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Situated in East Asia, China has an area
of about 9.6 million square kilometers, making it the third largest
country in the world. As the world's most populous country, China is home
to 1.2 billion people of 56 ethnic groups. With a history of several
thousand years of civilization, China boasts as one of the most
significent cultures in the world.
Since the 1980's, thanks to the implementation of
China's policy of economic reform and opening to the outside world, the
nation's economy has developed with great speed. The GNP continues to
increase at a rate of over 10 percent a year, and foreign exchange
reserves have surpassed 70 billion US dollars. Urban and rural average
annual incomes increase by 7.7 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.
Rapid, significant progress has been made in the areas of transportation,
communications, banking, postal service, and energy resources. China has
also made notable achievements in the fields of technology, education, culture, health and athletics.
Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic
of China, situated in the northern part of the country, 150 kilometers
from the Bohai sea. With a population of about 10 million, Beijing is the
country's political, scientific, cultural and educational center.
With a history of more than 3,000 years, Beijing is one of
China's most ancient cities and oldest capitals. In 1057 AD, the Yan
Kingdom established Beijing as its capital. Thereafter, it was used as a
capital during the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Many
world-renowned historical sites can be found in and around the city,
including the Great Wall, the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City), the Summer
Palace, the Ming Tombs, and the Temple of Heaven. With over one hundred
universities in the city and its surrounding areas, as well as many
research institutions, the city has a rich atmosphere of learning.
Beijing is rapidly becoming a modern international capital
city. With its harmonious mixture of ancient traditional culture and
modern facilities and infrastructure, the city attracts over a million
overseas visitors each year. Through these visitors, the Chinese motto
"One is not a real man until one has been to the Great Wall" is
well known in other parts of the world.
Beijing's construction of basic infrastructure is
complete, and prices are stable and daily life convenient. The city has a
great variety of restaurants offering the food of the nation's many varied
ethnic groups, as well as international cuisine. In terms of hotels and
other infrastructure, the 1990 Asian Games and the 1995 Fourth
International Conference on Women,with
30,000 delegates,showed that Beijing
has the human and material resources necessary for holding such
large-scale international events.
Beijing's average year-round temperature is 10-12C°, while the average in August is
25-26C° . The
weather cools off at night, so summer evenings and mornings are very pleasant.
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