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144-664: The Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway or Jingzhang Railway ( Chinese : 京张铁路 ; pinyin : Jīngzhāng Tiělù ), also known as the Imperial Peking–Kalgan Railway , is China ’s first railway that has been designed and built solely by Chinese, situated in the nation’s capital Beijing and Zhangjiakou City in Hebei Province. It was built in 1905–1909 under the proposal of Viceroy of Zhili Yuan Shikai and Assistant Director-General of Railways Hu Yufen (胡燏棻), with Zhan Tianyou as engineer-in-chief. When building
288-641: A prefectural capital and during the Three Kingdoms period , it was held by Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao before falling to the Wei Kingdom of Cao Cao . The AD third-century Western Jin demoted the town, placing the prefectural seat in neighboring Zhuozhou . During the Sixteen Kingdoms period when northern China was conquered and divided by the Wu Hu , Jicheng was briefly the capital of
432-443: A component—either a character or a sub-component called a radical —usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes , or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example, the ⼓ ' WRAP ' radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏ ' TABLE ' to form the simplified character 没 . By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of
576-471: 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
720-434: A conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed: Sample Derivations : The Series One List of Variant Characters reduces the number of total standard characters. First, amongst each set of variant characters sharing identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard character set, and the rest are made obsolete. Then amongst
864-424: A daily excavation of 0.9 m. Also, with fans installed, the shafts could bring air to the tunnel , and served, after the tunnel was finished, as ventilation shafts , through which the smoke puffed by the train could run out. To accelerate the construction, workers worked in shifts. Among the 60 people in each shift, 40 were responsible for blasting and 20 for transportation. When building the rail track going through
1008-419: 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
1152-407: A few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by China's State Council on 5 June 2013. In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字 ; jiǎnhuàzì , or colloquially as 简体字 ; jiǎntǐzì . The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure, a practice which has always been present as
1296-763: A large public gathering of Beijing residents against the Gang of Four and the Cultural Revolution in Tiananmen Square was forcefully suppressed . In October 1976, the Gang was arrested in Zhongnanhai and the Cultural Revolution came to an end. In December 1978, the Third Plenum of the 11th Party Congress in Beijing under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping reversed the verdicts against victims of
1440-476: A major center of electronics in China. In recent years, the expansion of Beijing has also brought to the forefront some problems of urbanization, such as heavy traffic , poor air quality , the loss of historic neighborhoods, and a significant influx of migrant workers from less-developed rural areas of the country. Beijing has also been the location of many significant events in recent Chinese history, principally
1584-703: A national reform through a variety of measures, where railway construction was considered a top priority. Britain and Russia thus began competing for the power to build railways in North China, but the Qing government rejected both of them in 1898. Around a year later in 1899, Kinder , the British engineer-in-chief of the Imperial Railways of North China (关内外铁路), carried out preliminary surveying in areas between Beijing and Zhangjiakou , and this led to
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#17327838228921728-646: A new burial ground behind the bronze statue in the Qinglongqiao Station . In 1995, the former Xizhimen Station was listed as Major Historical and Cultural Site of Beijing under the name of “Former Xizhimen Station of Peking-Suiyuan Railway ”. In 2007, an industrial historical site survey team, organised by the Capital Museum and Beijing Daily , discovered along the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway over 100 historical sites. In 2009, in
1872-610: A newly coined phono-semantic compound : Removing radicals Only retaining single radicals Replacing with ancient forms or variants : Adopting ancient vulgar variants : Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters : Copying and modifying another traditional character : Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List , the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as
2016-470: A pancake" ( tan da bing ). This pattern of development is frequently cited as a reason for Beijing's urban problems. Beijing has a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dwa ), bordering on a cold semi-arid climate ( Köppen : BSk ) in the south and in the northwest, characterized by hot, humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon , and brief but cold, dry winters that reflect
2160-573: A part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms. According to Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui , the broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical shape ( 字形 ; zìxíng ),
2304-574: A period of 39 years. Also required was the execution or exile of government supporters of the Boxers and the destruction of Chinese forts and other defenses in much of northern China. Ten days after the treaty was signed the foreign armies left Beijing, although legation guards would remain there until World War II . With the treaty signed the Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Beijing from her "tour of inspection" on 7 January 1902 and
2448-529: A site for the Zhangjiakou Station. Before deciding the final location of the station, Zhan visited Governor-General of Chahar Pu Ting (溥颋) and other local officials. Construction began on October 2, 1905, in three sections. This section was 55 km long, starting from Bridge 60 of Beijing-Fengtian Railway (京奉铁路) located in the east of Fengtai Station in Liucun (柳村). When building the section,
2592-429: A solution to the seemingly unconquerable task. Zhan, however, stood fast on using an all-Chinese team. When building the tunnel, in addition to cutting from the two sides of the mountain, Zhan also drilled two vertical shafts from the mountaintop, so that workers can excavate within the mountain on four surfaces simultaneously. Of the two shafts , the bigger one was 33 m deep and 3.05 m wide. Together, they contributed to
2736-694: 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 Grand Canal to Hangzhou , which was built over 1,400 years ago as a transportation route, and the South–North Water Transfer Project , constructed in the past decade to bring water from the Yangtze River basin. The urban area of Beijing, on
