The gigantic capital of China is truly amazing. The ancient city is literally crowded with people, cars and motorcycles, everyone is in a hurry, and it seems that the Chinese never sleep at all. This is the very charm of Beijing – if some foreigners bustle the atmosphere in shock, others find this never-abating boiling of life in its own way attractive.
The name “Beijing” is translated from Chinese as “Northern Capital”. In ancient times in China there were 4 great capitals, and Beijing is one of them.
In 2008, Beijing hosted the Summer Olympic Games, which cost the Chinese government about $ 44 billion. This is one of the most expensive competitions ever held in the world. Perhaps in 2022, when Beijing will host the Winter Olympics, this record will be broken.
Residents of China call their capital not Beijing, and Beijin, but in Russian and many other languages, the outdated pronunciation of the city’s name was fixed.
The former imperial palace in Beijing, or the Forbidden City, is the largest palace complex in the world. On its vast territory there are 980 buildings, divided into 9999 rooms.
Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing in size of 440 thousand square meters before the XX century was the largest in the world. In January 2011, it was installed eight-meter statue of Confucius, but only a few months later, someone dismantled it under the cover of night and took away in an unknown direction.
The Great National Opera House in Beijing is a unique state-of-the-art glass and titanium building, rising on an island in the middle of an artificial pond. The construction of this futuristic “egg” in the historical center of the capital involved specialists from France.
In Beijing, one of the five existing mausoleums of socialist leaders is located in the huge memorial complex with 44 granite columns and 10 halls, Mao Zedong, one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party, rests.
The air pollution in Beijing exceeds the European standards by more than 5 times. Breathe full citizens to the citizens are prevented by emissions from transport and industrial enterprises, as well as frequent sandstorms that can paralyze the life of the metropolis.
In Beijing, the construction of a new airport is underway – when it is completed, Daxing should become the largest air haven in the world. The first stage of the terminal is planned to open in 2019, to launch the complex in full – in 2025.
The Beijing subway, consisting of 17 “branches”, takes 2nd place on the planet by the total length of the lines. The championship is held by the subway of Shanghai.
The tallest building in Beijing is a 74-story skyscraper of the Chinese World Trade Center, built in 2009. Now in the capital of China they are building a new tower with a height of 108 floors.
In Beijing, in the premises of the abandoned plant for the production of electrical equipment is the Zone of Arts 798, where on the space of a square kilometer there are dozens of exhibitions for lovers of contemporary art.
Peking Opera is very different from its European equivalent: it combines songs, dialogues, dances, acrobatics and elements of martial arts. This original genre is considered one of the main achievements of Chinese culture.
Peking duck is one of the most famous Chinese delicacies. To prepare the bird and its frying in a special oven on special firewood it takes about 2 days.
