Chapter 13: Taiwan

Taiwan is a bigger city compared to other cities such as Hong Kong and Macau. Taiwan is located in the Eastern Asia and off the southeastern coast of China. Taiwan returned to China after the World War II. Taiwan went under the power from the Nationalist to the Democratic Progressive Party in 2000 and later became one of the "Tigers".

Chapter 11 and 12: Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong and Macau are China's two special administrative regions. Hong Kong was created in 1997 which was the first. Hong Kong has a large population that is surrounded in one area. Hong Kong is also known as one of the greatest international finance center since it has a strong economy economy with low taxes and free trade. Hong Kong is well known for their legal system which based on the english law & the chinese laws. Hong Kong, unlike China also has a free market economy.

Macau was the second special administrative region of China. Macau is located to the west of the Pearl River Delta along the South China Sea. Macau came under China's control on December 20, 1999. Since Macau has it's own legal system, they maintained their own policies such as money and immigrations. Macau is still developing unlike Hong Kong who is one of the richest cities in the world.

Chapter 10: Urban Development in Beijing

      Beijing's new leader are counting on urbanization to remake the economy. Beijing is one of the biggest city in China that has about 18 million or so living there. Beijing is already a busy city that is overcrowded compared to other cities in China. With that much people living in Beijing adding more people into this city would push for better public transportation, more expensive land prices, and attract more people that are talented. With the new land prices, the old factories would move away and better new factories would be in place. In order for urban growth, they are relying on the market.
   
   

Chapter 9 " China's Industry, Energy, Trade, and Transportation in a Global Context"

After the end of the Community Revolution of 1949, Beijing has become one of China's most industrial centers. The Chinese government funded major development of heavy industry in Beijing during the 1950's and 60's. This led to the modernization of the Iron and Steel Works, which became one of the nation's main steel-producing facilities. Beijing now has highly developed machinery, textile, and petrochemical sectors, as well as an important agricultural sector to reduce its dependence on food supplies shipped from the Yangtze Valley. The service sector in China is also growing very rapidly. These sectors mainly consist of government agencies and the head offices of the largest banks in China. Major insurance companies, credit cooperatives, securities firms, investment companies, and tourism companies are a few of the many financial institutions in China. Beijing and its industries continue to grow rapidly each and every day.

Chapter 8 " Agriculture: From Antiquity to Revolution to Reform"

Due to Beijing's rapid economic growth and urbanization ever since 1984, it has been leading to resources and environmental problems. Such problems were cropland decrease, environmental deterioration, and traffic jams. In order to improve the urban environment, more space for glades and trees are needed. One of the problem that Beijing has faced was the central government's decision where they had to choose between keeping the cropland/ planting more trees and enlarging the glades.

Chapter 7 "A Preface to China's Changing Economic Geography"

Beijing's economy is expected to grow. After the government focused more on rebalancing the economy and improving it's growth model in recent years, Beijing's economic quality was relatively high and in the lead in China. Beijing's GRP growth has entered a new quality oriented era and 2013 will see a stable growth as China's economic growth bottomed and the world economy keeps improving.

Chapter 5 "Population and Human Resources"

Even though China’s capital city is Beijing, it’s not the most popular one of them all. Beijing’s population density is rounded up to be about 3,300 people per square mile. Beijing’s average number of children a woman can have in her lifetime is below the world average especially due to the one child policy.

Population Growth

In the 10 years between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, the population of Beijing has been growing in a great speed by 44% from 13,569,194 in 2000 to 19,612,368 in 2010. Beijing’s current population is about 20,693,000. Beijing is expected to see more increase of senior citizens every year until 2020. Beijing is facing a rapid growth in its elderly population.

Land area. Birth rates. Population growing?

Chapter 4- The Political Geography of Beijing

Beijing is the second largest city in China after Shanghai. Beijing municipality comprises 18 administrative sub divisions, country level units governed directly by the municipality. Of these, 16 are districts and 2 are countries.

Beijing covers an area of 16800 km2 and with a population of 11 million. With the easy access to all parts of China, Beijing is recommended for travelers.

Chapter 3- Ancient Roots and Binding Traditions

Beijing “Peking” opera is a traditional form of Chinese theatre. It’s a combination of music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobactics. The Peking opera is based on Chinese history, folklore, and contemporary life.

Peking duck is perhaps the best known dish from Beijing. This roasted duck has been prepared since the imperial era and is now considered a national dish of China.

Chinese tea ceremony is also a classic Chinese tradition. It’s a cultural activity of preparing and presenting the tea. Oolong tea is also popular in the Beijing market. 

Chapter 2: China's Natural Environment

Air pollution is a major environmental issue in Beijing. On the air quality scale, any pollutions rating over 300 means that the air is unsafe to breathe and Beijing has reached that level. The manufacturing industries, coal burning power plants, and the cars are the reasons why the air is so polluted. To reduce the health risk of the people living in Beijing, Beijing is working on future plans such as making new smaller vehicles and encouraging people to drive less. Beijing will also restrict the number of vehicles allowed in specific areas.

Chapter 1- Introduction to China: Beijing

The city that I have chose for my blog would be “Beijing”, also known as “Peking” and “Jing” for short. Beijing is the capital of China. It is located in the Northern China. Beijing plays a big role in China’s history because it has a history of more than 3,000 years and is famed for its long history. Beijing made a rapid development of tourism, attracting a lot of travelers since it’s been the capital of China for about 850 years. It has such attractions as the “Great Wall” which was built and rebuilt to maintain the wall, the “Forbidden City”, and even more. Beijing is also known for their transportation because of the railways, roads, and motorways passing through the city.

                                  

    "The Great Wall"

                     

                                                           "The Forbidden City"