125 Beijing Facts To Know About the City's Rich History

The ideal way to describe Beijing would be a unique mixture of the modern age with the past.

Beiping is the old name of Beijing. It is assumed that Peking is the nickname of Beijing. Before we venture more into the city, let us first look at three fun facts about China.

China is the most populated country in the world. The famous beverage tea has been discovered in China.

Though China is the third-largest country in the world in terms of land area, it still follows only a one-time zone throughout the country. There are many capitals of the Chinese government, and in them, Beijing is the northern capital while Zhongdu is the central capital and Nanjing is the southern capital of China.

People often confuse Beijing being the southern capital; however, it is not. Beijing is a prime location in the country, it is also the political center of China.

If you plan on visiting Beijing, be sure to check out the Forbidden City, the opera houses like the Beijing opera, the National Museum, Tiananmen Square, and many other unique places like the temple or stadiums. Beijing is a hot spot for tourists as this capital city has a lot to offer to travelers and travel bloggers.

You can visit Beijing as a traveler and can stay for around six days without having a visa permit. The 144-hour-visa-free permit allows travelers from 53 different countries to visit this city without paying much attention to travel restrictions.

However, it is recommended not to visit this place during National holidays as there becomes a significant rise in the population of visitors during these times.

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Fun Facts About Beijing

Fun facts can be associated with any city in the world, and thus the same can be applied to Beijing itself. A city of such stature and magnitude is bound to have numerous fun facts, and thus here we highlight some of the cool and interesting facts of this city.

Though Beijing is a large city, it is not the largest city in China. On the contrary, it is the second-largest city in the country.

The Olympic park of Beijing hosts the most complicated as well as the biggest steel patterned stadium that has ever been built on the planet. The Bird's Nest Stadium was a star attraction during the 2008 Olympics, and till today it attracts millions of fans and sports lovers all around the globe.

Speaking of Olympics, the 2022 Winter Olympics that is scheduled to commence in February of 2022 will take place in Beijing. This historic event thereby makes Beijing the only city in the world in the history of the Olympics games to have hosted both the summer and the winter Olympics.

Wang is the most common surname of people in Beijing. It has been calculated in a record that over 11% of the entire population of Beijing has the same surname.

The Beijing Captial International Airport boasts of being the second busiest airport in the entire globe. This is largely due to the new policy that allows visitors to visit the city without a visa.

A 144-hour visa-free transit rule allows travelers from 53 different countries of the Earth to roam and travel to this unique and beautiful city. If you plan on visiting Beijing, then be prepared to clear out some time from your calendar.

Beijing is not a place where you can visit anytime you want. This is a city of extremes if the weather and temperature conditions are considered.

In summer, the temperatures can become as high as 109 F (42.7 C), while in winters, it is freezingly cold as the mercury reaches -17 F (-27.2 C). Therefore the ideal time to visit Beijing would be during the months of moderate climate.

And that can only occur during spring and autumn. Thus, if you plan on visiting Beijing, the ideal months would be April, May, September, and October.

Historical Facts About Beijing

Before we venture into the city of Beijing, it is always essential to know about its historical importance. So let us read and take a quick glance at the history of Beijing.

The capital city of China, Beijing, is an old city as its roots age back around 3,000 years ago. The city has previously had numerous names, which changed over the passage of time over the reign of different dynasties that ruled over China.

Beijing has been the capital city six times.

Apart from being the third most famous city on the globe, it is almost the same age as London. It is understood that Beijing owing to its ancient roots, contains the precious wealth of the forbidden city and that of the great wall.

The national capital city of the People's Republic of China has fossil remains of the Peking Man that existed almost 770,000 to 230,000 years ago, and thus, as a result, this imperial capital is also one of the oldest places that have been inhabited.

Beijing that translates to the northern capital, has been ruled by China for around 700 years, and it was the capital city for four dynasties (The Yan Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty) and two governments, i.e., The Republic of China Capital, and The People's Republic of China.

The historical importance of this city is greatly showcased as Beijing boasts of having seven UNESCO heritage sites. These seven historical sites include the Great Wall of China, The Peking Man Site located at Zhoukoudian, the Forbidden City, the Grand Canal, the Temple of Heaven, the Ming Tombs, and the Summer Palace.

Beijing boasts of having the largest wall and the largest palace in the world.

The Great Wall of China is one of the seven wonders of the world and is also the largest wall ever built by humankind. On the other hand, the Forbidden City is the largest palace on the globe.

The well-preserved palace gives us a deep insight into the cultures, traditions, and the look back into the history of ancient China. The Forbidden City was the ritual and the imperial center of the country for almost 500 years.

Facts About Beijing's Culture

Traveling to a different place brings a different view into the customs, traditions, rules, and other cultural aspects of the place.

If you plan on visiting Beijing, you should be well accustomed to the different cultures of the city. Here we will take a look at the different cultural varieties of Beijing.

Be it the famous Beijing cuisine or the Beijing dialect, they all form an enormous part of both the Chinese language as well as the Chinese culture. The pecking duck is one of the most delicious cuisines of Beijing.

The recipe is almost 600 years old and includes roasting a Beijing duck with air compressed between its skin and the meat. This is a sure delicacy to fall for if you ever visit Beijing.

People all over the world are fond of calligraphy, and surprisingly Beijing is no exception. The calligraphy of Beijing is extremely famous, and visitors often collect beautiful souvenirs with this remarkable calligraphy.

Song, music, and dance are a vital part of their culture, and the Beijing opera or the Peking opera provides just the same.

Art in the form of coding sequences with the Beijing dialect enthralls all the tourists who travel to Beijing. Mandarin is the official language of China, and the local dialect is widely based on the ancient dialect of Mandarin.

Facts About Beijing's Population

It is not really an unknown fact that China has the highest population in comparison to every other country on Earth.

Therefore a city of the magnitude of Beijing is bound to be populated. Demographical reports suggest that this city is home to around 22 million people.

Be it urban Beijing or old Beijing; this city is densely populated. However, Beijing is still not the most populated city in the country.

The high population density and the overuse of groundwater for drinking and other purposes have had a serious effect on the city. The depletion of the groundwater is directly responsible for making the city sink around 4 in (10 cm) every year.

There have been numerous concerns over the air quality in Beijing for the past years. It was estimated that breathing the air of Beijing for six days is equivalent to smoking a cigarette.

However, do not worry as the quality of the air of this city is improving with every passing day, and this is a huge sign of relief for the 22 million inhabitants of the city.

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