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The mountains of Fangshan are also habitat for the more common , , and. Writer Lavina Melwani in Little India compared Indian marriages to business deals: Until recently, Indian marriages had all the trappings of a business transaction involving two deal-making families, a hardboiled matchmaker and a vocal board of shareholders — concerned uncles and aunts. The Niujie Mosque was founded in 996 during the Liao dynasty and is frequently visited by Muslim dignitaries. A 1425 order by Zhu Di's son, the , to return the primary capital to Nanjing was never carried out: he died, probably of a heart attack, the next month.

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It was fascinating to be with someone from whom I learned something new every day. I have now come to the conclusion that my romantic endeavours will always be severely tested while I remain in China. Ministry Of Commerce — People's Republic Of China. The Imperial Capitals of China: An Inside View of the Celestial Empire.

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The city, located in , is governed as a under the with. Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Province with the exception of neighboring Municipality to the southeast; together the three divisions form the and the of China. As a city combining both modern and traditional architecture, Beijing is a rich in An important and , Beijing exerts an extraordinary global influence in , , , , , , , , , , , , and of the world. The city ranks highly in capital status, international influence, quality of life, consumption level, and finance, and is also one of the most visited cities globally. With 3000 years of history, Beijing is and possesses records of dating as back as 700 000 years. Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by after and is the nation's , , and center. It is home to the headquarters of most of and is a for the , , , and networks. The has been the since 2010, and, as of 2016 , the city's is the and , after. The dates back three. As the last of the , Beijing has been the political center of the country for much of the past eight centuries. With mountains surrounding the inland city on three sides, in addition to the , Beijing was strategically poised and developed to be the residence of the and thus was the perfect location for the imperial capital. Beijing was the for much of the The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs,. Its art treasures and universities have made it center of culture and art in China. The city hosted the and was chosen to host the , making it the first city to ever host both Winter and Summer Olympics. Many of consistently rank among the best in China, of which and are ranked in the top 60 universities of the world. In 2015, 52 companies of the company headquarters were located in Beijing, more than any other city in the world, including state-owned enterprises , , and , ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, respectively. Beijing's area is also known as China's and China's center of innovation and technology entrepreneurship. Expats live primarily in urban districts such as and in the east, or in suburban districts such as. See also: Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had. The English spelling is based on the of the two characters as they are pronounced in. An older English spelling, Peking, is the of the same two characters as they are pronounced in spoken in the southern port towns first visited by European traders and missionaries. Although Peking is no longer the common name for the city, some of the city's older locations and facilities, such as , with PEK, and , still use the former romanization. The single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is , which appears on automobile license plates in the city. Main article: Early history The earliest traces of human habitation in the Beijing municipality were found in the caves of near the village of in , where lived. Archaeologists have found settlements throughout the municipality, including in , located in downtown Beijing. The first in Beijing was , the capital city of the and was built in 1045 BC. Within modern Beijing, Jicheng was located around the present area in the south of. This settlement was later conquered by the and made its capital. Early Imperial China The , built around 1120 during the. After the , Jicheng became a for the region. During the , it was held by and before falling to 's. The AD 3rd-century demoted the town, placing the prefectural seat in neighboring Zhuozhou. During the period when northern China was conquered and divided by the , Jicheng was briefly the capital of the Kingdom. After China was reunified during the , Jicheng, also known as Zhuojun, became the northern terminus of the. Under the , Jicheng as , served as a military frontier command center. Some of the date to the Liao period, including the. The city was besieged by 's invading in 1213 and two years later. Two generations later, ordered the construction of or Daidu to the Mongols, commonly known as Khanbaliq , a new capital for his to the northeast of the Zhongdu ruins. The construction took from 1264 to 1293, but greatly enhanced the status of a city on the northern fringe of. The city was centered on the slightly to the north of modern Beijing and stretched from the present-day to the northern part of. Remnants of the Yuan wall still stand and are known as the Tucheng. Ming dynasty One of the corner towers of the , which was built by in Ming dynasty. In 1368, soon after declaring the new of the , the leader sent an army to Khanbaliq and conquered it. Since the continued to occupy and Mongolia, however, Dadu was renamed to Beiping as used to supply the military