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HOW TO
MAKE RESERVATION?
You can make a reservation on Hotel,Airticket & Tour by
E-mail, Fax or Phone. Our office hours: 08:30-18:00(GMT+08:00).
Because of the time difference, it would be better to reserve
by email or message board out of our working hours. Each of
your requests will be respond promptly. You can get our contact
information in our website. Once the tour is confirmed by both
of us, the reservation is made. At the same time, a deposit
is required, and the amount depends on what tour you plan.
The balance you can pay us, upon you arrive Beijing. |
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China has been
a major travel destination of the world and attract
more and more tourists from all over the world.China
will be more important to the 2lst century. Fascination
with Chinese past, Chinese present, and Chinese future… |
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China has 23
provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities
and 2 Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and
Macao). Different cities, different culture and special
interests. |
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Introduction Of Beijing City
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| Beijing
History |
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Local history begins
some 500,000 years ago at a time when the north China
plain'which encompasses Beijing'was covered in semi-tropical
forest and dotted with lakes. Anthropologists digging
at Zhououdian'a village near modern Beijing ' discovered
in 1929 the area was inhabited by a previously unknown
human ancestor soon dubbed Peking Man. This hominid'the
famous dig revealed'had mastered fire and used stone
tools.
Modern human beings to settle in the area around 3000BC'
surviving on rudimen-history.During the Song Dynasty'a
tribe from the Mongolian steppes called the Qidan swept
down into north China and founded the Liao Dynasty'
eventually making their capital' called Yanjing'at what
is now Beijing.The name Yangjing survives today as a
brand of a popular local beer.
Proving the adage " those who live by the sword'
die by the sword," the Liao were in turn defeated
in 1125 by invaders from Manchuria-the jürchen. The latter
founded the Jin Dynasty and ruled much of north China
from their capital,'Zhongdu' which also stood in present-day
Beijing .Graced with handsome palaces'Zhongdu had over
a million residents-roughly the population size of ancient
Rome at its peak in the lst century AD.
Unfortunately' little remains of Zhongdu since it was
burnt to the ground by the armies og Genghis Khan in
1215.Genghis's grandson,'Kublai Khan' completed the Mongol
conquest of China ' crowning himself emperor in 1260
and founding the Yuan dynasty in 1271. Kublai built his
capital' Dadu'on the ruins of Zhongdu.lt was the first
time that all of China was governed from the city that
would become Beijing.
Distrustful of local officials and lacking the administrative
know-how and personnel to govern their vast empire'the
Mongol rulers neverwon over the hearts of their Han Chinese
subjects. When their grip on power began to weaken' revolts
broke out throughout China.
ln 1368'a former peasant and rebel leader named ZhuYuanzhang
overthrew the Yuan dynasty, took Dadu and establishedthe
Mingdynasty.He renamed the city Beijing. Meaning Northern
Peace'and set up his court in Nanjing 'which means Southern
Capital. The power struggle that broke out after his
death in 1398 was resolved in favor of a usurper' the
fourth of his 36 sons.A vigorous and capable leader'this
son ruled as the Yongle emperor.
Emperor Yongle officially moved the Ming capital back
to Beijing in 1421 because his power base was in the
north and as the usurper'he felt insecure in the south.The
emperor would have a huge impact on Beijing ' he gave
the city its current name'which means Northern Capital'and
rebuilt it on a chessboard pattern that survives to this
day.His building program for Beijing begun in 1406 and
included the construction of such architectural masterpieces
as the Forbidden City' the Bell Tower and the Temple
of Heaven. Surrounding the palace was a web of alleyways
and gray-hued quadrangle courtyard homes. It should be
noted that the Beijing of today' with the imperial gilded
roofs and the maze-like neighborhoods are mainly Ming
and Qing creations.
Additionally'he chose a beautiful site north of Beijing
for a royal cemetery' an area now known as the Ming Tombs.
His successors broadened the city' built moats'canals
and a massive city wall to protect the capital against
attackers from the north.A similar motive was behind
their decision to restore and lengthen sections of the
Great Wall near Beijing.
These safeguards were ultimately in vain. Weakened by
revolts'corruption and banditry' the Ming proved no match
for the force from Manchuria' part of northeastern China
today. In 1644' the Manchus conquered Beijing . By adopting
the Ming administrative system' embracing Confucian values
and maintaining a strong army' the Manchus were able
to co-opt the scholarly gentry class and remain in power
until 1911.
The Qing expanded Beijing 's hutong neighborhoods and
commissioned suburban palaces set in luxuriant gardens'the
most famous of which was the Old Summer Palace. This
pleasure dome was looted and razed by French and British
troops during the Second Opium war in 1860. The crippling " Unequal
Treaties " imposed by western powers after the Opium
Wars coupled with Chinese ferment for political change
led to the downfall of the Qing and the foundation by
Sun Yat-sen of the Republic of China in 1912.
During much og the 1900 to 1949 Republican period' be
facto power resided with powerful warlords who fought
for control of the city and country. In1928' the capital
was moved to Nanjing and Beijing was once again renamed
Beijing ' a name that it held until 1949. During this
period'Beijing was the scene of much political upheaval.
The Versailles Treaty signed after the First World War'under
which the Allied powers gave Germany's possessions in
China(Qingdao for example) to Japan rather than to China
galvanized Beijing's students into organizing a march
on May 4, 1919. Their protests-against imperialism and
the warlords' would spawn the " May Fourth Movement."In
this intellectual atmosphere'an erstwhile librarian's
assistant at Peking University named Mao Zedong would
become a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party(CCP)
in 1921.
In 1937'after overcoming Chinese troops at the Marco Polo Bridge(lugouqiao  )
on the outskirts of Beijing' the Japanese army occupied the city and began a
general invasion of China. The end of the Second World War was followed by a
civil war in which the Communist Party would triumph. On January 31, 1949, the
victorious People's Liberation Army entered the city and in Tian'anmen Square
on October 1,1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic
of China.
" We the Chinese people have stood up and our future
is infinitely bright, " Mao told a crowd of 300,000.
In Beijing the new leaders soon embarked on a building
program of their own. The old city walls were torn down
in 1964 to make way for the roadway that would become
today's Second Ring Road. Tian'anmen Square was dramatically
expanded and two modern buildings were erected on its
flanks the Great Hall of the People (home to China 's
parliament)and the Chinese History and Revolution Museum
.The 1950's saw the construction of apartment blocks,
factories and Beijing 's first subway line.
The economic reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978
set the stage for Beijing 's ongoing development boom.
Rapid economic growth combined with preparations for
events like the 1990 Asian Games and the 50th anniversary
of the People's Republic of china in 1999 fuelled countless
construction and infrastructure projects. Avenues were
broadened' highways were built' new neighborhoods were
created' and towers of steel and glass were erected seemingly
overnight. Under Deng and his successors Jiang Zemin
and Hu jintao' foreign investment and new ideas were
welcomed' ensuring that Beijing became increasingly outward-looking'technological
and prosperous. |
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