page_title: Geography of Beijing
section_title: Topography
hierarchical_section_title: Geography of Beijing / Topography
caption_attribution_description: 中文: 景山上的亭 拍摄
context_page_description: Beijing is a municipality located in North China at the northern tip of the North China Plain, near the meeting point of the Xishan and Yanshan mountain ranges. The city itself lies on flat land that opens to the east and south. The municipality's outlying districts and counties extend into the mountains that surround the city from the southwest to the northeast. The highest peaks are over 2,000 m.
  Beijing Municipality consists of six city districts, eight suburban districts and two rural counties. It covers a total area of
  16,807.8 km². By land area, the municipality is slightly larger than the country of Montenegro, though much of the municipality outside the urban core are sparsely populated mountains and farmland. The terrain is roughly 38% flat and 62% mountainous. The city is 150 km inland from the Bohai Sea via Tianjin Municipality in the southeast. Aside from Tianjin, Beijing is bordered on all other sides by Hebei Province, including a piece wedged between Beijing and Tianjin.
  Historically, Beijing was situated on the border between sedentary agricultural areas to the south and pastoralist regions beyond the mountains to the north.
context_section_description: The city of Beijing lies on low and flat land, with elevation generally between 40–60 metres (130–200 ft) above sea level. The highest point inside the old walled city is at the top of Coal Hill in Jingshan Park, which rises to 88.35 metres (289.9 ft) and overlooks the Forbidden City. Longevity Hill in the Summer Palace reaches an elevation of 109 metres (358 ft). The plains from Beijing extend to the east as far as Shanhaiguan on the Bohai Sea and as far south as Nanjing, on the Yangtze River.
  To the west is Xishan, also known as the Western Hills, which are visible from the city on clear days.  Xishan forms the eastern flank of the Taihang Mountains range, which run north-south up the spine of Hebei province.  Xishan covers nearly all of Fangshan and Mentougou Districts west of the city.  East Lingshan (elevation 2,303 metres (7,556 ft)), a Xishan peak on the border with Hebei, is the highest point in Beijing Municipality.  It is located 122 km (76 mi) from the city.  Xishan is also known for high mountain meadows and scenic river gorges, including Shidu.  Foothills of Xishan reach the city itself.  They include Fragrant Hills, a major tourist attraction and Laoshan, the site of mountain bike competition in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
  The mountains north of Beijing including Badaling, Jundu Mountains and Fenghuanling all belong to the Yanshan range, which runs east-west, across northern Hebei Province.  Yanshan separates the North China Plain from the steppes and held considerable military significance in history.  All of Beijing's Great Wall sections were built in the Yanshan range, which reaches a height of 2,241 m (7,352 ft) at Haituoshan on the border between Yanqing County and Hebei.
  The Yanshan and Xishan ranges meet at Nankou, in Changping District, northwest of the city.  The intersection creates a massive fault line and rift valley through which the city's main roads and railroads to the northwest pass.
caption: Jingshan, the highest point in the old walled city of Beijing
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