Looking down at Beijing from the clouds over the last 2000 years would be a remarkable sight. One would witness imperial palaces and fortresses in the endless cycle of construction and destruction. From the 15th century to the late 17th, one would look down upon the largest city in the world with its empire reaching over the entire eastern globe and even sending emissaries across the Pacific to the Americas. Conquering armies would breach the city walls, first on horseback and later in tanks, only to be repelled, sometimes hundreds of years later, by liberating armies waving flags of yellow, purple, black and eventually a bright red. Looking slightly north, one would see a wall of stone slowly grow and expand like a two-headed snake over the mountain ridges, ever widening until it extended beyond the eastern and western horizons.

As these visions fade into memory, they are replaced by skyscrapers dotting the landscape. City walls that repelled invaders for millennia are demolished, making room for highways. Millions of bicycles are substituted by taxi cabs, scooters, air-conditioned double-decker buses, and subway lines. Meanwhile, businessmen exchange their government-issued garb for suits, ties and matching briefcases as they enter corporate office buildings over 70 stories high.

Millions of construction workers from other provinces will engulf the city to prepare for the world’s greatest sporting event. The entire city will collectively hold its breath in dual hope and anxiety, as another army of foreigners infiltrates their city in the summer of 2008, but this time through the gates of its newly built international terminal. An entire city built for royalty and forbidden to the general public for centuries will be flooded by millions of visitors traipsing through the courtyard. Children will play upon the stone tortoises and dragons that once stood as guardians to the imperial court.

Beijing is big in its politics, its population, its acreage, its projects, and its reach. It is the great city of Cambuluc written about by Marco Polo, located along the upper tip of the North China Plain. From Beijing, dynasties have ruled over nations thousands of miles away in every direction. To live and study in Beijing is to understand a culture and society whose history extends back into ancient times, flourishing a millennium before Hannibal sacked Rome, Charlemagne united France, or Jesus preached to crowds in the streets of Jerusalem. To comprehend Beijing is to witness 1.3 billion people on the cusp of international power, welcoming change with open arms while still cognizant of their illustrious past.

Beijingers will tell you that the city’s true greatness still lies ahead -- hope floats in this city, even higher than the much publicized smog. Only in Beijing can one ride a high-speed subway overlooking an imperial palace, party in a world-class night club housed in a 17th century traditional Chinese courtyard, or eat a gourmet dinner of Peking roasted duck fit for an emperor followed by lamb skewers grilled over an open charcoal pit on the sidewalk. Beijing is a city where history meets modernity. Students and travelers lucky enough to make the journey to Beijing will experience another milestone in a civilization’s great history.

For all of these reasons and more, Beijing is also where China Study Abroad has chosen to locate its head office. We are conveniently situated in the Haidian District, nestled between China's most prestigious universities. For its grand history, world-renown schools, exciting development, and cultural heritage Beijing remains our most popular destination -- come and find out why!