An idea of the city
Beijing, the second largest city in the Peoples Republic of China is to host the 2008 Olympic Games. Beijing boasts strong cultural, political and educational history and so there has been an immense effort to preserve and protect this nation’s landmarks and historical pride. In doing so, there has been an effort to renovate heritage sites and national treasures in a way that captures and represents the history of the Chinese people. This has meant that over the past 8 years, the city and its people have contributed considerable amounts of time and funds into this extraordinary project.Beijing is a very modern and exceedingly busy city (nearly 14 million people call it home) with high-rise buildings, international hotels and sprawling suburbs. The city is abuzz and bristling with cranes on the skyline as construction projects give rise to new skyscrapers and modernisation proceeds apace. However, Beijing also has many attractions of cultural and historical interest. Chinese history and culture fascinates Western visitors, and Beijing is the place to start exploring it. The city abounds in imperial palaces, temples, mansions, gardens and tombs that epitomise classical Chinese architecture. It has 120 museums and more than 100 public gardens.
As host to the 2008 Olympics in August next year, Beijing has been busy readying itself to conduct what it claims will be ‘the best in Olympic history’. Public transport is being improved, environmental issues addressed and a general clean up of the city has been ordered. The Chinese government sees the games as a chance for China to highlight its economic rise and emergence as a world power.