garrisons in the area. The early death of 's heir led to a on his death, one that ended with the victory of and the declaration of the new. Since his harsh treatment of the Ming capital modern alienated many there, he established his fief as a new co-capital. The city of became Beijing northern capital or in 1403. The construction of the new imperial residence, the , took from 1406 to 1420; this period was also responsible for several other of the modern city's major attractions, such as the and. On 28 October 1420, the city was officially designated the capital of the in the same year that the Forbidden City was completed. Beijing became the empire's primary capital and Yingtian, also called southern capital , became the co-capital. A 1425 order by Zhu Di's son, the , to return the primary capital to Nanjing was never carried out: he died, probably of a heart attack, the next month. He was buried, like almost every Ming emperor to follow him, in an to Beijing's north. By the 15th century, Beijing had essentially taken its current shape. The continued to serve until modern times, when it was pulled down and the was built in its place. It is generally believed that Beijing was the largest city in the world for most of the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The was constructed by in 1652 at the former site of 's chapel; the modern was later built upon the same site. The capture of Beijing by 's peasant army in 1644 ended the dynasty, but he and his abandoned the city without a fight when the army of Prince arrived 40 days later. The Qing emperors made some modifications to the Imperial residence but, in large part, the Ming buildings and the general layout remained unchanged. Facilities for Manchu worship were introduced, but the Qing also continued the traditional state rituals. Signage was bilingual or Chinese. This early Qing Beijing later formed the setting for the. Northwest of the city, Qing emperors built several large palatial gardens including the and the. During the , Anglo-French forces captured the outskirts of the city, looting and burning the in 1860. Under the ending that war, Western powers for the first time secured the right to establish within the city. During the fighting, several important structures were destroyed, including the and the new. A large portrait of was displayed above Gate after. The fomenters of the of 1911 sought to replace Qing rule with a republic and leaders like originally intended to return the capital to Nanjing. After the Qing general forced the abdication of the last Qing emperor and ensured the success of the revolution, the revolutionaries accepted him as president of the new. Yuan maintained his capital at Beijing and quickly consolidated power, declaring himself emperor in 1915. His death less than a year later left China under the control of the warlords commanding the regional armies. Following the success of the 's , the capital was formally removed to in 1928. On July 7, 1937, the 29th Army and the Japanese army in China exchanged fire at the near the southwest of the city. The triggered the , as it is known in China. During the war, Beiping fell to Japan on 29 July 1937 and was made the seat of the , a that ruled the ethnic-Chinese portions of Japanese-occupied. This government was later merged into the larger based in Nanjing. On 1 October that year, announced the creation of the from atop. He restored the name of the city, as the new capital, to Beijing, a decision that had been reached by the just a few days earlier. In the 1950s, the city began to expand beyond the old walled city and its surrounding neighborhoods, with heavy industries in and residential neighborhoods in. Many areas of the were torn down in the 1960s to make way for the construction of the and the. A scene from the opening ceremonies of the. During the from 1966 to 1976, the movement began in Beijing and the city's government fell victim to one of the first purges. By the fall of 1966, all city schools were shut down and over a million Red Guards from across the country gathered in Beijing for eight rallies in Tian'anmen Square with Mao. In April 1976, a large public gathering of Beijing residents against the and the Cultural Revolution in Tiananmen Square. In October 1976, the Gang was arrested in and the Cultural Revolution came to an end. In December 1978, the in Beijing under the leadership of reversed the verdicts against victims of the Cultural Revolution and instituted the Since the early 1980s, the urban area of Beijing has expanded greatly with the completion of the 2nd Ring Road in 1981 and the subsequent addition of the , , and. According to one 2005 newspaper report, the size of newly developed Beijing was one-and-a-half times larger than before. In recent years, the expansion of Beijing has also brought to the forefront some problems of urbanization, such as , , the loss of historic neighborhoods, and a significant influx of migrant workers from less-developed of the country. Beijing has also been the location of many significant events in recent Chinese history, principally the. The city has also hosted major international events, including the and the. Remnants of the in the mountains north of the city. Beijing is situated at the northern tip of the roughly triangular , which opens to the south and east of the city. Mountains to the north, northwest and west shield the city and northern China's agricultural heartland from the encroaching desert steppes. The northwestern part of the municipality, especially and , are dominated by the , while the western part is framed by Xishan or the. The across the northern part of Beijing Municipality was built on the rugged topography to defend against nomadic incursions from the steppes. Major rivers flowing