The earliest remnants of human habitation in the Beijing(also known as peking) municipality are found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where the Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the caves date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic homo sapiens also lived there about 27,000 years ago[5].
There were cities in the vicinities of Beijing by the 1st millennium BC, and the capital of the State of Yan, one of the powers of the Warring States Period (473-221 BC), Ji (薊/蓟), was established in present-day Beijing.
After the fall of the Yan, the subsequent Qin, Han, and Jin dynasties set-up local prefectures in the area. In Tang Dynasty it became the headquarter for Fanyang jiedushi, the virtual military governor of current northern Hebei area. An Lushan launched An Shi Rebellion from here in 755. This rebellion is often regarded as a turning point of Tang dynasty, as the central government began to lose the control of the whole country.
Beijing Early history profile
Beijing school grooms girls to award Olympic medals
Beijing school grooms girls to award Olympic medals China puts on a professional smileJan. 9 Reuters- China has pumped $4 billion dollars into preparing for the upcoming Olympic games and over 1.5 million visitors are expected to visit the country this summer.Now Beijing is training an army of special ushers, hoping to woo guests with a professional smile.
Smile: super friendly hosts for the Olympic Games
According to local reports, athletes are not the only ones in training for this year's Olympic Games in Beijing. The organizers have started a number of campaigns to teach citizens more tourist-friendly habits, ranging from "how to line up" to "don't spit". And many volunteers who will work in the Olympic venues are learning how to smile and better serve tourist.
That's why we will find a lot of smiling faces to greet athletes and spectators at this year's Beijing Olympics.
Indeed, women are training to be Olympic hostesses, and they are practicing their best grins -- grins that their teachers say should show between six and eight teeth.
One of the hostess, Ren Chao, says smiling for hours on end is hard work. "We have to wear high heels and stand with chopsticks in our mouths, books on our heads and paper between our knees. It is absolutely tiring."
It's interesting to see that on top of their normal classes, they spend two hours each day practicing how to stand and learning the art of the smile -- along with other good manners -- to help them greet visitors to the main venues.
In fact, nine of these women have been given the honor of handing out Olympic medals to the winning athletes.
"These students all basically have a good face, relatively nice figure and their body conditions and other aspects all fit the requirements of the service industry," admits the vocational school's vice principal, Liu Wenjun.
It's really important to mention that the Beijing Olympics 2008 will be China's debut to hosting a major international sporting event like this, and it intends to welcome the world with a huge smile.
Nigeria soccer team qualified for the Olympic Games
Looking forward to reach the glory again, Nigeria reached the pass for the Beijing Olympics in men's soccer. In fact, they are the final men's soccer team to qualify for the games, as they beat South Africa 3-0 in a qualifying match on Wednesday.Talented forward Victor Anichebe, making his debut as a substitute, wrapped up win for the under-23 team in the second half.What's more, Taye Taiwo had put Nigeria ahead before the break with a header from a corner before South Africa conceded an own-goal.The "Super Eagles" qualified for the Beijing Games with eight points ahead of Ghana, who finished their games on seven.It's important to say that Nigeria, whose players will each get a $4,000 bonus from the government for qualifying, won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.Now, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, China, Argentina, United States, New Zealand, Honduras and Brazil had already qualified for the 16-team tournament at the Beijing Olympics from Aug. 8-24.
Pollution from Factories to be cut for the Beijing Olympic Games
I had the chance to see that many important corporations in China have been ordered to cut pollution from their plants in Beijing by 30 per cent for two months during the so expected event - Olympic Games 2008.In fact, the International Olympic Committee said March 17 that poor air quality in Beijing may put some athletes at risk during the event. Beijing has spent more than 140 billion yuan, or about $20 billion (Canadian), since 1998 on projects to limit pollution from sources including motor vehicles, coal-burning industries and construction works, according to the environmental protection bureau.That's why the factories may have to cut production or take other measures to reduce emissions between July 20 and Sept. 20 for the Olympics and the Paralympics, according to an official statement of the Beijing government. No doubt those are excellent news.
