Beijing is the capital city of China. There are about 10 million people living in the city of Beijing. In Beijing, there are many tall apartment buildings made of brick or concrete. The apartments are small with only 2 or 3 rooms in them. Often a family of 3, 4 or 5 will share these 2 or 3 rooms. Sometimes the bathroom is located in a central place where many neighboring families can use it too.
There are also many older homes in small narrow allies called hutongs (hoo-tongs). These are called courtyard houses in Beijing. Three or four tiny houses are clustered around a central courtyard in an alley. The alleyway twists and turns and it is easy to get lost. The families share an out door bathroom and cooking area. Sometimes there is no clean running water.
The government controls the number of people who can live in a large city like Beijing. The government also tells families to have only one child in order to try to stop the over crowding of people in the cities. There are more people who want apartments than there are apartments available. Building is going on all over Beijing to try to keep up with the number of people who need housing. The streets are very busy because there are so many people. The streets are filled with cars, trucks, buses and bicycles and there are many traffic jams.
The city of Beijing also has many wide streets with beautiful trees. There are many public squares for the people to gather. One famous city square is Tiananmen Square. The word Tiananmen translates to mean "heavenly peace." Many people who live in Beijing like to go for a "Sunday stroll" to the public squares.
There is a place called the "Forbidden City" in Beijing. It was here in the Forbidden City that China"s emperors and royalty lived. For over 500 years, there was a rule that only royalty was allowed to enter the Forbidden City. Common citizens were not allowed to enter the Forbidden City.