through the municipality, including the , , , are all tributaries in the system, and flow in a southeasterly direction. The Miyun Reservoir, on the upper reaches of the Chaobai River, is the largest reservoir within the municipality. Beijing is also the northern terminus of the to , which was built over 1,400 years ago as a transportation route, and the , constructed in the past decade to bring water from the basin. The urban area of Beijing, on the plains in the south-central of the municipality with elevation of 40 to 60 metres 130—200 feet , occupies a relatively small but expanding portion of the municipality's area. The city spreads out in concentric. The traces the and the connects satellite towns in the surrounding suburbs. To the west of Tian'anmen is , the residence of China's current leaders. Cityscape See also: Three styles of architecture are predominant in urban Beijing. First, there is the traditional architecture of imperial China, perhaps best exemplified by the massive Gate of Heavenly Peace , which remains the People's Republic of China's trademark edifice, the , the and the. Finally, there are much more modern architectural forms, most noticeably in the area of the in east Beijing such as the new , in addition to buildings in other locations around the city such as the and. Since 2007, buildings in Beijing have received the for best overall tall building twice, for the building in 2009 and the in 2013. The CTBUH Skyscraper award for best tall overall building is given to only one building around the world every year. In the early 21st century, Beijing has witnessed tremendous growth of new building constructions, exhibiting various modern styles from international designers, most pronounced in the CBD region. A mixture of both 1950s design and style of architecture can be seen at the , which mixes the old with the new. Beijing's current completed tallest building is the 330-meter , but will be surpassed by the 528-meter in 2018 when it is completed. Both buildings are in the. The sign of Doujiao , one of the many traditional alleyways in the inner city Beijing is famous for its , a type of residence where a common courtyard is shared by the surrounding buildings. Among the more grand examples are the and. These courtyards are usually connected by alleys called. The hutongs are generally straight and run east to west so that doorways face north and south for good. They vary in width; some are so narrow only a few pedestrians can pass through at a time. Once ubiquitous in Beijing, siheyuans and hutongs are rapidly disappearing, as entire city blocks of hutongs are replaced by high-rise buildings. Residents of the hutongs are entitled to live in the new buildings in apartments of at least the same size as their former residences. Many complain, however, that the traditional sense of community and street life of the hutongs cannot be replaced, and these properties are often government owned. Climate Beijing has a monsoon-influenced Dwa , characterized by hot, humid summers due to the East Asian , and cold, windy, dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast. Spring can bear witness to sandstorms blowing in from the across the , accompanied by rapidly warming, but generally dry, conditions. Autumn, like Spring, is a season of transition and minimal precipitation. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 47% in July to 65% in January and February, the city receives 2,671 hours of bright sunshine annually. Climate data for Beijing normals 1971—2000, extremes 1951—present Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C °F 14. Between 2000 and 2009 Beijing's urban extent quadrupled, which not only strongly increased the extent of anthropogenic emissions, but also changed the meteorological situation fundamentally, even if of human society are not included. For example, surface , wind speed and near the surface were decreased, whereas ground and near-surface , vertical air dilution and levels were increased. Because of the combined factors of urbanization and pollution caused by burning of , Beijing is often affected by serious environmental problems, which lead to issues of many inhabitants. In 2013 heavy struck Beijing and most parts of northern China, in total 600 million people. After that the government of Beijing announced measures to reduce air pollution, for example by lowering the share of coal from 24% in 2012 to 10% in 2017, while the national government ordered heavily polluting vehicles to be removed from 2015 to 2017 and increased its efforts to transition the energy system to clean sources. Air quality Joint research between American and Chinese researchers in 2006 concluded that much of the city's pollution comes from surrounding cities and provinces. On average 35—60% of the can be traced to sources outside the city. Heavy air pollution has resulted in widespread smog. These photographs, taken in August 2005, show the variations in Beijing's air quality. In preparation for the and to fulfill promises to clean up the city's air, nearly 17 billion USD was spent. Beijing implemented a number of air improvement schemes for the duration of the Games, including halting work at all construction sites, closing many factories in Beijing permanently, temporarily shutting industry in neighboring regions, closing some gas stations, and , reducing bus and subway fares, opening new subway lines, and banning high-emission vehicles. The city further assembled 3,800 -powered buses, one of the largest fleets in the world. Beijing became the first city in China to require the Chinese equivalent to the Euro 4. Coal burning accounts for about 40% of the in Beijing and is also the chief source of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide. Since 2012, the city has been converting coal-fired to burn natural gas and aims to cap annual coal consumption at 20 million tons. In 2011, the city burned 26. Much of the city's air pollutants are emitted by neighboring regions. Coal consumption in neighboring Tianjin is expected to increase from 48 to 63 million tons from 2011 to 2015. Hebei Province burned over 300 million tons of coal in 2011, more than all of Germany, of which only 30% were used for power generation and a considerable portion for steel and cement making. Power plants in the coal-mining regions of Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi, where coal consumption has tripled since 2000, and Shandong also contribute to air pollution in Beijing. Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia, respectively rank from first to fourth, among Chinese provinces by coal consumption. There were four major coal-fired power plants in the city to provide electricity as well as heating during the winter. The first one Gaojing Thermal Power Plant was shut down in 2014. Another two were shut in March 2015. The last one Huaneng Thermal Power Plant would be shut in 2016. Between 2013 and 2017, the city planned to reduce 13 million tons of coal consumption and cap coal consumption to 15 million tons in 2015. The government sometimes uses measures to increase the likelihood of rain showers in the region to clear the air prior to large events, such as prior to the 60th anniversary parade in 2009 as well as to combat drought conditions in the area. During and prior to these events, Beijing's air quality improved dramatically, only to fall back to unhealthy levels shortly after. Beijing air quality is often poor, especially in winter. In mid-January 2013, Beijing's air quality was measured on top of at a PM2. On 8 and 9 December 2015 Beijing had its first alert which shut down a majority of the industry and other commercial businesses in the city. Readings Due to Beijing's high-level of air pollution, there are various readings by different sources on the subject. Daily pollution readings at 27 monitoring stations around the city are reported on the website of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau BJEPB. The American Embassy of Beijing also reports hourly and levels on Twitter. Since the BJEPB and US Embassy measure different pollutants according to different criteria, the pollution levels and the impact to human health reported by the BJEPB are often lower than that reported by the US Embassy. The smog is causing all kinds of harm and putting the public in general danger. The air pollution does directly result in significant impact on the mobility rate of cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease in Beijing. Exposure to large concentrations of polluted air can cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems, emergency room visits, and even death. Dust storms Dust from the erosion of deserts in northern and northwestern China results in seasonal that plague the city; the sometimes artificially induces rainfall to fight such storms and mitigate their effects. In the first four months of 2006 alone, there were no fewer than eight such storms. In April 2002, one dust storm alone dumped nearly 50,000 tons of dust onto the city before moving on to Japan and Korea. The local CPC issues administrative orders, collects taxes, manages the economy, and directs a standing committee of the Municipal People's Congress in making policy decisions and overseeing the local government. Numerous bureaus focus on law, public security, and other affairs. Additionally, as the capital of China, Beijing houses all of the important national governmental and political institutions, including the. Division Area in km 2 Population 2010 Seat Postal code Subdivisions 110000 Beijing 16411. Judiciary and procuracy The in Beijing consists of the , the highest court in the country, the Beijing Municipal High People's Court, the of the municipality, three , one intermediate , 14 one for each of the municipality's districts and counties , and one basic railway transport court. It oversees the district courts of Chaoyang, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Huairou, Pinggu and Miyun. Each court in Beijing has a corresponding. Diplomatic missions is one of the oldest and busiest shopping area in Beijing. As of 2016 , Beijing' was 386. Due to the concentration of in the national capital, Beijing in 2013 had more Company headquarters than any other city in the world. The services sector is broadly diversified with professional services, wholesale and retail, information technology, commercial real estate, scientific research, and residential real estate each contributing at least 6% to the city's economy in 2013. The single largest sub-sector remains industry, whose share of overall output has shrunk to 18. The mix of industrial output has changed significantly since 2010 when the city announced that 140 highly-polluting, energy and water resource intensive enterprises would be relocated from the city in five years. The relocation of to neighboring Hebei province had begun in 2005. In 2013, output of automobiles, aerospace products, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and food processing all increased. In the farmland around Beijing, vegetables and fruits have displaced grain as the primary crops under cultivation. In 2013, the tonnage of vegetable, edible fungus and fruit harvested was over three times that of grain. In 2013, overall acreage under cultivation shrank along with most categories of produce as more land was reforested for environmental reasons. Economic zones is a technology hub in In 2006, the city government identified six high-end economic output zones around Beijing as the primary engines for local economic