2880-426: A total of 600 million people. After this "pollution shock" air pollution became an important economic and social concern in China. 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
3024-555: Is "BJ". The earliest traces of human habitation in the Peking municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District , where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the caves date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived there more recently, about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout
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#17327838228923168-728: Is 27.2 °C (81.0 °F). Precipitation averages around 528.0 mm (20.8 in) annually ( Haidian and Chaoyang has an average annual precipitation of 584.2 mm (23.0 in)), with close to three-quarters of that total falling from June to August. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 42% in July to 62% in January and February, the city receives 2,490.5 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from −27.4 °C (−17.3 °F) on 22 February 1966 to 41.9 °C (107.4 °F) on 24 July 1999 (unofficial record of 42.6 °C (108.7 °F)
3312-440: Is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨 . The 扌 'HAND' with three strokes on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now seen as more complex, appearing as the ⽊ 'TREE' radical 木 , with four strokes, in the chosen variant 榨 . Not all characters standardised in the simplified set consist of fewer strokes. For instance,
3456-672: Is also a major hub for the national highway , expressway , railway , and high-speed rail networks. For a decade before the COVID-19 pandemic , the Beijing Capital International Airport was Asia's busiest airport (2009–2019) and the second busiest airport in the world (2010–2019). In 2020, the Beijing subway was the fourth busiest and second longest in the world . The Beijing Daxing International Airport , Beijing's second international airport,
3600-447: Is causing harm and danger to the population. The air pollution does directly result in significant impact on the morbidity 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 from the erosion of deserts in northern and northwestern China results in seasonal dust storms that plague
3744-454: Is derived. Merging homophonous characters: Adapting cursive shapes ( 草書楷化 ): Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂 ): Omitting entire components : Omitting components, then applying further alterations : Structural changes that preserve the basic shape Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds : Replacing an uncommon phonetic component : Replacing entirely with
3888-515: Is famous for its siheyuans , a type of residence where a common courtyard is shared by the surrounding buildings. Among the more grand examples are the Prince Gong Mansion and Residence of Soong Ching-ling . These courtyards are usually connected by alleys called hutongs . The hutongs are generally straight and run east to west so that doorways face north and south for good Feng Shui . They vary in width; some are so narrow only
4032-529: Is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts . Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province and neighbors Tianjin to the southeast; together, the three divisions form the Jing-Jin-Ji cluster . It is ranked as the 10th most important city in the world by Knight Frank . Beijing is a global city and one of
4176-456: Is no longer the common name for the city, some of the city's older locations and facilities, such as Beijing Capital International Airport , with the IATA code PEK, and Peking University , still retain the former romanization. The single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京 , which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing
4320-813: Is now discouraged. A State Language Commission official cited "oversimplification" as the reason for restoring some characters. The language authority declared an open comment period until 31 August 2009, for feedback from the public. In 2013, the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters was published as a revision of the 1988 lists; it included a total of 8105 characters. It included 45 newly recognized standard characters that were previously considered variant forms, as well as official approval of 226 characters that had been simplified by analogy and had seen wide use but were not explicitly given in previous lists or documents. Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification , eventually arriving at
4464-462: Is one of the most important tourist destinations in the world. In 2018, Beijing was the second highest earning tourist city in the world after Shanghai . Beijing is home to many national monuments and museums and has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites —the Forbidden City , Temple of Heaven , Summer Palace , Ming Tombs , Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site , Beijing Central Axis and parts of
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4608-623: Is referred to as the " big seal script ". The traditional narrative, as also attested in the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ( c. 100 AD ), is that the Qin small seal script that would later be imposed across China was originally derived from the Zhou big seal script with few modifications. However, the body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to
4752-509: Is the largest single-structure airport terminal in the world. The city has hosted numerous international and national sporting events, the most notable being the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Paralympics Games. In 2022, Beijing became the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics , and also the Summer and Winter Paralympics . Beijing combines both modern and traditional style architectures , with one side of
4896-547: Is used instead of 叠 in regions using traditional characters. The Chinese government stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. The Chart of Generally Utilized Characters of Modern Chinese was published in 1988 and included 7000 simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which specified 2500 common characters and 1000 less common characters. In 2009,
5040-462: The APEC China 2014 and the 2015 China Victory Day Parade , respectively. During and prior to these events, Beijing's air quality improved dramatically, only to fall back to unhealthy levels shortly after. On 8 and 9 December 2015 Beijing had its first smog alert which shut down a majority of the industry and other commercial businesses in the city. Later in the month another smog "red alert"
