The history of Beijing dates back to over 3000 years ago, and Beijing was initially built in the present Xuanwu District of Beijing in 1040 B.C., and it served as capital for over 850 years in various dynasties. Beijing has been the capital of the People’s Republic of China since its foundation on 1st of October in 1949.

Beijing in Paleolithic Age

Paleolithic Age

500,000 to 700,000 years ago, the climate was warm and the precipitation was abundant in Beijing, and the Peking Ape-men lived in cave dwellings in the southwest suburb of Beijing, boasting one of the earliest hominids who knew how to use fire. When the fire emerges, the ancient Chinese civilization begins.

Han Dynasty Painting

Han Dynasty

Since the Great Unification by Emperor Qinshi in the Qin dynasty, Beijing has become a famous city. After the Buddhist introduced to China during the Western Han dynasty, it raced off in every corner of China, and the first Buddhist temple in Beijing was established during 1700 B.C., which was the precursor of Beijing Tanzhe Temple.

Tang Maids of Honor

Sui and the Tang Dynasties

The Great Canal was opened under imperial order during the Sui dynasty with Zhuojun (present Beijing) as its north end. Emperor Li Shimin launched a war with Korea in 645 with Beijing as his headquarter, resulting in failure and withdraw of his troop to Beijing, where he ordered to build the Sympathizing Loyalty Temple (Minzhong Temple), the present Fayuan Temple, to commemorate the death in the war, and then Beijing was called Youzhou as an important military city and trading center in North China.

Qingming Festival by the Riverside

Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties
With the political situation falling into collapse after the Tang dynasty, the north minorities grew stronger day by day. The Chi-tan ethnic minority established Liao Empire in 907 with Nanjing (present Beijing) as provisional capital, and Nanjing was renamed Zhongdu in 1153 owing to the occupation of Jin rulers.

Yuan Emperor

Yuan Dynasty
The rising Mongolian ethnic minority leader Genghis Khan seized Beijing in 1215, followed by the establishment of Yuan Empire by Kublai Khan who made Beijing as capital.

Ming Imperial Court

Ming Dynasty

Upon usurping the throne, Zhu Di (later emperor Chengzu) decided to move his capital north to Beijing in 1399 owing to its important geographical position, who also ordered to enlarge this ancient city on the basis of Yuan Imperial City, so most cultural heritages in Beijing such as the Forbidden City were remnants of Yuan dynasty.

Qing Rulers’ Hunting

Qing Dynasty

With Manchu people taking helm of the state, large-scale constructions were launched successively. Beijing was under attack by the Joint Anglo-French Forces during the Second Opium War in 1860, resulting in the ransacking of the Yuanming Garden (the Old Summer Palace).

Present Beijing

Modern China

On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed to the world the birth of the People’s Republic of China with Beijing as capital, and tens of thousands people presented on the Tiananmen Square,  since when Beijing has taken a new look in all aspects.

Author: Yang Qingwei

Beijing, the capital of China for over centuries, is the political, economic and cultural center of China, which is considered as a holy site by Chinese people, fully representing the international image of China. During my summer vocation in Beijing, I was very impressed by its salient features: magnificent, civilized and passionate.

Beijing Tiananmens Square

Magnificent Beijing

A myriad of tall buildings and heavy traffics are the raw portrayals of Beijing, and rows of skyscrapers shelter the streets from the sun with lawns and parks dotted. The cars move slowly on the meandering overpasses, and the city falls into silence for a while as the traffic lights turn red. However, it returns to be normal – Hustling and Bustling as the traffic lights turn green, and this is just the way of life in Beijing that is supposed to be.

Temple of Heaven

Civilized Beijing

I was attracted by tall overpasses and bustling crowds as soon as I got off the train. To my surprise, I barely heard any steam-whistle during my way to Beijing Tiananmen Square by taxi, which was quite different from what I’d thought of Beijing with over 5 million vehicles. Compared to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Zhengzhou I had been to, Beijing is much more quite cause’ the taxi drivers seem calmer and aren’t hurried to blow their horns. I’ve been to Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang of Henan Province, a holy Buddhist land in China, where I could easily find bottles and waste-papers on the steps and ditches. Just like Luoyang as a famous ancient city in China, Beijing is blessed with numerous places of interests, however, I find the people are friendlier and the attractions are cleaner in Beijing, which impresses me as a civilized city.

Beijing Olympics

Passionate Beijing

At the advent of London Olympics in 2012, the passionate Chinese people give their best wishes to London, fully displaying the noble virtues of Chinese people. You can find boys and girls in yellow uniform everywhere in Beijing, who serve as volunteers to patiently tell you which bus you should take during your Beijing travel, and they are a wonderful mobile landscape of Beijing. Still I remember clearly, it was an old local who showed me the way to Beijing Confucius Temple, and I am so much obliged and impressed by his passion.