growth. In 2012, the six zones produced 43. As of the second quarter of 2014, of the 9,895 companies registered in one of the six zones, 6,150 were based in Zhongguancun. The country's financial regulatory agencies including the , , , and are located in the neighborhood. The CBD is home to most of the. Most of the city's foreign companies and professional service firms are based in the CBD. It has attracted pharmaceutical, information technology, and materials engineering companies. In addition to logistics, airline services, and trading firms, this zone is also home to Beijing's automobile assembly plants. Chemical plants are concentrated in the far eastern suburbs. Less legitimate enterprises also exist. Urban Beijing is known for being a center of goods; anything from the latest designer clothing to DVDs can be found in markets all over the city, often marketed to expatriates and international visitors. Main article: Year Pop. In 2013, Beijing had a total population of 21. Within China, the city ranked after Shanghai and the after Shanghai and Chongqing. Beijing also ranks among the most populous cities in the world, , especially during the 15th to early 19th centuries when it was. About 13 million of the city's residents in 2013 had local , which entitles them to permanent residence in Beijing. The remaining 8 million residents had hukou permits elsewhere and were not eligible to receive some social benefits provided by the Beijing municipal government. The population increased in 2013 by 455,000 or about 7% from the previous year and continued a decade-long trend of rapid growth. The total population in 2004 was 14. The population gains are driven largely by migration. The population's in 2013 was a mere 0. Working age people account for nearly 80% of the population. Compared to 2004, residents age 0—14 as a proportion of the population dropped from 9. According to the 2010 census, nearly 96% of Beijing's population are ethnic. Of the 800,000 ethnic minorities living in the capital, 336,000 , 249,000 , 77,000 , 37,000 and 24,000 constitute the five largest groups. In addition, there were 8,045 Hong Kong residents, 500 Macau residents, and 7,772 Taiwan residents along with 91,128 registered foreigners living in Beijing. A study by the Beijing Academy of Sciences estimates that in 2010 there were on average 200,000 foreigners living in Beijing on any given day including students, business travellers and tourists are not counted as registered residents. From 2000 to 2010, the percentage of city residents with at least some college education nearly doubled from 16. In 2017 the Chinese Government implemented population controls for Beijing and Shanghai. Latest statistics show that from this policy, Beijings' population declined by 20,000 Metropolitan area The encompassing was estimated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to have, as of 2010 , a population of 24. Royal collection of the Forbidden City People native to urban Beijing speak the , which belongs to the Mandarin subdivision of. This speech is the basis for , the standard spoken language used in mainland China and , and one of the four official languages of. Rural areas of Beijing Municipality have akin to those of Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing Municipality. Beijing or is a traditional form of Chinese theater well known throughout the nation. Commonly lauded as one of the highest achievements of , Beijing opera is performed through a combination of song, spoken dialogue, and codified action sequences involving gestures, movement, fighting and acrobatics. Much of Beijing opera is carried out in an archaic stage dialect quite different from Modern Standard Chinese and from the modern Beijing dialect. Cloisonné making requires elaborate and complicated processes which include base-hammering, copper-strip inlay, soldering, enamel-filling, enamel-firing, surface polishing and gilding. Younger residents of Beijing have become more attracted to the nightlife, which has flourished in recent decades, breaking prior cultural traditions that had practically restricted it to the upper class. Today, , and are Beijing's nightlife hotspots. Places of interest , a traditional commercial street outside Qianmen Gate along the southern Central Axis At the historical heart of Beijing lies the , the enormous palace compound that was the home of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties; the Forbidden City hosts the Palace Museum, which contains imperial collections of Chinese art. Surrounding the Forbidden City are several former imperial gardens, parks and scenic areas, notably , , , and. These places, particularly Beihai Park, are described as masterpieces of art, and are popular tourist destinations with tremendous historical importance; in the modern era, Zhongnanhai has also been the political heart of various Chinese governments and regimes and is now the headquarters of the Communist Party of China and the State Council. From Tiananmen Square, right across from the Forbidden City, there are several notable sites, such as the Tiananmen, , the , the , the , and the. The and the both lie at the western part of the city; the former, a , contains a comprehensive collection of imperial gardens and palaces that served as the summer retreats for the Qing imperial family. Ancient outside Gate Among the best known religious sites in the city is the Tiantan , located in southeastern Beijing, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties made visits for annual ceremonies of prayers to Heaven for good harvest. In the north of the city is the Ditan , while the Ritan and the Yuetan lie in the eastern and western urban areas respectively. Other well-known temple sites include the , , , , , , and. The city