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More Details A Beijing, China story

Cities
  1. Beijing, China
  2. More Details
Description

Within the Inner City, the moats and walls of the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace Museum) are prominent, with Wu Gate at the southern end. Also within the Inner City are six lakes, including Zhong Hai Lake just west of the Forbidden City.

In the Outer City three parks are visible, of which the middle is the Temple of Heaven. These are the red areas (darker than the agricultural vegetation outside of the city).

In the out zoom, Kunming Hu Lake is visible on the northwest edge of the city. The historically significant Summer Palace is on the shore of this lake.

In the north-central part of the 2013 image, a few bright spots appear that aren't in the other images. This is the Olympic complex that was built for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, and includes the Olympic stadium, which came to be known as the Bird's Nest.

An image from 1967 was acquired by the U.S. Gambit high-resolution space reconnaissance program. Part of a large collection of imagery declassified in the 1990s, the Gambit image shows fine detail, 2-4-foot resolution, of the Inner City area.

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

June 17, 1977, Landsat 2 (path/row 132/32) — Beijing, China

June 17, 1977, Landsat 2 (path/row 132/32) — Beijing, China

May 2, 1983, Landsat 4 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

May 2, 1983, Landsat 4 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

Apr. 9, 1995, Landsat 5 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

Apr. 9, 1995, Landsat 5 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

May 16, 2000, Landsat 7 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

May 16, 2000, Landsat 7 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

May 12, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

May 12, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

May 21, 2022, Landsat 8 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

May 21, 2022, Landsat 8 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

June 17, 1977, Landsat 2 (path/row 132/32) — Beijing, China
May 2, 1983, Landsat 4 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China
Apr. 9, 1995, Landsat 5 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China
May 16, 2000, Landsat 7 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China
May 12, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China
May 21, 2022, Landsat 8 (path/row 123/32) — Beijing, China

Beijing, China Additional Imagery & Stories

Beijing's Growth
Beijing's Growth

Beijing has grown and changed remarkably in the "reform era" since 1979, in its own distinct pattern. U.S. cities, for example, are often shaped like ...

Read More
Fangzhuang
Fangzhuang

One new building project that exemplifies some of these trends is visible southeast of Beijing. Fangzhuang is a new city of 78,000 where in 1984 only ...

Read More
Visible Features
Visible Features

Beijing traditionally consisted of the square, walled Inner City and the rectangular, walled Outer City to its south. The walls no longer stand, but i...

Read More
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