Best sights in Beijing

Előszó

Foreword
Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China, is a famous historical and cultural city. It is a cradle of Chinese civilization and one of the birthplaces of mankind. As early as 700,000 years ago Peking Man began to inhabit the region and lived through the Old and New Stone Ages.
Two dukedoms, Yan and Ji, were established and built the city of Ji during the late Shang Dynasty (c. I6th-llth century B.C.). The city was situated very close to the present city of Beijing. In 1045 B.C. the Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-256 B.C.) overthrew the Shang Dynasty and bestowed the land of Ji to a descendent of King Rao and the land of Yan to Shi, Duke of Zhao. The name of the city of Ji changed many times over 3,000 years, but it remained a strategic point and a trade center and kept growing in size. It was made national capital for several dynasties.
Beijing lies at the northern tip of the North China Plains. To its west, north and east are mountain ranges; to its southeast is flat land. Geographers call the Beijing area "Beijing Bay". An ancient book describes Beijing as such: "Its head rests on the Juyong Pass; the Taihang Mountains rise to its west; to its east are mountains and the sea; and it overlooks a plain to its south."
In the early 10th century Qidan, a nomadic tribe in northeast China, grew strong, marched over the mountains into the north part of the North China Plains, took the city of Ji and made it secondary capital of the Liao Dynasty (907-1125). Because Ji was located in the southern part of their territory, the Qidan called it Nanjing, or South Capital, and also Yanjing. One century later, another tribe named Nuzhen overthrew the Liao Dynasty and established the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234). In 1153 they moved their capital to Yanjing and changed its name to Zhongdu. After another century, the Nuzhen were forced out of Zhongdu by the emerging power of Mongols and moved their capital to Pianjing (present-day Kaifeng in Henan Province). In 1267 Kublai Khan, chief of the Mongols, issued an order to build a new city to the northeast of the old city of Zhongdu. Kublai Khan ascended the throne in the new city four years later. But the new city was not totally completed in another 15 years. The new city was named Dadu, capital of the Yuan Dynasty, described by Marco Polo as a city "unmatchable in the world". Since then Beijing replaced Chang'an, Luoyang, Bianliang and other cities as the national capital and became the Vissza