also has its own , and a or Imperial Academy. The , built in 1605, is the oldest Catholic church in Beijing. The is the oldest mosque in Beijing, with a history stretching back over a thousand years. Inside the Forbidden City Beijing contains several well-preserved pagodas and stone pagodas, such as the towering , which was built during the Liao dynasty from 1100 to 1120, and the , which was built in 1576 during the Ming dynasty. Historically noteworthy stone bridges include the 12th-century , the 17th-century bridge, and the 18th-century. The displays pre-telescopic spheres dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Xiangshan is a popular scenic public park that consists of natural landscaped areas as well as traditional and cultural relics. The exhibits over 6,000 species of plants, including a variety of trees, bushes and flowers, and an extensive garden. The , , , , and parks are some of the notable recreational parks in the city. The is a center of zoological research that also contains rare animals from various continents, including the Chinese. There are 144 museums and galleries as of June 2008 in the city. In addition to the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City and the National Museum of China, other major museums include the , the , the , the , the , the and the. Located at the outskirts of urban Beijing, but within its municipality are the , the lavish and elaborate burial sites of thirteen Ming emperors, which have been designated as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The archaeological site at is another World Heritage Site within the municipality, containing a wealth of discoveries, among them one of the first specimens of and an assemblage of bones of the gigantic brevirostris. There are several sections of the UNESCO World Heritage Site , most notably , , and. Fire God Temple in Di'anmen. The religious heritage of Beijing is rich and diverse as , , , , and all have significant historical presence in the city. As the national capital, the city also hosts the and various state-sponsored institutions of the leading religions. In recent decades, foreign residents have brought other religions to the city. According to Wang Zhiyun of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2010 there were 2. According to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2009, Christians constitute 0. According to a 2010 survey, Muslims constitute 1. Rear hall of the Capital Temple of Beijing. Chinese folk religion and Taoism Beijing has many temples dedicated to , many of which are being reconstructed or refurbished in the 2000s and 2010s. Many of these temples are governed by the Beijing Taoist Association, such as the , while many others are not and are governed by popular committees and locals. A great Temple of Xuanyuan Huangdi will be built in Pinggu possibly as an expansion of the already existing shrine within 2020, and the temple will feature a statue of the deity which will be amongst the. The national and Chinese Taoist College have their headquarters at the of , which was founded in 741 and rebuilt numerous times. The outside Chaoyangmen is the largest temple of in the city. The local Beijing Taoist Association has its headquarters at the near Fuxingmen. The , the state's supervisory organ overseeing all institutions in mainland China, is headquartered in the , a temple founded over 800 years ago during the in what is now Fuchengmennei. The Beijing Buddhist Association along with the Buddhist Choir and Orchestra are based in the , which dates to the Yuan dynasty over 700 years ago. The Buddhist Academy of China and its library are housed in the near Caishikou. The Fayuan Temple, which dates to the Tang dynasty 1300 years ago, is the oldest temple in urban Beijing. The Tongjiao Temple inside Dongzhimen is the city's only Buddhist nunnery. The West Yellow Temple originally dates to the Liao dynasty. In 1651, the temple was commissioned by the to host the visit of the to Beijing. Since then, this temple has hosted the as well as the , and. The largest Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Beijing is the Yonghe Temple, which was decreed by the in 1744 to serve as the residence and research facility for his Buddhist preceptor of the third or living Buddha of Inner Mongolia. The Yonghe Temple is so-named because it was the childhood residence of the , and retains the reserved for imperial palaces. The Lingguang Temple of Badachu in the Western Hills also dates to the Tang dynasty. The temple's Zhaoxian Pagoda was first built in 1071 during the Liao dynasty to hold a tooth relic of the. The pagoda was destroyed during the Boxer Rebellion and the tooth was discovered from its foundation. A new pagoda was built in 1964. The six aforementioned temples: Guangji, Guanghua, Tongjiao, West Yellow, Yonghe and Lingguang have been designated. In addition, other notable temples in Beijing include the Tanzhe Temple founded in the is the oldest in the municipality , oldest pagoda in the city , famed for Yuan-era white dagoba , the Wanshou Temple home to the Beijing Art Museum and. Islam Beijing has about 70 mosques recognized by the , whose headquarters are located next to the , the oldest and most famous mosque in the city. The Niujie Mosque was founded in 996 during the Liao dynasty and is frequently visited by Muslim dignitaries. Other notable mosques in the old city include the , founded in 1346; the Huashi Mosque, founded in 1415; Nan Douya Mosque, near Chaoyangmen; Jinshifang Street Mosque, in Xicheng District; and the Dongzhimen Mosque. There are large mosques in outlying Muslim communities in Haidian, , Tongzhou, Changping, , Shijingshan and Miyun. The China Islamic Institute is located in the Niujie neighborhood in Xicheng District. Christianity , also known as the Xishiku Church, founded in 1703. Catholicism In 1289, came to Beijing as a missionary with the order from the Pope. After meeting and receiving the support of in 1293, he built the first Catholic church in Beijing in 1305. The CPCA , based in is the government oversight body for Catholics in mainland China. The National Seminary of Catholic Church in China is located in Daxing District. Protestantism The earliest Protestant churches in Beijing were founded by in the second half of the 19th century. Protestant missionaries also opened schools, universities and hospitals which have become important civic institutions. Most of Beijing's Protestant churches were destroyed during the and afterwards rebuilt. In 1958, the 64 Protestant churches in the city are reorganized into four and overseen by the state through the. Eastern Orthodox There were a significant amount of Orthodox Christians in Beijing. Orthodox has come to Beijing along with from in the 17th century. In 1956, Viktor, the bishop of Beijing returned to the Soviet Union, and the Soviet embassy took over the old cathedral and demolished it. In 2007, Russian embassy has rebuilt a new church in its garden to serve the Russian Orthodox Christians in Beijing. The broadcasts on channels 1 through 10, and , China's largest television network, maintains its headquarters in Beijing. Three radio stations feature programmes in English: Hit FM on FM 88. The , and the English are published in Beijing as well. Publications primarily aimed at international visitors and the expatriate community include the English-language periodicals Time Out Beijing, , , Beijing Talk, , and. Other international events held in Beijing include the 2001 and the. Single-sport international competitions include the annually since 1981 , 1993—97, annually since 2004 , , , , , and , annually since 2005 , since , 1961 , , the football , and football. Beijing's will be one of the main venues for the. The city hosted the second in 1914 and the first four in 1959, 1965, 1975, 1979, respectively, and co-hosted the 1993 National Games with and. Beijing also hosted the inaugural in 1988 and the sixth National Minority Games in 1999. In November 2013, Beijing made a to host the. On 31 July 2015, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics to the city. In addition, many universities in the city have their own sport facilities. Clubs Professional sports teams based in Beijing include: Typical Beijing traffic signage found at intersections. Beijing is an important in with five , nine expressways, eleven National Highways, nine conventional railways, and two high-speed railways converging on the city. Rail and high-speed rail Beijing serves as a large rail hub in. Ten conventional rail lines radiate from the city to: , , , , , , , , and. In addition, the passes through the municipality to the north of the city. Beijing also has three lines: the , which opened in 2008; the , which opened in 2011; and the , which opened in 2012. The city's main railway stations are the , which opened in 1959; the , which opened in 1996; and the , which was rebuilt into the city's high-speed railway station in 2008. As of 1 July 2010, Beijing Railway Station had 173 trains arriving daily, Beijing West had 232 trains and Beijing South had 163. The , first built in 1909 and expanded in 2009, had 22 trains. Smaller stations in the city including and handle mainly commuter passenger traffic. The Fengtai Railway Station has been closed for renovation. In outlying suburbs and counties of Beijing, there are over 40 railway stations. From Beijing, is available to most large cities in China. International train service is available to , Russia, and. Passenger trains in China are numbered according to their in relation to Beijing. Roads and expressways Further information: and Beijing is connected by road links to all parts of China as part of the National Trunk Road Network. Nine serve Beijing, as do eleven. The ring roads appear more rectangular than ring-shaped. The is located in the inner city. Ring roads tend to resemble progressively as they extend outwards, with the and being full-standard national expressways, linked to other roads only by interchanges. Expressways to other regions of China are generally accessible from the outward. A final outer orbital, the , is being built and will extend into neighboring and. Within the urban core, city streets generally follow the checkerboard pattern of the ancient capital. Traffic jams are a major concern. Even outside of rush hour, several roads still remain clogged with traffic. Beijing's urban design layout further exacerbates transportation problems. The authorities have introduced several bus lanes, which only public buses can use during rush hour. In the beginning of 2010, Beijing had 4 million registered automobiles. By the end of 2010, the government forecast 5 million. In 2010, new car registrations in Beijing averaged 15,500 per week. Towards the end of 2010, the city government announced a series of drastic measures to tackle traffic jams, including limiting the number of new license plates issued to passenger cars to 20,000 a month and barring cars with non-Beijing plates from entering areas within the Fifth Ring Road during rush hour. More restrictive measures are also reserved during major events or heavily polluted weather. Air Beijing's primary airport is the : PEK about 20 kilometres 12 mi northeast of the city centre. The airport is the after. After renovations for the 2008 Olympics, the airport now boasts three terminals, with Terminal 3 being one of the largest in the world. Most domestic and nearly all international flights arrive at and depart from Capital Airport. It is the main hub for and a hub for and. The airport