History and Geography of Beijing, China
History
Historically Beijing was one of the ancient capitals of China. Since the Shang Dynasty (between the 16th century – 11th century BC) was overthrown by King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty, who enforced the region of Yan to Prince Shao, it has a history of more than 3,000 years.
Called Ji in ancient times, it was the capital of the Yan State in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). Later in the Liao Dynasty (Number 907 1125), it was the temporary capital, called Yanjing, and the Jin Dynasty, Beijing was established as its capital with the name of Zhongdu. See population of China.
It acquired the name Dadu in the Yuan dynasty, and was later called Jingshi during the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the generic name of Beijing, which means “northern capital.” Beijing, as a capital from the Jin dynasty to later dynasties, has enjoyed a history of more than 800 years. There the hardworking Chinese people with their intelligence and hard effort have created a brilliant civilization.
Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995.
Between August 8 and 24, 2008, it hosted the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing 2008.
Geography
The four seasons are very marked. In winter the climate is cold and dry; in Summer there is a tropical heat and abundant rain; and fall is cool and pleasant. The annual rainfall level is 600 millimeters on average.
Climate
Located in the temperate monsoon zone, it is quite pleasant during spring and fall. The hottest month is July, with an average temperature of 30ºC, and the coldest, January, with an average of almost -5ºC.
This is a summary of the most representative average temperatures in each of the seasons of the year:
| Station | Climate | Average minimum temperature | Average maximum temperature |
| Spring | Sunny days | 12 (month of May) | 25 (month of May) |
| Summer | Hot days,Rainy time | 28 (August) | 19.9 (August) |
| Autumn | Temperatures,nice, clear skies | 6.8 (month of October) | 18.7 (month of October) |
| Winter | Cold and dry weather | -9.7 (January) | 1.7 (January) |
Flora and fauna
According to abbreviationfinder, Beijing has rich resources of flora and fauna, and the most numerous poultry species. Its gymnosperms rank first in the world in terms of species. It is one of the countries with the greatest Biodiversity. However, it also faces a difficult situation in this area, since between 15% and 20% of the higher plants are in danger of extinction, and the subsistence of 40 thousand biological species related to these plants is threatened.
As one of the first signatory countries of the Biodiversity Convention, China always takes an active part in the matters related to the Convention and issues opinions on the important problems that arise in the international compliance of the Convention.
Furthermore, it is one of the few countries that has fully complied with the Convention’s Plan of Action. China’s Biodiversity Protection Action Plan, drawn up in 1994, constitutes the standard to be followed for the many activities aimed at protecting the Ecosystem and the Environment.
In accordance with the Law for the Protection of Wild Fauna, any act that violates the protection of wild zoological resources will be punished. Relevant government departments pay attention to the effective protection of biological resources.
More than 400 deposits and gene banks of varieties of wild flora have been founded in the country, so that more than a thousand varieties of wild flora have managed to establish their stable artificial population. In January 2003, the Chinese Academy of Sciences sponsored an Endangered Flora Rescue Project, which plans to increase the botanical species of 12 botanical gardens under its supervision from 13,000 to 21,000 within 15 years, and build the largest botanical garden in the world with an area of 458 square kilometers.
In this project, the money destined to collect precious, rare and threatened plants will exceed 300 million yuan, and gene banks will be created, with Qinling, Wuhan, Xishuangbanna and Beijing as centers.
The Project for the Salvation of Endangered Wild Fauna has already paid off. To date, 250 centers for the reproduction of wild animals have been founded in the country, dedicated especially to saving seven important species, including the Pandaand the Red Ibis (Nippon nippon).
The panda is considered a “national treasure” and a “living zoo fossil”, its wild population has grown from 1,100 to more than 1,596 specimens, and its pen population to 183 specimens, thanks to ever-improving subsistence conditions.
The population of red ibis increased from the original 7 to more than a thousand specimens, thus countering the threat of extinction. The number of artificially propagated Chinese alligators is close to 10,000. Of the Deer Cervus eldi of Hainan there were only 26 copies left, but now they already exceed 1,600. The hereditary gull has also increased its population from 2,000 to more than 10,000 members.
The Tiger, rarely seen, appears from time to time in Northeast, East and South China. The populations of the South China and Northeast China tigers have risen to 68 and 1,300, respectively. The Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) of Tibet, believed extinct by international zoological circles, was discovered in the 20th century and its population has grown steadily. China leads the way in scientific research and study on the white dolphin, a species of freshwater dolphin, and its artificial reproduction.
Thanks to the tenacious fight against illegal hunting and the coordination of several organizations of the international animal protection community, the Tibetan antelope, whose numbers were falling precipitously for this reason, now enjoys a rest that favors reproduction, currently the species has 190 thousand copies.
