Useful Information

• - Location
• - Beijing Climate
• - Beijing Time
• - Communicating
• - Useful Travel Info
• - Telephone Directory
• - Restaurant Directory
• - Night Life in Beijing

Population and Nationalities

By the end of 2002, Beijing had a total of 14.23 million residents among of which 11.363 million people are registered permanent residents. The population density of Beijing is 847 people per square kilometer.

According to the Fifth Census conducted in year 2000, average life expectancy of Beijing residents reached 76.7 years. Beijing boasts all 56 ethnic nationalities of the country, with nationality of Hui, Manchu, Mongolia and Korea exceeding 10,000 people.

Economy

Second not only in size to Shanghai, and as an industrial center as well, Beijing has expanded its industrial growth to the rural areas in remote towns.Construction has boomed with new buildings, including housing, going up everywhere.In the early 90s over 2 million Chinese in Beijing were employed in the industrial sector, a little under 700,000 were in construction.

In recent years, Beijing has exploded in the retail sector with tremendous shopping opportunities that include international brands. Joint ventures with foreign companies are common, with many Western restaurant chains represented. An American in Beijing will almost feel at home with all the American restaurants available ranging from McDonald's and Subway to TGI Friday's.

In the spring of 1987, delegates to the Sixth Session of the Eighth Municipal People’s Congress, meeting in the Great Hall of the People, overwhelmingly approved the scholar tree and oriental cypress as the official city trees, the Chinese rose and the chrysanthemum as Beijing’s official city flowers.

The stately cypress symbolizes the courage and strength of the Chinese people, their simple, and hard working nature and their defiance in the face of aggression. This Platydadus Orientalis, or Oriental Arborvites, can grow as tall as 20 meters. Some of those in ZhongshanPark were planted as long as 1,000 years ago during the Liao Dynasty. The scholar tree is a symbol of good fortune, joy and well–being. Dating back to the Qin and Han dynasties Sophora Japonica were planted extensively at the Tang Dynasty Imperial Palace in Chang'an. At BeihaiPark an ancient specimen in the courtyard of the Painters Corridor, is believed to have been planted during the Tang Dynasty, before 907. Another ancient scholar tree near the BrokenBridge in the Forbidden City is said to have been planted before 1125. Both are well adapted to Beijing’s cold, dry winter, hot and dry summer, and alkaline soil.

City Flowers

In the spring of 1987, delegates to the Sixth Session of the Eighth Municipal People's Congress, meeting in the Great Hall of the People, overwhelmingly approved the scholar tree and oriental cypress as the official city trees, the Chinese rose and the chrysanthemum as Beijing's official city flowers.

The rose, a Chinese native, has been cross-bred many times, but it still has half of the original Chinese strain. Known as Perpetual Spring, Monthly Red, Snow Challenger and Victorious, it is fast growing, regenerates easily and is graceful and long blooming(May to October).

The chrysanthemum has many names and varieties. In Beijing potted chrysanthemums may be seen year round. They flower in summer and fall naturally but can be forced to bloom any time of year.

During the Qing dynasty, there were 400 rare strains of chrysanthemum. Beijing's flora-culturists now boast more than 1000 varieties.

City Trees

The stately cypress symbolizes the courage and strength of the Chinese people, their simple, hard working nature and their defiance in the face of aggression. This Platydadus Orientalis, or Oriental Arborvites, can grow as tall as 20 meters. Some of those in ZhongshanPark were planted as long as 1,000 years ago during the Liao Dynasty. The scholar tree is a symbol of good fortune, joy and well-being. Dating back to the Qin and Han dynasties Sophora Japonica were planted extensively at the TangDynastyImperialPalace in Chang'an. At BeihaiPark an ancient specimen in the courtyard of the Painters Corridor, is believed to have been planted during the Tang Dynasty, before 907. Another ancient scholar tree near the BrokenBridge in the Forbidden City is said to have been planted before 1125. Both are well adapted to Beijing's cold, dry winter, hot and dry summer, and alkaline soil.

Natural Geography

BeijingMunicipality is located between 116¡ã 20' east longitude and 39¡ã56' north latitude, with TianjinCity on its eastern border and HebeiProvince on the other three sides.

Lying in the northern part of North China Plain, Beijing is surrounded by mountains on the west, the north and the northeast.The northeastern part of the city is high while the southwestern part is low topographically, with a southeastern plain tilted gradually downward to the Bohai Sea. Major rivers flowing through Beijing include the Yongding River, Chaobai River, North Canal and Juma River that mostly originate in the northeastern mountainous areas of Beijing. These rivers flow through rugged mountains towards southeastern plain of Beijing and end in the Bohai Sea.

Beijing has a continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons.Spring and autumn are short while winter and summer are long.The average temperature of Beijing in year 2002 is 13.2oC.December was the coldest month with an average temperature of -2.9oC while July was the hottest month with an average temperature of 27.5oC.Average annual rainfall in 2002 equaled 370.4 millimeters, which was relatively low.The frost-free period of Beijing for year 2002 was 199 days.

Beijing occupies a total area of 16,807.8 square kilometers. Around 10,417.5 square kilometers are mountainous areas, which constitute 62 percent of the total space of Beijing.The plain area of Beijing covers 6,390.3 square kilometers, which accounts for 38 percent of the city's total area.Beijing municipality has 16 subordinate districts and 2 counties.