to most major cities in the world, and many travellers make use of the direct Beijing-Hong Kong flights on CAAC or Dragonair. Beijing's airport is 25km (15mi) from the Forbidden City. Guangzhou and Shenzhen are both near Hong Kong and have direct flights to Beijing.
Foreigners arriving or departing by train do so at Beijing Railway Station, east of central Zhongshan Park, or the newish west railway station. There's a Foreigners' Ticketing Office at the Beijing Railway Station. An express train to Hong Kong takes about 30 hours. The bus is a good option for getting in and out of Beijing as it's cheaper than the train and it's easier to get a seat. Sleeper buses are widely available and highly recommended for those long overnight journeys. Finding the right bus station can be tricky, but the basic rule is that long-distance bus stations are on the perimeter of the city in the direction you want to go.
The subway, or Underground Dragon, is definitely the best way of travelling quickly within Beijing. It can move at up to 70km (43mi) per hour - a jaguar compared to the lumbering buses. But while it's clean and easy to use, the trains are starting to show their age.
If you simply must catch a bus around town, sharpen your elbows, chain your wallet to your underwear and muster all the patience you can - you'll need it. Oversized and overstuffed buses are the norm in Beijing. There are about 140 bus and trolley routes, which makes navigation rather confusing, especially if you can't see out the window.
Beijing taxis are multiplying fast: finding one is not difficult. but making yourself understood in English may be a bit more problematic. If you don't speak Chinese, bring a map or have your destination written down in characters. Telephone bookings are possible.
Veteran pedicab drivers (21K)
Like much of China, Beijing looks so much better once you're pedalling. A bike shortens those long dreary stretches, avoids the footpath throng, and helps you feel a lot more like a local. Hotels - especially budget hotels - often rent out bikes at reasonable rates, or there are the numerous bike hire outfits in the streets around hotels and tourist spots.
- Peking by Anthony Grey is your standard blockbuster by the author of Saigon.
- Letter from Peking by Pearl Buck is a classic novel. Ms Buck lived most of her life in 19th century China, and was a prolific writer.
- The Private Life of Chairman Mao by Li Zhisui offers some amazing insights into the hidden world behind the great walls of Zhongnanhai, China's so-called 'new Forbidden City'.
- Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China by Sterling Seagrave is the definitive biography of Cixi, who ruled China in the late 19th century. A fascinating read.
- Biking Beijing by Diana Kingsbury has a useful selection of self-guided tours around the thoroughfares and back alleys of the capital.
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