Shunyi District 顺义区

Setting and landscape

The district borders Huairou (怀柔区) and Miyun (密云区) to the north, Pinggu (平谷区) to the east, Tongzhou (通州区) and Sanhe (三河市) in Hebei to the south, and Chaoyang (朝阳区) and Changping (昌平区) to the southwest and west, where the Wenyu River (温榆河) forms the boundary. The Yan Mountains (燕山) screen the northeastern edge. Flood-laid sand and sandy loam form the plain, which covers 95.7 per cent of the area. The land is higher in the north: the highest point, in the northern hills, is 637 metres, and the average elevation is 35 metres.

The climate is a continental, semi-humid monsoon type with four distinct seasons. Annual rainfall is around 625 millimetres, three quarters of it in summer.

History

Under the Western Han, between 202 and 195 BC, two counties, Hunu (狐奴) and Anle (安乐), were set up here under Yuyang Commandery (渔阳郡). In 648, under the Tang, the Guishun prefecture (归顺州) was created for a Khitan (契丹) group that had submitted to the dynasty; it was renamed Guihua Commandery in 742 and became Guishun again in 758.

In the twelfth month of 1368 the Ming reduced Shunzhou to Shunyi County, first under Beiping and later under Shuntian prefecture. The county became part of the Jingzhao special district in 1914 and of Hebei province in 1928, and its county town was taken by the People's Liberation Army on 8 December 1948. Shunyi was transferred to Beijing in April 1958, and in December 1998 the State Council approved turning the county into a district.

What to see

Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park (顺义奥林匹克水上公园), in Mapo (马坡), was built for rowing, canoeing and the 10-kilometre open-water swim of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Its pump-fed slalom channel is 300 metres long with a drop of 6.3 metres and draws its water from the long rectangular rowing lake. The park and the Jianhe Park (顺义减河公园) both lie along the Chaobai River.

Terminal 3 of the capital airport is administratively part of Shunyi, while Terminals 1 and 2, although surrounded by the district, belong to Chaoyang as an exclave. The headquarters of Air China (国航) and of the Yanjing (燕京) brewery are also in the district.

Getting oriented

Beijing Subway Line 15 and the Capital Airport Express serve the district, which also has Shunyi and Shunyi West railway stations. Expressways crossing it include the Jingcheng (京承高速), Jingping (京平高速) and Second Airport Expressway (机场第二高速).

Highlights

• Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park 顺义奥林匹克水上公园: Venue for rowing, canoeing and marathon swimming at the 2008 Olympics, with a 300-metre pumped slalom channel.
• Chaobai River 潮白河: Runs north to south through the district; the Olympic water park and Jianhe Park lie along it.
• Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 首都机场3号航站楼: Administratively part of Shunyi, unlike Terminals 1 and 2.