There are many landmarks in Beijing. The best-known ones include the Badaling stretch of the Great Wall of China, the Temple of Heaven, the Tian'anmen and the Forbidden City, a number of temples, hutongs and parks, relics of ages gone by.
Beijing ( /beɪˈdʒɪŋ/; Chinese: 北京; pinyin: Běijīng, [peɪ˨˩ t͡ɕiŋ˥]), formerly romanized as Peking ( /piːˈkɪŋ/ or /peɪˈkɪŋ/), is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The metropolis, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government, with 14 urban and suburban districts and two rural counties. Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast.
Beijing is China's second largest city by urban population after Shanghai and is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's largest state-owned companies. Beijing is a major transportation hub in the national highway, expressway, railway and high-speed rail network. Beijing's Capital International Airport is the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic.
Beijing, as the capital and a municipality of the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a transport hub, with a sophisticated network of roads, railways and a major airport. Five completed ring roads encircle a city with nine expressways heading in virtually all compass directions, supplemented by eleven China National Highways.
Transport in the capital is overseen by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.
The city is served by five completed ring roads. From the centre of the city outward, they are:
Nine toll expressways link Beijing to its suburbs, outlying regions, and other cities; these are:
Eleven China National Highway routes depart from Beijing in virtually all compass directions:
Beijing as of 2011 has an estimated 5 million registered cars on its roads, so traffic congestion is widespread. Traffic in the city centre is often gridlocked and is only predicted to get worse as the number of vehicles on Beijing's roads increase. It is predicted by 2012 Beijing will have over 6 million cars on its roads. To combat congestion the local government has rapidly been building the subway system adding more lines and working towards doubling the length of the subway system by 2015. In addition to this they have decreased the cost of fares in an attempt to encourage more people to use public transport. In 2008 Beijing introduced restrictions on the amount of cars on its roads in attempt to reduce congestion and pollution during the Olympic games period. They did this by adopting odd-even traffic restriction on alternative days. Cars with number plates ending with odd numbers were restricted one day and the next day cars with number plates ending with even numbers were restricted. Drivers who were unable to use their cars did not have to pay road or vehicle taxes, costing the city around 1.3 billion yuan.
Beijing cuisine (Chinese: 京菜 or 北京菜; pinyin: jīngcài or běijīngcài) is a cooking style in Beijing, China. It is also known as Mandarin cuisine.
Since Beijing has been the Chinese capital city for centuries, its cuisine has been influenced by culinary traditions from all over China, but the cuisine that has exerted the greatest influence on Beijing cuisine is the cuisine of the eastern coastal province of Shandong. Beijing cuisine has itself, in turn, also greatly influenced other Chinese cuisines, particularly the cuisine of Liaoning, the Chinese Imperial cuisine, and the Chinese aristocrat cuisine.
Another Chinese cuisine that influenced Beijing cuisine (as well as influenced by Beijing cuisine itself) was the Chinese Imperial cuisine that originated from "The Emperor's Kitchen" (御膳房; pinyin: yùshànfáng), which was a term referring to the cooking facilities inside of the Forbidden City, Beijing where thousands of cooks from the different parts of China showed their best cooking skills to please royal families and officials. Therefore, it is at times rather difficult to determine the actual origin of a dish as the term "Mandarin" is generalized and refers not only to Beijing, but other provinces as well. However, some generalization of Beijing cuisine can be characterized as follows: Foods that originated in Beijing are often snacks rather than full courses, and they are typically sold by little shops or street vendors. There is emphasis on dark soy paste, sesame paste, sesame oil, and scallions, and fermented tofu is often served as a condiment. In terms of cooking method, methods relating to the different ways of frying are often used. There is a lesser emphasis on rice as an accompaniment than in many other areas of China, as local rice production is limited by the relatively dry climate.
I'm digging a hole
In my back yard
I hit rock and sprung water
I dove in
And Ended up in Beijing
Stole me a bike
Joined up with the monks
Because silence
Is worth more these days
Oh Than AOL Time Warner
Or Martha Stewart stocks
If you can get it
Grab as much as you can
And hide it in your basement
For the next disaster
Silence for the next disaster
Oh and my guitar
Sounds so good
Because I can't tell you why
And if distance makes the heart grow fonder
Then oh look at you and I yea
Look at you and I
If you can get it
Grab as much as you can
And hide it in your basement
For the next disaster
A little perfection
During your disaster
So bring me down
To where I can't see
I'll pray for some medicine
Explain to you I'm lost
You said you're not lost you're free
You said you're free baby
You're free
You said you're free
If you can get it
Grab as much as you can
Hide it in your basement
For the next disaster
Yea during your disasters
Woke up in Beijing
In someone else’s arms on me
Through someone else’s life
That I’m not sure belongs to me
There was a sound of a city, speaks to me
There was a sound of a city, sings me a song for the lovely moments
Through someone else’s eyes
Strangers they don’t look
Through someone else’s woods
Just to take a break from mine
It was a sound of the city, speaks to me
It was a sound of the city, sings me a song for the lovely moments.
There was a sound of a city, speaks to me
Now here's a little city that's about 3 miles
Outside of everybody's outskirts and principal
This here's a place where all our minds get spent
Self-destruction meet a quota take a trip get bent
Take a head trip outta hookah puff for days fuck a hurra
Take a chair drink a shoota brain boilin off the buddah
Bring on the dancin girls with long curls
Interlaced with lotus blossoms of pink purple and pearl
Enjoy your feast of drink and slaughtered beast
On marble with linen creased and pieced with gold leaf
Your mood enhanced with wine song and dance
And story of ancient bands with horns out they hands and
Ain't no doubt about it they let you puff on
Herbal stimulation have you gone like heron
And when you come inside their eyes open
To the motion hopin to toke what I'm smokin
Sick man of Asia let the herb heal
Take a rickshaw of Asian all party be waitin
The land where flames burn high to keep your spliff lit
Everybody spread love nobody talk shit
Sick man of Asia let the herb heal
Take a rickshaw of Asian all party be waitin
The land where flames burn high to keep your spliff lit
Everybody spread love nobody talk shit
Now how you get don't fret cause that's the best yet
Adjust your set perfect to get the head wreck
This here the next though not very complex
On text there'll be a test so check the context
Uno take the herb load up the slide
Numero dos take a deep breath and close your eyes
Tres spark fuego toke pull and hold
Until the weed stop expanding and your eyes explode
Then blow your hit out stretch out get the shit out
Float into Beijing holmes and flex your stidyle
Then smoke the bomba to steel drums and conga riffs
Blue seas from cool breeze and head trips
Full lucious lips and hips that's down dips
All spark but no one trips takin outta turn hits
And when one burns out roll one we all say
Baby let the bells ring spark one for Beijing
Sick man of Asia let the herb heal
Take a rickshaw of Asian all party be waitin
The land where flames burn high to keep your spliff lit
Everybody spread love nobody talk shit
Wow I bet you tore back now seeming prestine geisha dancin on a violet cloud
Jewel trees show where cool breeze blow
You can watch a waterfall flow where the mushroom grow
Everybody irie out on a level higher sit by the fire with pitbull and bengal tiger
Ancient shogun exhibit what they know son
Metal be hurtin' no one in the land of no gun
Higher than high if you want to you can fly
See one time hold you shit high and drive by
Pump your sound hot box don't roll it down
All sing Beijing it's my type a town
Sick man of Asia let the herb heal
Take a rickshaw of Asian all party be waitin
The land where flames burn high to keep your spliff lit