Revisiting China post Covid-19 era: Beijing City is a reflection of China’s economic might

We embarked on Beijing-bound Air China flight CA 946 from Islamabad International Airport at 8.30 pm on the evening of May 23 (Tuesday) and arrived at Beijing (PEK) Capital International Airport at 9.55 am on the morning of May 24. After arrival, the delegation members were driven straight to the hotel.

The Hotel Huabin is ideally located at the Xidan intersection in Beijing, viewing Zhongnanhai Compound and Forbidden City to the east, and facing Chang'an Avenue to the north, it is one of the rare panoramic buildings in the capital city of Beijing where people can directly view Tiananmen Rostrum, The Hotel is near the robust Xidan business street and close to the Financial Street - the financial and capital centre of China. The major ministries and commissions of the Chinese government and centrally affiliated enterprises are also in close vicinity to the Hotel, offering an excellent business environment. Moreover, the hotel is located at the junction of several subway lines with very convenient conditions.

Beijing is a city with dozens of tourist attractions and is thronged by tourists across the year. It is also home to many national monuments and museums and has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites—the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Zhoukoudian, and some parts of the Great Wall and the Grand Canal—all of which being the most popular tourist locations.

Besides this, Beijing is a global city and one of the world's leading centres for culture, diplomacy, politics, finance, business and economics, education, research, language, tourism, media, sport, science and technology and transportation. As a megacity, Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by urban population after Shanghai. It is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies and houses the largest number of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world, as well as the world's four biggest financial institutions by total assets. It is also a major hub for the national highway, expressway, railway, and high-speed rail networks. As far as sky-scrapers are concerned, one can say that there are at least 50 Manhatten in just Beijing’s heartland alone. Beijing is stated to be the only city in the world that has been so well-managed that there are hundreds of multi-storey apartment buildings littered in various parts of the main city and its suburban localities which are awaiting residents. It simply means that the town planners here have thought well in advance about the ever-growing population and constructed accommodations for them years in advance.

According to recently published reports, the Beijing Capital International Airport has been the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic (Asia's busiest) since 2010, and, as of 2016, the city's subway network is the busiest and longest in the world. To cater to the needs of the massive pressure of international travellers, there is a second international airport as well. The Beijing Daxing International Airport is the largest single-structure airport terminal in the world.

Each building in this capital city reflects a particular style of construction. Looking at combining both modern and traditional style architectures, Beijing is one of the oldest cities in the world, with a rich history dating back centuries. As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political capital of the country for most of the past eight centuries and was the largest city in the world by population. With mountains surrounding the inland city on three sides, in addition to the old inner and outer city walls, Beijing was strategically poised and developed to be the residence of the emperor and thus was the perfect location for the imperial capital. The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. Beijing is one of the most important tourist destinations in the world.

According to available information, Beijing's public universities make up more than one-fifth of Double First-Class Universities, and many of them consistently rank among the best in the Asia-Pacific and the world. Beijing is home to the two best C9 League universities (Tsinghua and Peking) in Asia & Oceania region and emerging countries. According to the figures available, Beijing is on top of all other Chinese cities housing 92 universities with Wuhan and Guangzhou are on the No 2 position housing 83 universities each.