Beijing - Peking, New Olympics City for 2008. Beijing, the capital of the People’s Republic of China, stands on the center of politics, economy, communications, science and culture of China. Beijing has the other name Peking, which is a city full of Tourist Spots.

Beijing will host the 2008 Olympic Games in August. Welcome to Beijing for the Great Olympics.

Three thousand years ago, Beijing was called Ji, an important town in northern China. During the Spring and Autumn (770-476 B. C. ) and Warring States Periods (475-221 B. C. ), it became the capital of the state of Yan. In Liao Dynasty (907-1125), it is designated as the second capital, named Nanjing, or Yanjing. In the middle of the twelfth century the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), established their main capital at Yanjing. Afterwards, dynasties down the history through Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1616-1911) all set their capitals here. On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China was founded and Beijing became the capital of the new China.

Located at the northern end of the vast North China Plain, Beijing is circled by mountains on the northwest and abuts on plains to the Southeast. Its terrain pattern of mountains to the north and plains to the south has made it a place contested by the strategists of past dynasties and a modern communications hub of Northeast and North China. Indeed it is because of its significant topography value that all dynasties spared no efforts in developing the place into one of the world’s largest metropolises and one endowed with the most historical remains.

Beijing has the world’s largest imperial palace-the Forbidden City; picturesque imperial parks such as the Summer Palace and Beihai Park; well-designed Temple of Heaven; the military project of the Great Wall meandering as long as five thousand kilometers and the superbly-constructed necropolis of the Ming Tombs.

In satisfying the requests from the vast tourists, we have especially compiled and published this album of Beijing in a Nutshell. Due to the volume limit, we only listed here part of the scenic spots in Beijing, which is just an epitome, and we hope it will serve you to your convenience and pleasure. Editing by Alice Zhou

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Yuyuantan Park locates in the western part of Beijing city proper. It adjoins with Diaoyutai National Guesthouse in the East and it reaches the Western 3^rd ring in the west; it looks at the CCTV transmitting tower across the street and is adjacent to Chinese Century Monument in the South；and it stretches to eastern Yuyuantan Road in its North. Important institutions such as CCTV, the Military Museum and Media News Center dot around the park.  The length of the park from its East to its West is 1820 meters and its width from the north to the south is 1106 meters. It occupies a total area of 129.26 hectares; among which, greenbelts take up 67 hectares, and water surface, 62 hectares. The water surface consists of the East Lake, the West Lake and Bayi Lake; among them, the East Lake has an area of 22 hectares; the West Lake has an area of 22 hectares; and Bayi Lake takes up an area of 18 hectares. The total length of the East Lake is 1600 meters from the East to the West and a width of 330 meters from its North to its South. The average depth of the lake water is from 1.5 to 2 meters and the elevations of the water surface are separately 48.5 and 49.5.  

The park was first constructed in 1960. As early as from 1115 to 1234, the part where the park locates had become a famous tourist spot in Beijing; in the 38^th year of Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, a lake system was excavated. The features of the park are chaste and simple; within the park, there are separately a monument for national teen-age youths heroes, the Spring Keeping Garden and the Japanese Cherry Garden; as well as two entertainments grounds, i.e. the over-water playground and the swimming pool. The Japanese Cherry Garden, which occupies an area of 25 hectares, is the largest ornamental garden of Japanese Cherries in North China. The park now has become a public greenbelt that is most loved by local citizens because of its advantageous geological position, its natural and simple layout.    

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