北京历史的英文介绍

北京历史的英文介绍
北京历史的英文介绍

北京历史的英文介绍
Beijing, Capital of china
　　Beijing is a city where the old cultural traditions and the modern civilization are well integrated. Each year thousands of visitors and tourists come to Beijing to enjoy and feel its unique culture and scenery.
　　Beijing is endowed with rare cultural heritage due to its long history. The Great Wall, one of the world wonders and the sole man-made architecture which can be seen from space, extends several hundred miles in Beijing. The poetic and picturesque Summer Palace is the classic works of the feudal dynasty garden. The Forbidden City is the most splendid group of imperial palace in the world. The temple of heaven is the place of worship for emperors of various dynasties of China as well as a splendid achievement of the Chinese ancient architectural art. The above four have been selected by the United Nations organization of education, Science and Culture as the world cultural heritage. What is typical of Beijing is hutong and the compound courtyard (old Beijing residential quarters), which are now disappearing. These streets and buildings witnessed ups and downs of the city and the people in the past centuries and are a typical symbol of the life of Beijing people.
　　Changes have taken place day by day in Beijing since China's reform and opening to the outside world is being deepened. As a popular saying goes around here, Beijing is growing taller with more and more high buildings younger with the people's life richer and more colorful. Beijing is advancing more rapidly with full confidence in the 21st century.
　　This is Beijing, old and young, full of attraction. It is our sincere hope that you will make best of your time here to visit more places and enjoy more scenery and we believe you will harvest a lot.
　　History
　　Beijing in Chinese means "capital in the north". Its establishment could be traced back to more than 3000 years ago. From 1272 to 1911, Beijing was the capital of Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. After the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, Beijing is the capital of new China.
　　Geography
　　Beijing is located at 115°20' to 117°32' east longitude and 3923' to 4105' north altitude, the same altitude as Rome, Madrid and Philadelphia. Its neighbors are hebei Province and Tianjin City. Its total land area is 16,808 squre kilometers, among which the mountain areas account for 52% and are distributed in its western, northern and northeastern parts, and the plain accounts for 38% and is distributed in its southern and southeastern parts.
　　Administration
　　Beijing is one of the municipalities directly under the administration of the central government (the other three are Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing). Under its administration there are 16 districts and 2 Counties. The Mayor of Beijing is Mr. Liu Qi.
　　Climate
　　Beijing is located in the temperate zone affected by continental monsoon. The spring and autumn in Beijing are shorter and dry while the summer and winter are relatively longer. October is the ending of the autumn. The temperature of October is about 17℃, sometimes the temperature goes down abruptly due to the cold air coming from western Siberia. So it is recommended that you should be properly clothed while going outdoors.
　　Citizens
　　Beijing is a city with high population density. Its population is 11.5 million. 8 million people out of them are living in the city proper. In terms of nationality, most of Beijing citizens are Han Chinese but all the minority nationalities of China have citizens in Beijing. The language spoken by most beijingers is very close to the mandarin.
　　The people of Beijing are warm-hearted, hospitable, open-minded and humorous. Their pace is quick while working and their activities are interesting while at leisure. They have a good tradition of hospitality. They like to talk and show a strong interest in what is happening in and outside China. The people of Beijing are ready to help people. The local citizens wearing a red badge and the police are responsible for the local security. They will give you a hand while you encounter difficulty. Many young people can have a simple conversation with you in English.
　　Etiquette and Custom
　　The Chinese people like their traditions, respect the old people and care about the family hierarchy.
　　The family name of the Chinese people is put before their given name, which is just opposite to the name of most of Westerners.
　　The Chinese like nodding or bowing slightly for greeting while meeting, and shake hands in formal occasions and say "how do you do". The Chinese people are not used to hug with a person with whom they are not deeply familiar or the other sex.
　　The Chinese people are hospitable. Entertaining the guests with a cigarette or wine is an indication of hospitality to the guests. The Chinese people feel comfortable if the guests refuse such entertainment politely since the Chinese people have the custom that a host does everything for the convenience of a guest.
　　There is no tipping in China, but if you are satisfied with the service you received, you can tip to show your thanks.
　　Transportation in Beijing
　　Subway
　　Beijing has two lines of subway. The first line runs from the western suburb, Pingguoyuan station to the eastern suburb, Sihuidong station. The second line goes around the central area of Beijing, which is loop line. Fuxingmen and Jianguomen are the stations where the two lines intersect.
　　The period of subway operation is from 5:30 am to 22:30 pm, with the time span between the two trains being 4 minutes. If you go to the central area of Beijing, the subway is a rapid and economical tool for transportation. All the subway stations have a symbol (). The subway ticket coasts 3 yuan RMB.
　　Public transportation
　　The network of public transportation covers the whole city proper. The fee charge is very low. However, the bus lines are complicated and the buses are very crowed. It is not recommended that you choose such transportation.
　　Car Rental
　　The driving licenses issued by other countries are not valid in China. Those with the driving licenses issued in China can be allowed to rent cars and should follow the traffic rules of China while driving here.
　　The roof of all the taxi is capped with a symbol of "TAXI". The red light behind the glass window indicates that the taxi is ready for taking passenger. It is recommended that you call a taxi at the designated taxi station. The windows at both sides of the back seat of the taxi are glued with a price tag for the taxi.