links Beijing with almost every other Chinese city with regular air passenger service. The links the airport to central Beijing; it is a roughly 40-minute drive from the city centre during good traffic conditions. Prior to the 2008 Olympics, the was built to the airport, as well as a system, which now connects to the. Other airports in the city include Liangxiang, , Xijiao, Shahe and Badaling. These airports are primarily for military use and are less well known to the public. Nanyuan serves as the hub for only one passenger airline. A second international airport, to be called , is currently being built in , and is expected to be open by September 2018. As of 1 January 2013 , tourists from 45 countries are permitted a 72-hour visa-free stay in Beijing. The 45 countries include Singapore, Japan, the United States, Canada, all EU and EEA countries except Norway and Liechtenstein , Switzerland, Brazil, Argentina and Australia. The programme benefits transit and business travellers with the 72 hours calculated starting from the moment visitors receive their transit stay permits rather than the time of their plane's arrival. Foreign visitors are not permitted to leave Beijing for other Chinese cities during the 72 hours. Public transit The , which began operating in 1969, now has 22 lines, 370 , and 608 km 378 mi of. It is the and with 3. In 2013, with a flat fare of 2. The subway is undergoing rapid expansion and is expected to reach 30 lines, 450 stations, 1,050 kilometres 650 mi in length by 2020. When fully implemented, 95% of residents inside the will be able to walk to a station in 15 minutes. The provides commuter rail service to outlying suburbs of the municipality. On 28 December 2014, the Beijing Subway switched to a distance-based fare system from a fixed fare for all lines except the. Under the new system a trip under 6 will cost 3. For every 20 kilometres 12 miles after the original 32 kilometres 20 miles an additional 1. For example, a 50 kilometres 31 miles trip would cost 8. There are nearly 1,000 and lines in the city, including four lines. Standard bus fares are as low as ¥1. Taxi Metered in Beijing start at ¥13 for the first 3 kilometres 1. Most taxis are , , , and. After 15 kilometres 9. Different companies have special colours combinations painted on their vehicles. Usually registered taxis have yellowish brown as basic hue, with another color of Prussian blue, hunter green, white, umber, tyrian purple, rufous, or sea green. Between 11 pm and 5 am, there is also a 20% fee increase. Rides over 15 km 9 mi and between 23:00 and 06:00 incur both charges, for a total increase of 80%. Tolls during trip should be covered by customers and the costs of trips beyond Beijing city limits should be negotiated with the driver. The cost of unregistered taxis is also subject to negotiation with the driver. Bicycles Beijing has long been well known for the number of bicycles on its streets. Although the rise of motor traffic has created a great deal of congestion and bicycle use has declined, bicycles are still an important form of local transportation. Large numbers of cyclists can be seen on most roads in the city, and most of the main roads have dedicated. Beijing is relatively flat, which makes cycling convenient. The rise of and , which have similar speeds and use the same cycle lanes, may have brought about a revival in bicycle-speed two-wheeled transport. It is possible to cycle to most parts of the city. Because of the growing traffic congestion, the authorities have indicated more than once that they wish to encourage cycling, but it is not clear whether there is sufficient will to translate that into action on a significant scale. Recently, cycling has seen a resurgence in popularity thanks to the emergence of a large number of dockless app based such as , and. Chinese President and a military honor guard welcomes South Korean president in June 2013. The command headquarters of China's military forces are based in Beijing. The , the political organ in charge of the military, is housed inside the , located next to the in western Beijing. The , which controls the country's and nuclear weapons, has its command in , Haidian District. The headquarters of the , one of seven nationally, is based further west in Gaojing. The Beijing Military Region oversees the Beijing Garrisons as well as the , and , which are based in Hebei. Military institutions in Beijing also include academies and thinktanks such as the and , military hospitals such as the , 307 and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and army-affiliated cultural entities such as the 1 August Film Studios and the. The , which oversees country's , and several space-related state owned companies such as and are all based in Beijing. The , in Haidian District tracks the country's and unmanned flight and other space exploration initiatives. Beijing Municipality has 20 nature reserves that have a total area of 1,339. The mountains to the west and north of the city are home to a number of protected wildlife species including , , , , , , , , , , , and. The Beijing Aquatic Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center protects the , and on the Huaijiu and Huaisha Rivers in. The south of the city is home to one of the largest herds of , now extinct in the wild. The , a species of discovered in caves of in 2001 and identified as a distinct species in 2007, is to Beijing. The mountains of Fangshan are also habitat for the more common , , and. Each year, Beijing hosts 200-300 species of including the , , , , and the endangered. In May 2016, Common cuckoos nesting in the wetlands of Cuihu Haidian , Hanshiqiao Shunyi , Yeyahu Yanqing were tagged and have been traced to far as , and. 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