Geography of Beijing - Layout of Beijing's Administrative Divisions

Layout of Beijing's Administrative Divisions

In imperial times, the old walled city of Beijing occupied 62 km2. The physical size of the city has grown more than tenfold in recent decades to about 750 km2. The inner suburbs (1,282 km2), and outer suburbs (3,198 km2) provide further space for growth. The remaining 12,239.9 km2 of the municipality consists of rural areas, nature reserves and lightly populated mountains. Two urban districts, Dongcheng and Xicheng form the urban core of Beijing. They occupy the area inside the old walled city, which used to be divided into two walled sections, neicheng, the inner city and waicheng, the adjoining outer city to the south. Though the city walls no longer stand, they continue to retain geographic significance. Streets that once traversed the wall are still named nei (inner) or wai (outer) in relationship to whether the street section is inside or outside the wall. Today, Line 2 loop of the Beijing Subway traces the inner city wall. The 2nd Ring Road outlines the combined walled city including the outer city.

The inner city is divided into eastern and western halves by Dongcheng and Xicheng Districts. The Forbidden City, where emperors once lived, and Tiananmen Square, the center of the city, both belong to Dongcheng. But the Zhongnanhai Compound, next door to the Forbidden City, where China’s current leaders now reside, and the Great Hall of the People, on the west side of Tiananmen Square, both are part of Xicheng. The outer city, adjacent and south of the inner city, comprises the former Xuanwu and Chongwen districts, merged with Xicheng and Dongcheng respectively in July 2010. Chongwen is home to the Temple of Heaven. Xuanwu is oldest continuously inhabited part of Beijing. Some of its neighborhoods including those around the Niujie Mosque (b. 996 A.D.) and Pagoda of Tianning Temple (b. 1119 A.D.) predate the Yuan capital. Unlike in most other parts of the city, most narrow lanes in Xuanwu are called jie instead of hutongs. Each of the two core city districts has population density of over 20,000 persons/km2.

Beyond the 2nd Ring Road, the city spreads out in a checkerboard fashion marked by concentric ring roads. Four other districts, Haidian, Chaoyang, Fengtai and Shijingshan, were once considered on the city’s outskirts, but are now integral parts of the city inside the 5th Ring Road. All four have population densities above 4,500 persons/km2. The vast Haidian District to the northwest is home to the Old and New Summer Palace, the university district, and Zhongguancun, the city’s high-technology silicon village. The even bigger Chaoyang District embraces the city from the north and east. Its possessions include Beijing Central Business District (CBD), the Olympic Green, and even the Beijing Capital International Airport. Shijingshan is a heavily industrialized district in the foothills of the Western Hills. Fengtai spans across the south of urban Beijing.

Of the suburban districts further afield, Tongzhou and Shunyi in the east are rapidly urbanizing. Mentougou and Fangshan lie to the west, in Xishan, also known as the Western Hills. Fangshan is home to two of the oldest prehistoric sites in Beijing Municipality: the caves at Zhoukoudian, home of the Peking Man, and Liulihe, the site of the capital of the Yan Kingdom during the Western Zhou Dynasty. Daxing District, to the south, is largely agricultural but is also developing its own technology park in Yizhuang. Changping just north of the city ranges from densely urbanized Tiantongyuan in the south to the Juyongguan Great Wall in the north. In between are the Thirteen Ming Tombs.

Far north of the municipality in the Yanshan range are Yanqing and Miyun Counties, and Huairou and Pinggu Districts, both of which were rural counties until 2001. The far north is rugged, rural and sparsely populated. Yanqing, Huairou and Miyun all have fewer than 200 residents per km2. They are perhaps best known for stretches of the Great Wall, with Badaling and Shuiguan in Yanqing, Mutianyu, Huanghuacheng and Jiankou in Huairou, and Gubeikou and Simatai in Miyun, and Jiangjunguan in Pinggu.