Beijing, China's political and cultural capital of China is the second largest city of the country, as well as its symbol. Its historical and cultural background shall keep the visitor busy during entire weeks, especially thanks to its palaces, museums and gardens. Beijing may be China's fastest and deepest transforming city. In the last few years, almost all of the old city disappeared, and have been replaced by huge avenues and brand new buildings. Beijing is a very large city, much larger than Shanghai, although its population is smaller, and for this reason crossing the whole city is a nightmare. In the next few years, before 2008 Olympics, this transformation will probably be modified deeper and deeper, and become hardly recognizable.