19 Facts About Beijing Capital

1. Beijing Capital has offered to narrow its trade surplus by purchasing more American soybeans, natural gas and other exports.

2. Beijing Capital has offered to increase its purchases of US products but is widely expected to resist calls for far-reaching changes to its industrial policies.

3. In 2010, the US Embassy in Beijing Capital began tweeting daily air quality data for its employees.

4. Beijing Capital is one of the most polluted cities in the World.

5. Beijing Capital is the second largest city in population after Shanghai.

6. In 2010, new car registrations in Beijing Capital averaged 15,500 per week.

7. Beijing Capital has long been well known for the number of bicycles on its streets.

8. Beijing Capital is connected by road links to all parts of China as part of the National Trunk Road Network.

9. Beijing Capital serves as a large rail hub in China's railway network.

10. In November 2013, Beijing Capital made a bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

11. Beijing Capital hosted the inaugural National Peasants' Games in 1988 and the sixth National Minority Games in 1999.

12. Beijing Capital has hosted numerous international and national sporting events, the most notable was the 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

13. Beijing Capital has about 70 mosques recognized by the Islamic Association of China, whose headquarters are located next to the Niujie Mosque, the oldest and most famous mosque in the city.

14. The largest Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Beijing Capital is the Yonghe Temple, which was decreed by the Qing Emperor Qianlong in 1744 to serve as the residence and research facility for his Buddhist preceptor of Rolpe Dorje the third Changkya.

15. Beijing Capital is home to the headquarters of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, making it an important city for international diplomacy.

16. On 8 and 9 December 2015 Beijing Capital had its first smog alert which shut down a majority of the industry and other commercial businesses in the city.

17. Beijing Capital is situated at the northern tip of the roughly triangular North China Plain, which opens to the south and east of the city.

18. Beijing Capital is a city of extremes when it comes to its temperatures.

19. Beijing Capital is one of the oldest inhabited areas in the world.