5184-728: The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , the Central Academy of Fine Arts , the Central Academy of Drama , the Central Conservatory of Music , and the Red Cross Society of China . Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had numerous other names . The name Beijing , which means "Northern Capital" (from the Chinese characters 北 běi for north and 京 jīng for capital ),
5328-680: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), led by the Beijing CCP Secretary . The Municipal CCP Committee 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. Since 1987, all CCP Secretary of Beijing is also a member of the Politburo . Government officials include
5472-660: The Convention of Peking ending that war, Western powers for the first time secured the right to establish permanent diplomatic presences within the city. From 14 to 15 August 1900 the Battle of Peking was fought. This battle was part of the Boxer Rebellion . The attempt by the Boxers to eradicate this presence, as well as Chinese Christian converts, led to Beijing's reoccupation by eight foreign powers . During
5616-463: The Great Wall and the Grand Canal —all of which are popular tourist locations. Siheyuans , the city's traditional housing style, and hutongs , the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing. Beijing's public universities make up more than one-fifth of Double First-Class Construction universities, and many of them consistently rank among
5760-588: The Jundu Mountain , Zhan Tianyou used a zigzag , at a high gradient of 0.033. Owed to the design, the length of the Badaling Tunnel was reduced from 1.8 km, which was beyond the construction capacity back then, to 1.095 km. Before the excavation in Badaling began, Japanese merchant Amemiya Keijirou (雨宫敬次郎) and Kinder recommended foreign machinery and contractors to Zhan Tianyou as
5904-565: The Juyong Pass , Zhan decided to build a tunnel in the nearby mountain to avoid damaging civilian houses. During the excavation, the construction team found a gorge that had probably been blocked by other people, which, together with the soft mountain rocks and soil, posed a great challenge to the construction. In 1907, the Qing government ordered the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway Administration to plant trees along
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6048-617: The Qing dynasty as a direct successor of the Ming (delegitimising Li Zicheng and his followers) and Beijing became China's sole capital. 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
6192-534: The Temple of Heaven . Next, there is what is sometimes referred to as the "Sino-Sov" style, with structures tending to be boxy and sometimes poorly constructed, which were built between the 1950s and the 1970s. Finally, there are much more modern architectural forms, most noticeably in the area of the Beijing CBD in east Beijing such as the new CCTV Headquarters , in addition to buildings in other locations around
6336-533: The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 . The city has also hosted major international events, including the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2015 World Championships in Athletics , and the 2022 Winter Olympics , making it the first city to ever host both Winter and Summer Olympics. Beijing is situated at the northern tip of the roughly triangular North China Plain , which opens to the south and east of
6480-673: The Xianbei Former Yan Kingdom. After China was reunified by the Sui dynasty in 581, Jicheng, also known as Zhuojun , became the northern terminus of the Grand Canal . Under the Tang dynasty , Jicheng as Youzhou , served as a military frontier command center. During the An-Shi Rebellion and again amidst the turmoil of the late Tang, local military commanders founded their own short-lived Yan dynasties and called
6624-451: The hutongs cannot be replaced, and these properties are often government owned. Beijing had a long history of environmental problems . 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 emissions of human society are not included. For example, surface albedo , wind speed and humidity near
6768-715: The oldest surviving pagodas in Beijing date to the Liao period, including the Tianning Pagoda . The Liao fell to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in 1122, which gave the city to the Song dynasty and then retook it in 1125 during its conquest of northern China . In 1153, the Jurchen Jin made Beijing their "Central Capital", or Zhongdu . The city was besieged by Genghis Khan 's invading Mongolian army in 1213 and razed to
6912-486: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Beijing Beijing , previously romanized as Peking , is the capital city of China . With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city after Shanghai . It is located in Northern China , and
7056-459: The "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical form ( 字体 ; 字體 ; zìtǐ ), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes". The initiatives following the founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across
7200-507: The 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The first known church was constructed by Catholics in 1652 at the former site of Matteo Ricci 's chapel; the modern Nantang Cathedral was later built upon the same site. The capture of Beijing by Li Zicheng 's peasant army in 1644 ended the dynasty, but he and his Shun court abandoned the city without a fight when the Manchu army of Prince Dorgon arrived 40 days later. Dorgon established
7344-482: The 1986 General List of Simplified Chinese Characters , hereafter the General List . All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List . Characters in both charts are structurally simplified based on similar set of principles. They are separated into two charts to clearly mark those in Chart 2 as 'usable as simplified character components', based on which Chart 3
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#17327838228927488-520: The 1986 mainland China revisions. Unlike in mainland China, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters. Malaysia also promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, though completely identical to the mainland Chinese set. They are used in Chinese-language schools. All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Charts 1 and 2 of
7632-511: The 20th century was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China and Singapore , while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan . Simplification of
7776-406: The Beijing area. Beijing's annual average concentration of major airborne fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, declined to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022, the best air quality for the city since 2013. 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
7920-649: The Beijing-Suiyuan Railway Authority, the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway became a part of the Beijing-Suiyuan Railway . In April 1921, the railway extended westward to Suiyuan , and further to Baotou in January 1923. In 1928, the Beijing-Suiyuan Railway was renamed Peking-Suiyuan Railway (平绥铁路), and was renamed again after the establishment of PRC as Beijing-Baotou Railway . In 1924, six kilometres of
