Geography Project - Part 2 of 5 - First Stop - Beijing!

So from the topic of cycling I was brought to Beijing! Did you know that there are about a billion bicycles in the world, and that over half of them are from China?! That’s probably where that song ‘9 million bicycles in Beijing’ from Katie Melua came from, although '9 million' might be a bit of an exaggeration!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTy3WA0Pq8M

So here's a little information on the city of Beijing!

 I discovered that Beijing is capital of the People's Republic of China, and it is the nation's political, economic, cultural, educational and international trade and communication centre! (deep breath!) . It’s located in northern China, near the port city of Tianjin and it’s partially surrounded by Hebei Province. It’s also one of the most important transportation centres of China and most popular way of entering the country.

Beijing is one of the six ancient cities in China, has been the heart and soul of politics and society throughout its long history and as a result there is a wealth of discovery to intrigue travellers as they explore the city's ancient past and exciting modern development. It has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with about 140 million Chinese tourists and 4.4 million international visitors in a year.

One of the most famous things about China is the Great Wall, which can be seen form space, and goes through Beijing.

You haven’t been to Beijing if you haven’t watched a Peking opera, and it’s one of the most important aspects of Chinese culture. Peking opera is a combination of songs, dialogues, fighting, acrobatics, and more. Even if  you don’t enjoy it,you can’t deny that it’s one “unique” show.

When you order in restaurants, don’t expect to receive a dish just enough for yourself because food in Beijing is served family style and meant to be shared! More food in my book is always a plus!

Geography Project - Part 1 of 5

So picking up where I left off last time, I've been looking up cycling and bikes, as part of national Bike Week, and this blog post is part 1 of 5 instalments, where I'll be linking different things round the world, so you can see just how much of a 'small world' it really is! I have to say it’s really interesting so far! 

Here's some random Bike and Cycling facts just to entertain you and educate you! :

• There are about a billion bicycles in the world!

• The first bicycles were made without pedals. 

• Cycling burns 600 calories an hour.

• Twenty bicycles can be parked in the same space taken up by one car.

•   In China, bicycles out-number cars 250 to 1.

• The longest “tandem” bike was over 20 meters long and it seated 35 people. It was recorded in the history of dumb ideas as a prime example.

• Maintaining a bike annually costs twenty times less than maintaining and riding a car.

•  
In Tokyo, a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes!

• Lance Armstrong was an American cyclist who after suffering from testicular cancer, went on to win the Tour de France not once but 7 times!

Run Forest Run! Wait scratch that - try cycling!

Last week was Bike Week in Ireland, to try to promote cycling as a fun, healthy low cost , environmentally friendly way to get around. So when Mr Kiely came around asking if we wanted to put our names into a draw to win a bike, I didn't really think much, because I never (really never) win stuff like that! So at the end of the day when 3 other names and my own was called out I was so surprised! Just shows - it doesn't hurt to try! We get to keep the bikes for 6 months, and use them as much as we like! We were presented them last Thursday and yesterday we took them for a spin to Castletown House with Greenschools. Just want to say thank to Mr Kiely and Greenschools for all their hard work, and congratulations to them as they were recently awarded with the school's 4th green flag. So seeing as we have come up with a topic for our Geography project, where we will be picking a subject and linking it to different places around the world, I thought I'd pick cycling because it's such a worldwide sport and I wanted to find out more! It seems really interesting so far - for example do you know that Lance Armstrong had cancer before winning the internationally famous 'Tour de France' for 7 consecutive years? I can't wait to get started!