China Trade Mission – Beijing – The Northern Capitol
Beijing – The Northern Capitol
Today we arrived in Beijing. Beijing is home to many companies featured on our China Stock Digest model portfolio. We were all amazed to see all the Olympic stadium venues and the vast new high rise developments that fill the skyline. Our first evening here was brought to a close by a great Peking Duck Dinner. See below where I recap the food that we have enjoyed during the 2008 China Investors Field Trip. While in Beijing, we will be staying at the China World Hotel.
Beijing, formerly known in English as Peking is the capital of the People’s Republic of China. Beijing is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Beijing City was established over 3,000 years ago and was called Jin City in the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC – 771 BC). Beijing is China’s second largest city, after Shanghai and a major transportation hub, with railways, roads and motorways passing through the city. It is also the entry point of many international flights to China. Beijing is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, and huge stone walls and gates.
The metropolitan area of Beijing is home to over 12 million people. Financial industry is one of the most important industries of Beijing accounting for over 70% of its GDP. Beijing’s real estate and automobile sectors have continued to boom in recent years. The Beijing central business district is home to a variety of corporate regional headquarters, shopping precincts, and high-end housing. Beijing is increasingly becoming known for its innovative entrepreneurs and high-growth start-ups.Though Shanghai is seen as the economic centre of China based on the numerous large corporations based there, Beijing is the center for Chinese entrepreneurship.
Urban Beijing is known for being a centre of pirated goods and anything from the latest designer clothing to the latest DVDs can be found in markets all over the city, often marketed to expatriates and international visitors.
People native to urban Beijing speak the Beijing dialect, which belongs to the Mandarin subdivision of spoken Chinese. Rural areas of Beijing Municipality have their own dialects.
Beijing is home to a number of colleges and universities, including several well-regarded universities of international stature, such as Tsinghua University and Peking University.
Records show that Beijing has been an inhabited city for more than three thousand years and has endured invasions by warlords and foreign powers, devastating fires, the rise and fall of powerful imperial dynasties and has emerged each time as a strong and vibrant city.
Beijing – Peking Duck and The Food Of China
The most asked question about the China Trade Mission – China Investors Field Trip is, “What kind of food do we eat?” Well, I am here to tell you that we eat at some of the absolute best restaurants available. We have a change to enjoy true authentic Chinese food (not the stuff we see back home) at 4 and 5 star restaurants in each stop. Many of the menus will have a continental type selection for those less adventurous.
Our first night in Beijing we had Peking Duck. The chef above was preparing our meal.
Peking Duck, or Peking Roast Duck is a famous duck dish from Beijing that has been prepared since the Yuan Dynasty, and is now considered one of China’s national foods. Ducks are bred specially for the dish, which after 65 days are prepared and seasoned before being roasted in a closed oven. The cooked Peking Duck is traditionally carved in front of the diners and served in three stages. First, the skin is served dipped in sugar and garlic sauce. The meat is then served with steamed pancakes scallions and sweet noodle sauce. The diners spread sauce, and optionally sugar, over the pancake. The pancake is wrapped around the meat with the vegetables and eaten by hand.
This is truly a taste like no other. Superb! The Peking Duck Dinner is definitely worth travelling half way around the world to enjoy.
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China Stock Market and the 2008 China Investors Field Trip.
Coming to you live from Beijing on the 2008 China Investors Field Trip.
Committed To Your Profits In China,
Jim Trippon, CPA
Editor-In-Chief
China Stock Digest
P.S. Don’t forget about the special offer going on while I am in China. Order between now and October 24th, and receive $100 off the regular subscription price.
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