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Private Guide in Beijing:
I am post-graduate student in Beijing, and have been there for several years. I can help you enjoying nice touring in Beijing. I can supply service on weekend.
Beijing is a nice place for touring. There are many famous places, especially historical interests. So traveling to Beijing will be a good chance for you to recognize china and its people.
Welcome to Beijing, welcome to china.
Introduction to Beijing:
The city has shifted location several times in the past several thousand years, but the spatial dimensions have remained fairly constant over time. The present city center is 39o56‘ N, 116o20‘ E, at an elevation of 44.38 meters above sea level, the northwestern corner rising mere 10 meters above the southeast.
Originally the city stood on a slight ridge of land formed by alluvial deposits. This silted base, the edge of the North China Plain, was built up over time by the sand carried downstream through the mountains by the Yongding River in the west and the Chaobai River in the east.
In terms of outlying geographical features, the extensive Yanshan Mountain range forms a silvan screen to the northeast, the long, winding Taihang Mountain range to the west. Just beyond, to the northwest, the vast Mongolian plateau begins. The Gulf of Bohai lies 113 kilometers to the east and to the south, the vast North China Plain. Geologists call this small gulf-shaped plain surrounding Beijing the "Beijing Gulf" though in fact, the city sits off in its southwestern corner, Early writers described the setting with the sea on one side and the mountains in the background as a "heavenly paradise," a "city of the gods."
Beijing has a continental monsoon climate commonly found in the temperate zone. In winter, cold, dry winds blow out of Siberia and Mongolia in the northwest; in summer, warm, moist air currents from the southeast take over. A general change of wind direction occurs in March or April and again in September. Wind velocity in Beijing is comparatively low, averaging 2 meter/second. The average annual rainfall of 630 millimeters is regarded as a generous "heavenly endowment" for North China, which is otherwise predominantly dry and short of rain.
The coldest month in Beijing is January, with an average temperature of 4.7℃ . The hottest month is July, with an average of 26.1℃ . Rapid temperature increases in the spring are often accompanied by sandstorms, but windless days in that season are wonderfully pleasant. Autumn, though short-lived, is a concentrated stretch of clear, crisp days and patchwork trees.
Historically speaking, the mountains to the north, east and west acted as boundaries with outlying pasture lands. Communities in the present-day "Beijing Gulf" traded with the nomadic tribes who lived out beyond Gubeikou in the north and Nankou in the west and maintained frequent commercial contact with people of the central plain region settled along the Yellow River. It was trade and the pivotal role of the area as a center of commerce which gave rise to the ancient city of Ji.
Official Trees and Flowers
In the spring of 1987, delegates to the Sixth Session of the Eighth Municipal People‘s Congress, meeting in the Great Hall of the People. Overwhelmingly approved the scholar tree and oriental cypress as the official city trees, the Chinese rose and the chrysanthemum as Beijing‘s official city flowers.
The stately cypress symbolizes the courage and strength of the Chinese people, their simple, and hard working nature and their defiance in the face of aggression. This Platydadus Orientalis, or Oriental Arborvites, can grow as tall as 20 meters. Some of those in Zhongshan Park were planted as long as 1,000 years ago during the Liao Dynasty. The scholar tree is a symbol of good fortune, joy and wellbeing. Dating back to the Qin and Han dynasties Sophora Japonica were planted extensively at the Tang Dynasty Imperial Palace in Chang‘ an. At Beihai Park an ancient specimen in the courtyard of the Painters Corridor, is believed to have been planted during the Tang Dynasty, before 907. Another ancient scholar tree near the Broken Bridge in the Forbidden City is said to have been planted before 1125. Both are well adapted to Beijing‘s cold, dry winter, hot and dry summer, and alkaline soil.
The rose, a Chinese native, has been crossbred many times, but it still has half of the original Chinese strain, Known as Perpetual Spring, Monthly Red, Snow Challenger and Victorious, it is fast growing, regenerates easily and is graceful and long blooming (May to October).
The chrysanthemum has many names and varieties. In Beijing potted chrysanthemums may be seen year round. They flower in summer and fall naturally but can be forced to bloom any time of year.
During the Qing Dynasty, there were 400 rare strains of chrysanthemum. Beijing‘s floral culturists now boast more than 1,000 varieties.