Beijing Overpasses

As the economy develops in China, the Beijing people carry out “Beijing Spirit” by their actions now. As the music- March of the Volunteers starts at 7 O’clock on Beijing Tiananmen Square every morning, it really inspires me to work harder for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Author: Yang Qingwei

The history of Hong Kong dates back to 5000 years of the Neolithic Age. After the Great Unification of Emperor Shihuang in the Qin dynasty, he ordered to set up three prefectures in South Qin Empire, namely, Nanhai Prefecture, Guilin Prefecture and Xiangjun Prefecture, and Hong Kong was affiliated with Panyu County of Nanhai Prefecture then.

Hong Kong in the Qing Dynasty

Although China experienced several dynastic changes during its development, Hong Kong has remained under the jurisdiction of the central government of China until the Qing dynasty. Hong Kong was administered by Boluo County of Nanhai Prefecture in the Han dynasty, Baoan County of Dongguan Prefecture in the Eastern Jin dynasty and Baoan County of Nanhai Prefecture in the Sui dynasty respectively. Baoan County was renamed Dongguan County in the 2nd year of Zhide Period of the Tang dynasty, when Hong Kong still remained under the jurisdiction of Dongguan County. With a number of people immigrating to Hong Kong from hinterland during the Song and the Yuan dynasties, Hong Kong made great strides forward both in economy and culture. A piece of land, the precursor of present Hong Kong, was marked out from Dongguan County for administrative purposes during Wanli period of the Ming dynasty, which was an integral part of China until 21st year of Daoguang Period during the Qing dynasty.

Hong Kong in 1980s

Hong Kong is a natural deepwater harbor, on which the British colonists have had their eyes for a long time, so they launched the Opium War to seize it for their furthermost marine business in Far East, enabling Hong Kong to remain an affiliated British colony. Hong Kong is composed of three parts, namely, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territories, each of which gets its name owing to an unequal treaty. Hong Kong Island was ceded to Great Britain owing to Treaty of Nanking signed by decadent government of Qing dynasty in 1842, followed by Kowloon Peninsula due to Perking Treaty signed in 1860 and New Territories due to an extension of Hong Kong territory, the New Territories signed in 1898.

Hong Kong of China

After the Second World War, the rapid progress in Hong Kong has been made both in economy and society, and Hong Kong becomes one of the “Four little Dragons in Asia” and one of the “Three Global Financial Centers”, boasting the most prosperous city in China.

Modern Hong Kong

As an important financial, shipping and service center in Asia, Hong Kong has transformed from a small fish village to a prosperous metropolis, which is noted all over the world for its corruption-free governments, perfect rule of law, good public security environment and free economic system, and it returned to China on 1st of July in 1997, titled “the Featured Chinese Charm City” in 2012.

Author: Yang Qingwei

A number of towers have been successively built in China in 5000 years, among which 4 stand out above the rest, namely, Yellow Crane Tower, Yueyang Tower, Prince Teng’s Pavilion and Heron Tower. Much interestingly, all the 4 towers are celebrated for their cultural connotation, highlighted by poems by famous figures from different dynasties.

Prince Teng’s Pavailion in Nanchang

3. Prince Teng’s Pavilion

Located in Nanchang of Jiangxi Province and initially built in 659 of the Tang dynasty, the Price Teng’s Pavilion has went through rises and falls in various dynasties and was rebuilt in 1985. Facing west and well-decorated with blue tiles, red columns, colored paintings and horizontal inscribed boards, the present 57.7-meter tall pavilion is reinforced concrete-structured with a south-north symmetrical distribution, which follows the traditional architectural style of the Tang dynasty. The pavilion’s popularity is credited to the poem – Prelude to Prince Teng’s Pavilion by Wang Bo, with the help of which he expresses his endless grief over his unrecognized talents as well as his homesickness through depicting the stunning scenery around the pavilion, and an excerpt from his poem reads：

Prince Teng’s Pavailion

Prelude to Prince Teng’s Pavilion

The rain has just let up and the rainbow has vanished. The sunlight shoots through the rosy clouds.
A solitary wild duck flies alongside the multi-colored sunset clouds, and the autumn water is merged with the boundless sky into one hue.
The fishermen can be heard singing the evening songs, their voices drifting as far as the banks of the Poyang Lake.
Even the wild geese feel the chill of dusk, and they fly cry southward, disappearing around the south bend of the Heng Mountain.

（Translated by Luo Jingguo）
4. Heron Tower

Heron Tower in Tongji

Lying at Puzhou Ancient Town, Yongji of Shanxi Province and initially built in the north Zhou Period (557-580), the Heron Tower attracted numerous famous poets who wrote poems for praising its magnificence during the Tang dynasty, highlighted by Ascending Heron Tower by Wang Zhihuan. It was destroyed at the beginning of the Yuan dynasty and rebuilt in 1997 with 3 stories, fully representing the graceful bearing of the flourishing Tang Dynasty.

Painting on Heron Tower

In Wang’s poem, he not only depicts the magnificent landscapes surrounding the tower, but also expresses a simple philosophy in life: “you must work harder to achieve more”, which greatly inspires the Chinese from one generation to another, and the poem reads:

Heron Tower

Ascending Heron Tower

Behind the hills the sun is setting，
And into the sea the River’s rolling.
If farther scenes are to be beheld,
Then another storey’s to be scaled.

(translated by Xu Zhongjie )

Author: Yang Qingwei