Beijin City Guide
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
- Official name: Beijing
Language: The most spoken dialects are Mandarin (70% of the population), Wu (Shanghainese), Yue (Cantonese), Min, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by ethnic minorities include Zhuang (Thai), Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur (Turkic), Hmong and Korean.
- Religion: Non-religious (about 59%). "Traditional Beliefs", mixing Confusianism and Taoism (about 33%). Buddhists are about 6% of the Chinese population.
- Currency : The currency used in China is the Renminbi Yuan (RMBY) or Yuan (Y) known locally as kuai.
- Visa: Needed. To successfully apply for a Chinese Visa, you need to provide a valid passport, filled application form, and photos in person or through a third person. The process usually takes 5-7 working days. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/passport.htm
Beijin Sights and Museums
WHAT TO SEE
- Forbidden City located at the exact center of the ancient city of Beijing, China was the imperial palace during the mid-Ming and the Qing Dynasties. Known now as the Palace Museum, its extensive grounds cover 720,000 square meters, 800 buildings and more than 8,000 rooms. As such, it is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world, and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 as the "Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties". The Imperial Palace Grounds are located directly to the north of Tiananmen Square and are accessible from the square via Tiananmen Gate. It is surrounded by a large area called the Imperial City.
- Tiananmen Square is the large plaza near the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen (literally, Gate of Heavenly Peace) which sits to its north, separating it from the Forbidden City. It has great cultural significance as a symbol because it was the site of several key events in Chinese history. Outside of China, the square is best known for the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989.The Tiananmen or Tian'anmen is the main entrance to the Imperial City, the central part of Beijing, People's Republic of China. Although commonly referred to as the front entrance to the Forbidden City, that honor properly rests with Meridian Gate. The Tian'anmen is located along the northern edge of Tian'anmen Square.
- The Great Hall of the People is located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square, Beijing, People's Republic of China, and is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China. However, most day to day government activities are conducted within a complex at Zhongnanhai.
- The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall commonly known as the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, or the Mao Mausoleum, is the last resting place of Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 1943 and the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 1945 until his death.
Beijin Entertainment
EVENTS
- Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, starts on the first day of the first moon according to the traditional lunar calendar (usually between late January and mid-February). Although it officially lasts only three days, many people take a week off work.
- The Lantern Festival is a colourful time to visit Beijing. People walk the streets at night carrying coloured paper lanterns. It falls on the 15th day of the first moon (two weeks after the Spring Festival starts).
- Tomb Sweeping 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 families gather to eat tasty moon cakes. The festival takes place on the 15th day of the 8th moon (around September or October).
Beijin Transports
- Beijing has two major railway stations: Beijing Railway Station (or the central station) and Beijing West Railway Station. Three other railway stations in Metropolitan Beijing handle regular passenger traffic: Beijing East, Beijing North, and Fengtai. There are also several other small stations serving suburban area. Beijing is a railway hub. There are railway lines from Beijing to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Harbin, Baotou, Taiyuan, Chengde and Qinhuangdao. International trains, including lines to cities in Russia and Pyongyang, North Korea (DPRK), all run through Beijing. Direct trains to Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR also depart from Beijing. Construction on a Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail began on July 4, 2005, and is scheduled to be completed in 2007.
- Beijing is connected via road links from all parts of China. Nine expressways of China (with six wholly new expressways under projection or construction) connect with Beijing, as do eleven China National Highways. Within Beijing itself, an elaborate network of five ring roads has developed, but they appear more rectangular than ring-shaped. Roads in Beijing often are in one of the four compass directions (unlike, for example, Tianjin).
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