8064-480: The Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway borrowed sites and facilities from the Imperial Railways of North China , and agreed, through negotiation, to pay the latte an annual rent of 200 taels of silver. On September 30, 1906, the section was fully built and put in use. Meanwhile, the Xizhimen Station (西直门站), designed by the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway Administration, was established also in 1905–1906. This section
8208-431: The Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway that have been listed as Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level and included in the third national cultural heritage survey. Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write the Chinese language , with the other being traditional characters . Their mass standardization during
8352-449: The Chinese Engineers Society (中国工程师学会), together with the Association of Colleagues of Beijing-Suiyuan Railway (京绥铁路同人会) and other organisations, built a 3 m high bronze statue of him in the Qinglongqiao Station . In 1926, Zhan's wife Tan Juzhen died and was buried with him. In 1982, the Ministry of Railways of PRC , the Beijing Railway Administration , and the China Railway Society moved their tomb in Baiwanzhaung (百万庄) in west Beijing to
8496-470: The Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of 8300 characters. No new simplifications were introduced. In addition, slight modifications to the orthography of 44 characters to fit traditional calligraphic rules were initially proposed, but were not implemented due to negative public response. Also, the practice of unrestricted simplification of rare and archaic characters by analogy using simplified radicals or components
8640-511: The Cultural Revolution and instituted the "policy of reform and opening up". 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 3rd , 4th , 5th and 6th Ring Roads . According to one 2005 newspaper report, the size of newly developed Beijing was one-and-a-half times larger than before. Wangfujing and Xidan have developed into flourishing shopping districts, while Zhongguancun has become
8784-431: The Guan’gou Valley with 14 stations, 4 tunnels and 125 bridges. In 1912, four stations with passing loops were built in the Guan’gou section. The railway was merged into Beijing-Suiyuan Railway in 1916, and later into Beijing-Baotou Railway after the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC). The rail tracks located within the city area of Beijing were gradually dismantled to meet the need of urban traffic. In 1995,
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#17327838228928928-457: The Ming capital Yingtian (modern Nanjing ) alienated many there, he established his fief as a new co-capital. The city of Beiping became Beijing ("Northern Capital") or Shuntian in 1403. The construction of the new imperial residence, the Forbidden City , took from 1406 to 1420; this period was also responsible for several other of the modern city's major attractions, such as the Temple of Heaven and Tian'anmen . On 28 October 1420,
9072-403: The Ministry of Post and Communications. Xu Shichang , Zhan Tianyou , and Zhu Junqi (朱君淇) made speeches on the ceremony. The actual total cost of the 201.2 km (125.0 mi) railway was 289,000 less than the initially expected 7.29 million taels of silver, and the cost per km (34,500 taels of silver) marked the lowest of all railways in China. More importantly, the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway
9216-468: The assistant director-general and chief engineer. Meanwhile, the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway Administration was established in Tianjin, and a branch office was opened in Fuchengmen , Beijing . Zhan Tianyou soon led two Chinese graduates of railway engineering Xu Wenhui (徐文洄) and Zhang Honggao (张鸿诰) to carry out the surveying They started in Liucun Village, and proceeded in Nankou, Guan’gou, and Badaling . On May 31, they reached Zhangjiakou and tried to find
9360-432: The best in the Asia-Pacific and the world. Beijing is home to universities, including Tsinghua University and Peking University . Beijing CBD is a center for Beijing's economic expansion , with the ongoing or recently completed construction of multiple skyscrapers . Beijing's Zhongguancun area is a world leading center of scientific and technological innovation as well as entrepreneurship. Beijing has been ranked
9504-412: The budget and in return, receive 800,000 taels of silver per year from the Boxer Indemnities. The proposal was approved in February the same year. Based on the recommendation of Liang Dunyan (梁敦彦), Yuan Shikai chose Zhan Tianyou as the chief engineer. In May the same year, the Qing government appointed Chen Zhaochang (陈昭常) as the director-general of the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway and Zhan Tianyou as
9648-402: The capital to Nanjing . After the Qing general Yuan Shikai forced the abdication of the last Qing emperor and ensured the success of the revolution, the revolutionaries accepted him as president of the new Republic of China . 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
9792-429: The center of Beijing, directly to the south of the Forbidden City , the former residence of the emperors of China. To the west of Tian'anmen is Zhongnanhai , the residence of China's current leaders. Chang'an Avenue , which cuts between Tiananmen and the Square, forms the city's main east–west axis. Beijing's pattern of development from the old inner city to its urban fringe are frequently described as "spreading like
9936-428: The character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between
10080-407: The chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow: Sample reduction of equivalent variants : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant
10224-470: The city Yanjing , or the "Yan Capital." Also in the Tang dynasty, the city's name Jicheng was replaced by Youzhou or Yanjing. In 938, after the fall of the Tang, the Later Jin ceded the frontier territory including what is now Beijing to the Khitan Liao dynasty, which treated the city as Nanjing , or the "Southern Capital", one of four secondary capitals to complement its "Supreme Capital" Shangjing (modern Baarin Left Banner in Inner Mongolia ). Some of
10368-490: The city being modernized and renovated to fit the times, and the other half still offering traditional hutong districts. Beijing is one of the oldest cities in the world , with a rich history dating back over three millennia. As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China , Beijing has been the political center of the country for most of the past eight centuries, and was the largest city in
