Only few cities on earth are changing as fast as Beijing, the capital city of the People's Republic of China. Construction cranes rule the horizon, new hotels, shopping malls and commercial plazas are springing up at giddying speed and more and more old sectors of the city are being razed and modernised.

 Having hosted the Olympic Games outstanding successfully represents the ultimate statement of China's emergence as a global superpower, and  Beijing made the `People's Olympics' the most successful and dazzling ever staged.

 Beijing's high-speed physical makeover moves hand-in-hand with a firmly retained grip on China's rich cultural heritage and strict communist social order. Its soaring modern architecture and vast international hotels are juxtaposed with grandiose socialist municipal buildings and connected by a system of broad boulevards and ring roads around the city. Rush hour traffic jams can match (and frequently beat) those of any major world city.

Beyond the modernity, Beijing offers a bountiful tourism attractions, including the fast-disappearing hutongs, parks, architectural and cultural treasures and exquisite temples - and, of course, serves as a base to visit the Great Wall of China.

In 1421, Beijing became China's capital and it was to remain so until the collapse of the imperial regime in 1911. From 1911 to 1949 Beijing suffered, as did the rest of China, from the internecine wars fought between various factions trying to take control of the whole country.

The Japanese invasion in 1931 was followed by a bitter civil war, which finally led to communist supremacy under Mao Zedong and the founding of the People's Republic of China (announced at the Gate of Heavenly Peace at the entrance to the Forbidden City) with Beijing as the capital.

During the first 10 years of Mao's rule, strong advances were made in industry, agriculture, education and health care. However, in 1966, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, a frenzied  attack on liberal political, historical and social thought. Following Mao's death in 1976, President Deng Xiaoping gradually opened up China to the outside world, welcoming foreigners as both investors and tourists, and empowering Chinese entrepreneurs to set up businesses.

Though the undoubted political, academic and cultural capital of China, Beijing remained in the commercial shadow of its powerful east coast nemesis, Shanghai, which swallowed a huge proportion of foreign investment flowing into China.

However, after the awarding of the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing in 2001, the capital has embarked upon a massive infrastructural investment programme and has benefited from higher levels of foreign capital creating jobs, affluence and funds to invest in the city's pre-Olympic redevelopment.

There's only one place to begin exploring the city - Tiananmen Square, where Mao Zedong declared the foundation of the People's Republic. Though more closely identified with the suppression of the student-led pro-democracy protests of 1989, the world's largest public square is an impressive tourism centrepiece.

To stand (alongside thousands of visitors) and see the imposing majesty of the Forbidden City to the north and the vast portrait of Mao Zedong on the Tiananmen Gate itself is to appreciate the indubitable centrality of the capital to all aspects of the Chinese psyche. For further confirmation, turn around and see the snaking queue of people preparing to enter Chairman Mao's mausoleum.

Beijing is at its best in late spring and, particularly, autumn when crisp, sunny days are accompanied by tree leaves turning glorious shades of red and gold. The searing heat of summer and the biting winds in winter can be extreme.