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Although Beijing is an ancient city and was often used as the capital by one warlord or another, its modern history as a capital begins in the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) with Kublai Khan, grandson of Ghengis Khan. It is here that Marco Polo made his base as he visited and travelled with the Khan. He spent over 20 years as a guest of the Khan before returning to Europe with his vivid descriptions of the great civilization to the east. Most of what we see today in Beijing was built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
It is a city built to inspire; to awe the populace with the power of the emperor. Built for the rites and ceremonies performed to maintain the Mandate of Heaven as well as for defense, it achieves grace through power and size rather than through ornament and variety.
The Mings looked to the past for their design. Beijing, like most major cities in China was built with a series of concentric walls. The outermost wall surrounded what was the Chinese city. A major highway which provides access to the outskirts and links the city with the major arteries to the rest of the country sits on its bed. At various points along the highway you can see the guard towers which loomed above the old gates to the city and provided early warning of invasion. One might regret the loss of this ancient wall, but the alternative would have been to raze whole neighborhoods in one of the most densely packed cities in the world.
If your visions of Beijing are centred around pods of Maoist revolutionaries in buttoned-down tunics performing t'ai chi in Tiananmen Square, put them to rest: this city has embarked on a new millennium rollercoaster and it's taking the rest of China with it.
With preparations for the 2008 Olympics well under way, old hutongs (alleys) and buildings are being demolished, new buildings are going up, small things are giving way to big things and big things are giving way to even bigger things. This fast-paced, two-minute-noodles lifestyle doesn't please everyone - the old comrades are complaining about uppity youths and loss of values - but the capital of the People's Republic of China doesn't look like it's slowing down any time soon.
Area: 750 sq km
Population: 13 million
Country: China
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +8 (Standard Time)
Telephone Area Code: 010
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The style of many imperial architecture dates back to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) even though most buildings have been rebuilt many times since their inception. Fire must have been a constant danger to these wood buildings since there are big water containers outside most buildings in the Forbidden City for dousing fires.
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