10512-443: The city burned 26.3 million tons of coal, 73% of which for heating and power generation and the remainder for industry. 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
10656-754: The city such as the Beijing National Stadium and National Center for the Performing Arts . Since 2007, buildings in Beijing have received the CTBUH Skyscraper Award for best overall tall building twice, for the Linked Hybrid building in 2009 and the CCTV Headquarters in 2013. The CTBUH Skyscraper award for best tall overall building is given to only one building around the world every year. In
10800-502: 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 cloud-seeding measures to increase
10944-532: The city was officially designated the capital of the Ming dynasty in the same year that the Forbidden City was completed. Beijing became the empire's primary capital, and Yingtian, also called Nanjing ("Southern Capital"), became the co-capital. (A 1425 order by Zhu Di's son, the Hongxi Emperor , to return the primary capital to Nanjing was never carried out: he died, probably of a heart attack,
11088-707: The city with the largest scientific research output by the Nature Index since the list's inception in 2016. Beijing hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many organizations, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Silk Road Fund , the Chinese Academy of Sciences , the Chinese Academy of Engineering ,
11232-556: 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 Yanqing District and Huairou District , are dominated by the Jundu Mountains , while the western part is framed by Xishan or the Western Hills . The Great Wall of China across the northern part of Beijing Municipality
11376-605: The city. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident triggered the Second Sino-Japanese War , World War II as it is known in China. During the war, Beijing fell to Japan on 29 July 1937 and was made the seat of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China , a puppet state that ruled the ethnic-Chinese portions of Japanese-occupied northern China . This government was later merged into
11520-586: The city; the Beijing Weather Modification Office 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 municipal government is regulated by the Municipal Committee of
11664-497: The completion of the first two sections as construction materials could be transported by rail. The major challenges in this section lied in the Huailai River Bridge (怀来河大桥) and the section between Jiming Mountain (鸡鸣山) and Xiangshuipu (响水铺). For the former, Zhan Tianyou built a steel truss bridge with timber-pile foundation and concrete abutments ; for the latter, the riverbed was raised with fillings, and cement
11808-661: The construction of the Beijing Subway and the 2nd Ring Road . During the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, the Red Guard movement began in Beijing and the city's government fell victim to one of the first purges. By the autumn 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,
11952-473: The country's writing system as a serious impediment to its modernization. In 1916, a multi-part English-language article entitled "The Problem of the Chinese Language" co-authored by the Chinese linguist Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and poet Hu Shih (1891–1962) has been identified as a turning point in the history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from
12096-426: The early 20th century. In 1909, the educator and linguist Lufei Kui formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first time. Over the following years—marked by the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty , followed by growing social and political discontent that further erupted into the 1919 May Fourth Movement —many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see
12240-450: 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 neofuturistic style of architecture can be seen at the 798 Art Zone , which mixes the old with the new. Beijing's tallest building is the 528-meter China Zun . Beijing
12384-493: The energy system to clean sources. 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 ozone can be traced to sources outside the city. Shandong Province and Tianjin Municipality have a "significant influence on Beijing's air quality", partly due to the prevailing south/southeasterly flow during
12528-558: The fighting, several important structures were destroyed, including the Hanlin Academy and the (new) Summer Palace . A peace agreement was concluded between the Eight-Nation Alliance and representatives of the Chinese government Li Hongzhang and Yikuang on 7 September 1901. The treaty required China to pay an indemnity of US$ 335 million (over US$ 4 billion in current dollars) plus interest over
12672-634: The first official list of simplified forms was published, consisting of 324 characters collated by Peking University professor Qian Xuantong . However, fierce opposition within the KMT resulted in the list being rescinded in 1936. Work throughout the 1950s resulted in the 1956 promulgation of the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme , a draft of 515 simplified characters and 54 simplified components, whose simplifications would be present in most compound characters. Over
12816-463: The first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and the confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters; the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including
12960-475: The following decade, the Script Reform Committee deliberated on characters in the 1956 scheme, collecting public input regarding the recognizability of variants, and often approving forms in small batches. Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility
13104-559: The former Xizhimen Station was designated as a Major Historical and Cultural Site of Beijing, and in 2013, the section between Nankou and Badaling was listed as Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level . In late 19th century, railway and mining became targets of Western powers in their colonial endeavours in China. In 1895, the Guangxu Emperor issued an imperial edict, claiming to carry out
13248-459: The founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during
13392-585: The ground two years later. Two generations later, Kublai Khan ordered the construction of Dadu (or Daidu to the Mongols, commonly known as Khanbaliq ), a new capital for his Yuan dynasty 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 China proper . The city was centered on the Drum Tower slightly to
13536-466: The increased usage of 朙 was followed by proliferation of a third variant: 眀 , with 目 'eye' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙 . Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. The Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by King Xuan of Zhou ( d. 782 BC ) to unify character forms across the states of ancient China , with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what
