I was recently doing some research on Beijing, and came across some interesting information that I thought would be worth sharing. Below I have provided some of the most fascinating facts and statistics that I could find.
Beijing has been the capital of China since 1949.
When translated from Chinese, Beijing literally means Northern Capital.
Beijing is one of the largest cities in the world, with a population of nearly 20 million.
One in every 5 people in the world is Chinese.
Fortune cookies don’t exist in China.
Cricket fighting is very popular in China.
China only has one time zone.
Chinese invented ice cream, and Marco Polo brought the recipe back to Europe.
In 1980, China implemented a one child policy to slow its rapidly growing population. However, as shown by the chart below, the urban population in Beijing has risen very rapidly because of the migration of citizens to the city for employment.
The one child policy has also created a gender gap in the population, as many families wanted boys to carry on their family legacies. Currently, the gender gap under the age of 20 is 35 million, which will put significant stress on society to accommodate this gap. There have been some fascinating articles written recently that address the gender gap and the potential problems that will arise in the future as a result of it.
Beijing Shore 