Beijing lies in the north of the North China Plain, at 39°56′N and 116°20′E. Locates in the north of Huabei Plain, with a total area of 16410.54 sq. kilo-meters .

It neighbors the Tianjin Municipality in the east, and borders Hebei Province on three sides-the north, west and south. The terrain of the Beijing area slopes from the northwest to the southeast.

Mountains snake round the city's north, west and northeast, while the southeast part of the city is a plain that slopes gently toward the coast of the Bohai Sea.

The Yongding, Chaobai and Juma rivers and the north section of the Grand Cannel crisscross the area under Beijing's jurisdiction. Most of the rivers originate from mountainous areas in the northwest, cut through mountains and zigzag through the plain in the southeast before emptying into Bohai Sea. There are 85 reservoirs in Beijing, the Minyun, the Guanting thje Huairou and the Haizi which are the biggest 4.

Beijing belongs to the warm temperate zone with a semi-humid climate. It has four distinctive seasons, with short springs and autumns while summers and winters are always long. In the year 2005, annual temperatures averaged 13.2℃. February is the coldest month with an average temperature of –2.9℃, and July the hottest with an average temperature of 27.9℃. The 2005 annual precipitation measured at 410.7mm, mainly occur red in summer.

By the end of year 2005, Beijing has population of 15.38 million, among which permanent registered population measured 11.08 million. The average life expectancy was 74 for Beijing residents. People of all China's 56 ethnic groups are found in Beijing. The vast majority of the population belongs to the Han ethnic group. People of the Hui, Man and Mongolian ethnic groups number more than 10,000 separately.

Beijing is a multi-religions city, Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism, among which, Taoism, Buddhism and Islam all have the major influence upon Beijing’s history, culture and art.

Beijing is not only the capital of People’s Republic of China, it’s also the historic and cultural city, the city built more than 3,000 years ago and regarded as the ancient oriental capital for over 850 years, it was the capital city for Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Since 1949, Beijing has become the capital of the People's Republic of China.

There are many great historic sites in Beijing, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Remains of Peking Man in of Zhoukoudian, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and the Ming Tomb, were listed into the world cultural heritages by United Nation.

Beijing is presently divided into 16 districts and 2 counties, it had undergone 5 rearrangements of its administrative divisions since 1949, there are Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen, Xuanwu, Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Mentougou, Fangshan, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Changping, Daxing, Pinggu, Huairou, Miyun, Yanqing.

In 2005, Beijing municipal part committee and government proposed dividing 18 administrative divisions into 4 functional areas, there are The Core Areas of Districts the Capital’s Urban Function, Extended Areas for Urban Function, New Areas for Urban Development, Developing Areas for Ecological Preservation.

Functional Areas : The Core Areas of Districts the Capital’s Urban  Functions.

Range: Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen & Xuanwu

Regional Development Keystones and Characteristics: Showcase the characteristics of the ancient capital. These districts epitomize Beijing’s role as a centre of political, cultural and international associations. They also provide support for the “four services.”

Functional Areas :Extended Areas for Urban Functions

Range: Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai & Shijingshan Districts

Regional Development Keystones and Characteristics: These are key areas for the extension of the capital’s urban functions, especially economic services for elsewhere in China and the world. These are important bases for the promotion of scientific and technological research and development. Innovation is emphasized.

Functional Areas :New Areas for Urban Development

Range: Tongzhou, Daxing, Shunyi, Changping Fangshan Districts

Regional Development Keystones and Characteristics: 

These areas strongly support modern manufacturing industries and modern agriculture. They are key areas for redistributed populations and industries being removed from urban areas in the city centre. They are important areas for the city’s future economic development. Relying on new quarters and national-level and city-level development zones, these areas will contribute to protecting the environment, strengthening manufacturing, supplying the city’s work force and bearing the weight of population. As such, they will be centres of new growth in Beijing.

Functional Areas :Developing Areas for Ecological Preservation

Range: Mentougou, Pinggu, Huairou districts, Miyun  and Yanqing counties

Regional Development Keystones and Characteristics:  

These areas are vital protective barriers and secure watersheds needed for Beijing’s sustainable development. They will focus on environmental protection and construction, residential and other land use, the reasonable use of natural resources and will serve as an “ecological great wall” protecting the city.

In the beginning of 2005, the State Department authorized the Beijing city master plan (2004-2010). The new plan not only defined Beijing as the capital city of the People’s Republic of China, the political and cultural center, famous historic city and modern metropolitan, also set the goals for Beijing as capital city, metropolitan city, cultural city and livable city.