13680-723: The influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone . Spring can bear witness to sandstorms blowing in from the Gobi Desert across the Mongolian steppe , accompanied by rapidly warming, but generally dry, conditions. Autumn, similar to spring, is a season of transition and minimal precipitation. From 2001 to 2024, the hottest period in Beijing is early August, and the coldest period is late January. According to China's seasonal division standard, Beijing enters spring on 26 March, summer on 20 May, autumn on 13 September, and winter on 31 October. The average annual temperature in
13824-589: The larger Wang Jingwei government based in Nanjing. In the final phases of the Chinese Civil War , the People's Liberation Army seized control of the city peacefully on 31 January 1949 in the course of the Pingjin Campaign . On 1 October that year, Mao Zedong announced the creation of the People's Republic of China from atop Tian'anmen . He restored the name of the city, as
13968-527: The largest fleets in the world. Beijing became the first city in China to require the Chinese equivalent to the Euro 4 emission standard . Coal burning accounts for about 40% of the PM 2.5 in Beijing and is also the chief source of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide. Since 2012, the city has been converting coal-fired power stations to burn natural gas and aims to cap annual coal consumption at 20 million tons. In 2011,
14112-465: The left, with the 月 'Moon' component on the right. Li Si ( d. 208 BC ), the Chancellor of Qin, attempted to universalize the Qin small seal script across China following the wars that had politically unified the country for the first time. Li prescribed the 朙 form of the word for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明 . However,
14256-462: 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. More recently, however, the government has increased its usage of such measures as closing factories temporarily and implementing greater restrictions for cars on the road, as in the case of " APEC blue " and "parade blue", short periods during and immediately preceding
14400-402: The most prominent Chinese authors of the 20th century, stated that "if Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" ( 漢字不滅，中國必亡 ). During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions regarding simplification took place within the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party. Many members of the Chinese intelligentsia maintained that simplification would increase literacy rates throughout the country. In 1935,
14544-578: The municipality, including in Wangfujing , located in central Peking. The first walled city in Beijing was Jicheng , the capital city of the state of Ji which was built in 1045 BC. Within modern Beijing, Jicheng was located around the present Guang'anmen area in the south of Xicheng District . This settlement was later conquered by the state of Yan and made its capital. After the First Emperor unified China in 221 BC, Jicheng became
14688-477: The new capital, to Beijing, a decision that had been reached by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference 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 the west and residential neighborhoods in the north . Many areas of the Beijing city wall were torn down in the 1960s to make way for
14832-522: The new name of Zhangjiakou-Suiyuan Railway Engineering Bureau, to support the construction of Zhangjiakou-Suiyuan Railway (张绥铁路). In September 1912, Sun Yat-sen (孙中山), who resigned from the post of interim president of Republic of China , showed great interest in railway undertaking. He met Yuan Shikai in Beijing, and took an inspection tour to Zhangjiakou by train. In 1916, as the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway Authority merged into
14976-415: The next month. He was buried, like almost every Ming emperor to follow him, in an elaborate necropolis to Beijing's north.) By the 15th century, Beijing had essentially taken its current shape. The Ming city wall continued to serve until modern times, when it was pulled down and the 2nd Ring Road was built in its place. It is generally believed that Beijing was the largest city in the world for most of
15120-465: The north and south of the Shanhai Pass and between Fengtai and the Great Wall in the north. This caused objection of Russia and France , which made representations to the Qing government on the latter Regulations. Ultimately, it was agreed that no foreign capital shall be used to build railways in the north of Beijing , including the railway between Beijing and Zhangjiakou , and neither
15264-653: The north of Beijing or Northeast China . After the Siege of the International Legations , the Qing government signed with Britain Regulations on Britain Returning the Imperial Railways of North China (《英国交还铁路章程》) and Regulations on Following the Returning of the Imperial Railways of North China (《关内外铁路交还以后章程》), which excluded any third country from building railways in areas within 80 miles in
15408-609: The north of modern Beijing and stretched from the present-day Chang'an Avenue to the northern part of Line 10 subway . Remnants of the Yuan rammed earth wall still stand and are known as the Tucheng. In 1368, soon after declaring the new Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty , the rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang captured Dadu/Khanbaliq and razed the Yuan palaces to the ground. Since the Yuan continued to occupy Shangdu and Mongolia , Dadu
15552-471: 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 ring roads . The Second Ring Road traces the old city walls and the Sixth Ring Road connects satellite towns in the surrounding suburbs. Tian'anmen and Tian'anmen Square are at
15696-430: The public and quickly fell out of official use. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second-round simplifications were unpopular in large part because most of the forms were completely new, in contrast to the familiar variants comprising the majority of the first round. With the rescission of the second round, work toward further character simplification largely came to an end. In 1986, authorities retracted
15840-539: The railway between Guang’anmen and Xizhimen was dismantled, while that between Liucun and Guang’anmen maintained operation. In 2016, for the construction of Beijing-Zhangjiakou inter-city railway , rail tracks within the Beijing city were all dismantled and the Qinghuayuan Station was closed permanently. In 1919, Zhan Tianyou died of disease in Hankou at age of 58. In commemoration of him, in 1922,
15984-649: The railway near the Xiahuayuan Station (下花园站) was relocated due to flood damage. After the outbreak of Japanese Aggression against China , the railway was seized by Japanese army. On July 25, 1939, ten kilometres of the railway in the Huailai section was relocated due to flood damage, and the Wuguitou Tunnel and Shifosi Tunnel were discarded also because of flood damage. In 1940, four newly built tunnels and five newly built bridges were put in use, and
