Handmade Worldtour – Beijing

Among the most impor­tant events of the German Craft Council are national and inter­na­tional exhi­bi­tions. Since 2014, the “Hand­made in Germany World Tour” has been presenting German manu­fac­to­ries and arti­sans at inter­na­tional venues.

The 9th stop of the exhi­bi­tion “Hand­made in Germany” leads to Beijing. The capital of the People’s Republic of China has more than three thou­sand years of history. It’s name means Northern Capital. Today, Beijing is a directly governed city, which means that it is directly subor­di­nated to the central govern­ment and thus equal to provinces, autonomous areas and special admin­is­tra­tive zones.

The entire 16,807 square kilo­metre admin­is­tra­tive area of Beijing has 20.69 million inhab­i­tants. It is not a contiguous urban area, with its domi­nant rural settle­ment struc­ture it is more compa­rable to a province. Of the total popu­la­tion, 11.8 million are regis­tered perma­nent resi­dents and 7.7 million are tempo­rary resi­dents. From 2017, the metrop­olis is to become the core of a mega­lopolis of 130 million inhab­i­tants called Jing-Jin-Ji.

 

Beijing is the capital and polit­ical centre of China. Due to its long history, Beijing is home to an impor­tant cultural heritage. This includes Tian’anmen Square (Chinese Square at the Gate of Heav­enly Peace), the Forbidden City, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, the new and old Summer Palace and various temples, such as the Temple of Heaven, the Temple of Lama and the Temple of Confu­cius. Beijing was the venue for the 2008 Summer Olympics and was also chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.