The journey continues for the Alfa Romeo owners as the drive across China heading for the ancient city of Beijing.
In case you did not know.
Beijing is one of the four ancient cities of China (together with Xi’an, Luoyang, Nanjing), the best preserved, and famous around the world. The city is also known as a cradle of humanity. As early as 700,000 years ago, Peking Man lived in Zhoukoudian area of this city.
Beijing City was established over 3,000 years ago and was called Jin City in the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC – 771 BC). Ever since Emperor Qin united China in 221 BC, Beijing has played an important role in north China. It was the capital city in the Liao (916-1125), Jin (1115-1234), Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. During these 800 years, 34 emperors lived and ruled here. The world renowned Forbidden City was built during this period.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, World War I broke out. Beijing became the focus of the war, which disrupted the society. Many residences of royal families were robbed and burned down. After that, the whole country was reduced to the status of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. It wasn’t until October 1st 1949 that the People’s Republic of China was founded. Beijing is known as the capital city of the prosperous new country which has flared into importance in Asia.
Beijing has been transformed from an impoverished city of 2 million to a metropolis of 24 million people in the urban area, growing to 12 times its size in 70 years by 2018. It is the world’s second biggest city proper after Shanghai.
It is modern China’s political and education center. The Beijing Capital International Airport has been the second busiest in the world since 2010. The per-capita income has grown to about 20,000 USD in 2018, and it has been growing about 6 percent or more per year.
Tianjin’s port, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) away, promotes Beijing industry and exports greatly. It is now the world’s 10th largest container port.
The northwestern district of Beijing is considered China’s Silicon Valley, where the talent from China’s best universities and research centers, which are concentrated in Beijing, is funded by Beijing’s venture capitalists and the government.