16128-513: The railway, Zhan reduced the length of Badaling Tunnel by using a switchback — or “人”-shaped rail track called in China as the shape of it resembles the Chinese character “人” (pinyin: rén ; literally: people); he also used vertical shafts to facilitate the excavation of the tunnel. The railway formally opened in 1909, with a total length of 201.2 km (125.0 mi). Starting from Liucun Village in Fengtai, it connected Beijing to Zhangjiakou via
16272-470: The railway. On April 14, 1908, the 367 m Juyongguan Tunnel was completed, and on May 22, the 1,090.5 m Badaling Tunnel was completed. Before that, construction work of the 141 m and 46 m tunnels in Shifosi (石佛寺) and Wuguitou (五桂头) had been finished. The section was 129.7 km long. The construction started even before the second section was completed, and work on this section was largely accelerated by
16416-487: The railways, if built, nor the revenue made from the railways shall be transferred to foreign countries as collateral. In 1905, Viceroy of Zhili Yuanshikai and Assistant Director-General of Railways Hu Yufen submitted a memorial to the throne, asking for approval to build the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway. The project was expected to take 4 years at a cost of 5 million taels of silver. The Imperial Railways of North China would contribute 1 million taels of silver annually to
16560-465: The recently conquered parts of the empire is generally seen as being the first real attempt at script reform in Chinese history. Before the 20th century, variation in character shape on the part of scribes, which would continue with the later invention of woodblock printing , was ubiquitous. For example, prior to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙 —with either 日 'Sun' or 囧 'window' on
16704-412: The rivalry between Britain and Russia for the control of Inner Mongolia. Russia made a request to the Qing government for approval of building the railway, but was refused by the latter. On June 1, 1899, Russia forced the Qing government to make a commitment that it would consult Russia or Russian companies beforehand in the case that companies from any third country wanted to build railways in
16848-536: The rule of the Qing dynasty over China was restored, albeit much weakened by the defeat it had suffered in the Boxer Rebellion and by the indemnity and stipulations of the peace treaty. The Dowager died in 1908 and the dynasty imploded in 1911. The fomenters of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 sought to replace Qing rule with a republic and leaders like Sun Yat-sen originally intended to return
16992-419: The ruling gradient rose from 0.333 to 0.358. In 1953, the railway between Kangzhuang (康庄) and Langshan (狼山) was relocated. In 1960, due to the expansion of Tsinghua University , the rail track in the north of Qinghuayuan Station was relocated to the east, and new buildings were established in the south of the original station, which turned into a freight yard. In 1968, due to the need of Beijing's urban traffic,
17136-481: The same set of simplified characters as mainland China. The first round was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969, consisting of 498 simplified characters derived from 502 traditional characters. A second round of 2287 simplified characters was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the mainland China system; these were removed in the final round in 1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted
17280-467: The second round completely, though they had been largely fallen out of use within a year of their initial introduction. That year, the authorities also promulgated a final version of the General List of Simplified Chinese Characters . It was identical to the 1964 list save for 6 changes—including the restoration of 3 characters that had been simplified in the first round: 叠 , 覆 , 像 ; the form 疊
17424-793: The summer and the mountains to the north and northwest. In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics and to fulfill promises to clean up the city's air, nearly US$ 17 billion 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 cutting motor traffic by half by limiting drivers to odd or even days (based on their license plate numbers) , reducing bus and subway fares, opening new subway lines, and banning high-emission vehicles. The city further assembled 3,800 natural gas -powered buses, one of
17568-427: The surface were decreased, whereas ground and near-surface air temperatures , vertical air dilution and ozone levels were increased. Because of the combined factors of urbanization and pollution caused by burning of fossil fuel , Beijing is often affected by serious environmental problems, which lead to health issues of many inhabitants. In 2013 heavy smog struck Beijing and most parts of northern China, impacting
17712-716: The tenders were localy supplied. After the opening, the railway was used for various purposes, including transporting mails between Fengtai and Zhangjiakou . The Qinghe railway station gradually took place of the Qinghe waterway in transporting passengers and cargo. The ballast production in Nankou ended, while the Jingzhang Manufactory expanded. In 1910, the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway Engineering Bureau moved to Zhangjiakou under
17856-496: The third national archaeological survey, the Zhangjiakou Station , Xinbaoan Station and other former stations were listed as industrial historical sites. In the same year, the Capital Museum and cultural heritage committees of districts and counties along the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway made a joint application for listing the whole railway as national cultural heritage . In 2013, the section from Nankou to Badaling
18000-427: The traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution , a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to
18144-833: The traditional character 強 , with 11 strokes is standardised as 强 , with 12 strokes, which is a variant character. Such characters do not constitute simplified characters. The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list tend to adopt vulgar variant character forms. Since the new forms take vulgar variants, many characters now appear slightly simpler compared to old forms, and as such are often mistaken as structurally simplified characters. Some examples follow: The traditional component 釆 becomes 米 : The traditional component 囚 becomes 日 : The traditional "Break" stroke becomes
18288-542: The train and checked the railway section by section. A celebration tea party was held in Zhangjiakou on September 21. On September 24, the Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway was formally opened. An opening ceremony was held in the Nankou Station on October 2, with over 10,000 people present, including foreign diplomats in Beijing and Tianjin , representatives of the minister of Beiyang (北洋大臣), and senior officials of
