Beijing Travel Guide

Beijing , the capital of the people's Republic of China, is the nation's political and cultural centre, as well as a centre of international activity. Some 690,000 years ago, Peking man lived at Zhoukoudian, 48 kilometres southwest of Beijng.

Beijng is situated at 40 degrees north latitude and 116 degrees east longitude. It is 43 metres above sea level and 183 kilometres from the sea. Beijing encompasses 16,807 square kilometers, 38% of it is flat land and 62% mountains.

Beijing has a continental climate. According to the data analysis from1905 to 2001 within 95 years, annual rainfall averaged 620 milimetres, most of it comes in July and August. Winter is dry and cold and has little snow. The frost-free period is 185 days. The best time to visit Beijing is May, September and October, when people enjoy bright sunny sky. Summer is hot. The record highest temperature in mid-June was 42.6C and occurred in 1942.

Beijng has a population of 13.819 million, of whom 2.115 million (accounting for 15.6 percent) live in the city proper and 6.388 million(accounting for 47.1 percent) in the suburbs and 5.067 million (37.3 percent) on the remote outskirts. The municipality of Beijing is divided into 16 districts and 2 counties. The 16 districts are East City, West City, Chongwen, Xuanwu,Chaoyang, Fengtai, Haidian, Shijingshan, Mentougou, Fangshan, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Changping,, Pinggu, Huairou and Daxing; the 2 counties are Miyun and Yanqing.