　　The minimum charge for the first kind of the taxi is 10 yuan RMB and 1.20 yuan RMB per kilometer will be added onto it after driving 4 kilometer. There is a lot of such kind of cars.
　　The minimum charge for the second kind of taxi is also 10 yuan RMB and 1.60 yuan RMB per kilometer will be added onto it after driving3 kilometer.
　　The minimum charge for the third kind of the taxi is 10 yuan RMB. 2 yuan RMB per kilometer will be added onto it after driving3kilometer.. These taxis are rare.
　　If you take a taxi from 23:00-05:00, the meter will automatically add 20% more charges. In addition, the passengers are requested to pay the toll and parking fee if there is such a fe, and it may be difficult to call a taxi alongside the Chang'an Street.
　　While taking a taxi, you have the right to require the driver to use the mile meter and ask for the receipt of the payment. If you have any complaint, you can do it at the taxi management department.
　　Dining
　　The Chinese food is well known around the world. You will have the chances to buy some Chinese flavor food for enjoy the Chinese food we present to you as much as possible, besides tasting some of the food offered by the conference.
　　In your hotel, you will enjoy various kinds of the Chinese food with unique flavor prepared by well-known chefs in elegant environment. The service in these restaurants is excellent but the price is relatively higher, with the proper service charge.
　　It is usually relatively cheaper to dine in common restaurants. The business hours of these restaurants are usually from 10:00 am to 14:00 pm for lunch and 16:00 pm to 21:00 pm for dinner. A few restaurants offer 24hours service. Many restaurants have well-decorated private rooms but there maybe minimum expenditure requirement if you choose such room.
　　Beijing has some well-known local food such as roast duck, mutton hot pot and royal delicacy. You could choose some best-known restaurants to enjoy these local foods, such as Quanjude Roast Duck restaurant, Donglaishun Restaurant, Pro-royal Restraurant. Due to the location in the central part of the city, these restaurants usually have many customers. So it is recommended that you book in advance.
　　There is a famous Buddhism vegetable dish restaurant called "Gong De Lin". The chefs here use natural vegetable resources to cook simulative meat, fish, duck and other nice dishes.
　　Beijing roast duck is the best known local food which uses the duck raised in a special way and the particular fuel wood while roasting. The most popular saying among the tourists and visitors in Beijing goes like this: "You are not real man if you do not go to the Great Wall and it is a pity if you do not eat roast duck as equally important as visiting the Great Wall. In these restaurants, the chef will show you his or her technique of how to make the roast duck, it is hard to say but easy to do and you can observe your Chinese neighbors quietly. Donglaishun restaurant is for Muslim friends can enjoy roast duck without scruples.
　　If you choose to dine near the International Convention Center, we will provide you with a map showing the restaurants nearby.
　　Shopping
　　The works of fine arts with particular Oriental characteristics will attract you. These artistic works enjoy a long history, such as jade works, enamel and silk embroidery. Beijing has some local folk artistic works, such as clay figurine. Beijing opera facial makeup, kite and paper cut. The price of these local art works is not high. If you want to buy these art works, the best place you should go is Liulichang. It is a street with the Chinese cultural uniqueness located in the central part of Beijing. It is also the best-known traditional market for art works, with a history of more than five hundred years. Besides, the Silk Street is the place where foreigners usually purchase Chinese costumes; and Panjiayuan is the famous numismatics market. All the above places have been clearly indicated on the map of Beijing.
　　Beijing has more than 100 shopping centers. One of them is North Star Shopping Center located near BICC. In addition Wangfujing, Qianmen, Dashilan and Xidan are three well-known commercial districts in Beijing. In particular, Wangfujing Street has Oriental Plaza that is one of the biggest commercial complexes in Asia after renovation of the building with a history of 100 years. In Wangfujing, you can easily approach Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant and Donglaishun Restaurant.
　　Entertainment
　　The Assembly suggests the guests' watching "Jingju"--the special Chinese art genre. People usually translate "Jingju" into "Beijing Opera", but actually "Jingju" and operas performed in Beijing are not identical.
　　Jingju is a special Chinese art genre, with a history of 200 years. It is called "the quintessence of China". Jingju has four forms of performance: "Chang, Nian, Zuo, Da". "Chang" resembles singing in opera, but it has a particular tone-pattern; "Nian" resembles reading in drama, but the pronunciations of some words are different from modern Chinese words; "Zuo" and "Da" resembles dancing, which uses movements to express feelings and plots. This can help the foreign guests to understand the content of the performance. During a Jingju performance, actors wear costumes manifest enough to show their identity. The patterns of costumes are strictly regulated, and wrongly dressing is absolutely forbidden; while performing, the actor's face is colored with various patterns, suggesting loyalty, duplicity, pulchritude, ugliness, wit or stupidity, etc, of that role.
　　If you want to see a Jingju performance and you are not familiar with it, you'd better have an interpreter who knows something about Jingju to go with you.
　　Beijing has several theatres that remain the style of ancient buildings that are special for Jingju performance. The theater and the performance serve as a foil to each other, making each other brighter and more colorful. Great Chang'an Theatre, Hu-guang Club and Laoshe Tea House are three of the most famous ones.
　　Place of Worship
　　China follows the policy of religious freedom. In Beijing, you will see many temples, churches and mosques. For your convenience, the Chinese Secretariat will arrange one room in the eastern part of the second floor in BICC for worship.