18432-399: The urban area of Beijing is 12.9 °C (55.2 °F) to 13.3 °C (55.9 °F), of which the average daily minimum temperature is 7.7 °C (45.9 °F) to 8.4 °C (47.1 °F), and the average daily maximum temperature is 18.5 °C (65.3 °F) to 18.9 °C (66.0 °F). The monthly daily average temperature in January is −2.7 °C (27.1 °F), while in July it
18576-522: The use of characters entirely. Instead, Chao proposed that the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. The alphabetization and simplification campaigns would exist alongside one another among the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. Recent commentators have echoed some contemporary claims that Chinese characters were blamed for the economic problems in China during that time. Lu Xun , one of
18720-665: The warlords commanding the regional armies. Following the success of the Kuomintang 's Northern Expedition , the capital was formally moved to Nanjing in 1928. On 28 June the same year, Beijing's name was returned to Beiping (written at the time as "Peiping"). On 7 July 1937, the 29th Army and the Japanese army in China exchanged fire at the Marco Polo Bridge near the Wanping Fortress southwest of
18864-622: The website of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau (BJEPB). The American Embassy of Beijing also reports hourly fine particulate (PM2.5) and ozone 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
19008-427: The world by population for much of the second millennium CE . With mountains surrounding the inland city on three sides, in addition to the old inner and outer city walls , Beijing was strategically poised and developed to be the residence of the emperor and thus was the perfect location for the imperial capital. The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates . Beijing
19152-467: The world's leading centres for culture , diplomacy , politics , finance , business and economics , education , research , language , tourism , media , sport , science and technology and transportation and art. It is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies and houses the largest number of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world, as well as the world's four biggest financial institutions by total assets. It
19296-480: Was Qing Dynasty ’s first and only railway that had been designed, built, and managed solely by Chinese. The North British Locomotive Company delivered three Mallet locomotives for the railway. They were the first ever built articulated compound locomotives in Great Britain and were designed to work on steep 1:30 grades and 500 ft radius curves of the route. Only the locomotives were built in Great Britain,
19440-468: Was 16.5 km long, covering the most challenging part in the Guan’gou Valley (关沟). To be closer to the construction site, Zhan Tianyou moved his office to Nankou . In order to satisfy the need for ballast and locomotives, a ballast factory was built in Nankou in 1906, and a locomotive factory, the Jingzhang Manufactory (京张制造厂), was established in the same year. When building the railway going through
19584-464: Was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing [ zh ] (hereafter Characters for Printing ), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. A second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by
19728-576: Was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing (the "Southern Capital"). The English spelling Beijing is based on the government's official romanization (adopted in the 1980s) of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin . An older English spelling, Peking , was used by Jesuit missionary Martino Martini in a popular atlas published in Amsterdam in 1655. Although Peking
19872-664: Was bilingual or Chinese. This early Qing Beijing later formed the setting for the Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber . Northwest of the city, Qing emperors built several large palatial gardens including the Old Summer Palace and the Summer Palace . During the Second Opium War , Anglo-French forces captured the outskirts of the city, looting and burning the Old Summer Palace in 1860. Under
20016-573: Was built on the rugged topography to defend against nomadic incursions from the steppes. Mount Dongling , in the Western Hills and on the border with Hebei , is the municipality's highest point, with an altitude of 2,303 metres (7,556 ft). Major rivers flowing through the municipality, including the Chaobai , Yongding , Juma , are all tributaries in the Hai River system, and flow in
20160-401: Was designated as Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level , with historical sites including buildings of the Nankou Station, remains of Nankou locomotive manufactory, the switchback, station buildings, staff accommodation and supervision office of the Qinglongqiao Station , and Zhan Tianyou's tomb and bronze statue. In 2016, reservation plans were drafted for remains of
20304-611: Was issued. According to Beijing's environmental protection bureau's announcement in November 2016, starting from 2017 highly polluting old cars will be banned from being driven whenever Smog "red alerts" are issued in the city or neighboring regions. In recent years, there has been measurable reductions in pollutants after the "war on pollution" was declared in 2014, with Beijing seeing a 35% reduction in fine particulates in 2017 and further reduction by 2020. The primary factors behind this reduction were replacing coal power with natural gas and cleaning up polluting industrial facilities in
20448-400: Was set on 15 June 1942). See or edit raw graph data . Three styles of architecture are predominant in urban Beijing. First, there is the traditional architecture of imperial China, perhaps best exemplified by the massive Tian'anmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace), which remains the People's Republic of China's trademark edifice, the Forbidden City , the Imperial Ancestral Temple and
20592-410: Was used to protect the track from flood damage. On July 4, the railway finally reached Zhangjiakou . On August 11, 1909, with some final work finished, the project was formally completed. On September 19, Minister of Posts and Communications Xu Shichang , Director-General of Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway Zhan Tianyou , and Assistant Director-General of Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway Guan Mianjun (关冕钧) took
20736-449: Was used to supply the Ming military garrisons in the area and renamed Beiping ( Wade–Giles : Peip'ing, "Northern Peace"). Under the Hongwu Emperor's feudal policies, Beiping was given to his son Zhu Di , who was created " Prince of Yan ". The early death of Zhu Yuanzhang 's heir led to a succession struggle upon his death, one that ended with the victory of Zhu Di and the declaration of the new Yongle era . Since his harsh treatment of
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