Beijing is the Capital of New People's China and the home of the New People's China Party. It houses the headquarters of many of China's national organizations. It is revered for both its policial status, as well as its history.
Beijing itself is a munciple commune within the province of Beijing. There are effectivly two Beijings as well: City of Beijing and Rural Beijing.
Districts[]
Beijing and Rural Beijing is broken down into thirteen districts. Which are broken down to:
Old City (red)[]
Dongcheng (1)[]
- Home of the Forbidden City
- Tianamen Square
- Chinese History Museum
- Temple Confuscious
- Other important sites
- Bisected east-west by Chang-An Avenue
Xicheng (2)[]
- Bisected east-west by Chang-An Avenue
Outer City (orange)[]
Chaoyang (3)[]
Chaoyang serves as the home for China's national government, housing the offices for the Grand Secretary as well as the Congressional Hall. In addition, this district is home to China's foreign embassies, now limited to ASB members and Ethiopia.
Fengtai (6)[]
Though a part of the Outer City, Fengtai is often not considered a part of the City of Beijing. Oftentimes being split in half by the City of Beijing's city government and Rural Beijing's government. It is sparsly populated.
Home also to the Marco Polo Bridge.
On July 17, 1976 a rogue, unidentified helicopter made its way into Beijing and was eventually shot down over Fengtai by Chinese response personell.
Haidian (4)[]
Haidian serves as the city's university and intellectual center. It is home to some of Beijing's oldest universities and many of that district's projects have been executed to cater towards university students.
Shijingshan (5)[]
As the case with Fengtai the sparsley populated outlying district of Shijingshan is often not considered a formal part of the City of Beijing, though it is in city charter. The terrain of this region is also hilly, dissuading urban projects.
Rural Beijing[]
The following districts are a part of Rural Beijing, effectivly on reserve should the City of Beijing need to utilize more land. They also serve as the suburbs of the city and are served by the same services as the City of Beijing (fire, police, water, electricity, hospital)
- Mentougou (7)
- Changping (8)
- Shunyi (9)
- Tongzhou (10)
- Daxing (11)
- Fangshan (12)
- Nóngcūn Běijīng (13)
Topography[]
Beijing lies at the edge of the North China Plain making the approach from the south and east fairly flat. The northern and western edges of the city are predominately hilly or mountainous, protecting the city from the deserts to the north.
The western hills - or Xishan - are predominant in the western districts such as Fengtai and Shijingshan. The Jundu Mountains dominate Nóngcūn Běijīng. A number of rivers or canals also run through the city.
Travel[]
A selection of rail stations connect Beijing with the rest of China where as sub-ways link the rest of the city. The Chinese Inernational Highway also links from two directions at Beijing. The edge of each zone is therefore encircled by a "Ring Road" that allows traffic through to it, away from it, or to get around it.
The Beijing Airport also serves from Chaoyang
Hutongs[]
Hutongs are tightly packed neighborhoods and are predominately a phenomenon found in Beijing. Hutongs are defined as being any old neighborhood in the Old City where the homes let out into narrow alley ways barely large enough to drive through. They are the predominant residential quarters of old-time Beijingers in the city and many hutong neighborhoods are said to have their own story in Beijing's histroy.
Though, with growth expected and modernization, the Hutongs are threatened by the growing construction of apartment complexes, emptying many out enough to build newer structures on top. A small movement has sprouted in Beijing to call for the city - and province of Beijing - to set up protection of the hutongs.
Many hutongs are designated as pedestrian traffic only.
Qianshi Hutong at its 40cm point
The Qianshi Hutong is the narrowest Hutong at 40 cm wide.
Energy Curfew[]
Beijing is one of several Chinese cities with an enforced Energy Curfew to build up power in case of emergency situations, or to generally conserve electricity during an otherwise light use period. This curfew has been instated by the Beijing government since the mid-60's and prevails today. Vital institutions such as public safety, government, or health are kept active during this time via the city power control.
Shut off is generally marked at 22:00 and restarted at 07:00 when the city's public radio network activates.