It doesn’t matter if you’re waking up on the 87th floor of Shanghai’s Jin Mao Tower or beneath a pile of yak-wool blankets in distant Xinjiang: Wherever you start the day in China, you’re on Beijing Time.

From the construction of the Forbidden City to the creation of a single time zone that spans all 22 provinces, the nation’s capital (and seat of the central government) has long made itself known as the center of the Chinese universe.

But only in the last decade has Beijing drawn the awed and envious attention of everyone else — first, with the 2008 Olympic Games, which revealed the city’s tremendous financial resources and national pride to a captive audience; and second, with its remarkable gross domestic product growth, which continues to rise at breakneck speeds of over 10 percent annually while the rest of the world faces recession.

Strategically positioned on the edge of the North China Plain (Beijing means “Northern Capital”), the metropolis of 10 million became the nation’s first post-industrial city in the late ’90s and is now home to 26 Fortune Global 500 companies — the third most in the world after Tokyo and Paris.

Beijing is no stranger to large-scale transformation. In its relatively short tenure as capital city — dating back to Genghis Khan’s 13th-century occupation — city planners have reshaped Beijing a number of times, from imperial playground to communist bastion.

But none of these renovations took place as rapidly as the makeover following the successful Olympic bid, when the municipal government spent more than $40 billion on the city’s infrastructure. Entire neighborhoods were replaced — seemingly overnight — with skyscrapers designed by some of the world’s top architectural firms; and the real estate, tourism and finance industries exploded.

Perhaps nowhere are these changes more obvious than in the Central Business District. A longtime conceit by the municipal government to improve the environment for both foreign and local business, development of the 1.5-square-mile district only really got underway in the past decade. Already it houses more than 70 percent of overseas-funded companies, 90 percent of foreign press offices and the majority of embassies.

And it keeps growing. In 2009, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill completed the CBD’s China World Trade Center III, now Beijing’s tallest building. China Central Television also finished its headquarters (known locally as “Big Pants”) that year, designating the CBD as China’s media center. And both the International Business Festival and the International Financial Forum held each fall have drawn professionals to Beijing from all over the world.

Likewise, Beijing Financial Street — which actually encompasses a 35-block area — provides a collaborative environment for foreign and domestic financial institutions, including People’s Bank of China, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. With over 60 percent of the country’s financial assets and a slew of 5-star hotels, luxury residential units and upscale retail, the Street is quickly emerging as a rival to Shanghai as China’s financial center.

For all its success in turbo-charging the economy, not every aspect of Beijing’s financial policy has benefited its own citizens. The artificially low value of China’s currency, while driving up exports, has led to mounting inflation. Amid complaints of soaring prices, Premier Wen Jiabao promised at the national legislative assembly in March to allow the yuan to slowly appreciate to its real value.

And with a wary eye on the revolutions in the Middle East, the Chinese Communist Party unveiled a five-year plan to shift focus from single-mindedly growing China’s GDP to improving the quality of life nationwide. In his own address to Beijing residents, Mayor Guo Jinlong promised to rein in the city’s housing prices and build 200,000 units for low-income residents.

With nominal incomes expected to double by 2016, Beijingers will no doubt do their part to grow the consumer economy. The city’s GDP per capita exceeded $10,000 for the first time in 2009, and last year China replaced the United States as the world’s No. 2 consumer of luxury goods. This year the city was forced to issue two-thirds fewer license plates to limit the burgeoning number of vehicle owners (4.8 million and counting).

And every weekend, thousands of Beijingers descend on the local IKEA — some to shop but many more to nap on the beds, recline in the chairs and dream about the middle-class lifestyle they’ll soon be able to afford. Until then, they can rest confident in knowing that they occupy the center of the Chinese universe.

Info to Go

Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) — the world’s second-busiest — is about 16 miles from downtown Beijing. The Airport Line subway ($4) takes about 20 minutes to reach Dongzhimen Station on the Second Ring Road in central Beijing. Taxi rides (about $15) into the city take 30 minutes to an hour. The Airport Shuttle Bus also runs five different routes into the city for $2.40. A high-speed railway between Beijing and Shanghai is scheduled to open this month. For more information, visit http://english.visitbeijing.com.cn/ or www.cnto.org.

Just the Facts

Time Zone: GM T + 8
Phone Code: 86 China, 10 Beijing
Currency: Renminbi yuan (RM B)
Entry/Exit Requirements: U.S. citizens must have a valid passport and obtain a visa to enter China. Purchase one-month tourist or business visas prior to departure.
Official Language: Mandarin (English is widely spoken in business areas.)
Key Industries: Finance, tourism, real estate, automobiles, chemicals, electronics, machinery, retail, household appliances.

Diversions

The largest and best-preserved of China’s traditional wooden structures, the centrally located Forbidden City (north side of Tiananmen Square, tel 86 10 6513 2255) provides the perfect introduction to Beijing’s ancient history. Visitors can spend hours wandering the buildings of this 15th-century compound, which served as home to both the Ming and Qing dynasties, without seeing even a fraction of its 8,707 rooms.

At the imperial city’s southern entrance, the Gate of Heavenly Peace, Mao Zedong’s iconic countenance keeps a watchful eye on the world’s largest city square (fitting up to a million people), Tiananmen Square. Early risers can attend the dawn Flag-raising Ceremony performed by a troop of People’s Liberation Army soldiers before jumping in line at the jam-packed Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum (south side of Tiananmen Square, tel 86 10 6513 2277). There’s no telling whether the body on display is the great helmsman himself or his wax replica, but the eerie experience is worth the wait.

One of the most pleasant ways to experience Beijing is on two wheels, and most hotels rent bicycles by the hour or the day. Wander the rapidly disappearing narrow alleys — called hutong — around the city center, then pedal north along the scenic Back Lakes. Stop for lunch at one of the hip cafés and bars surrounding the northernmost lake, Qianhai, before browsing local artists’ wares along the ramshackle Chinese Pipe Cross-Street, once famous for its many smoking pipe shops. At the end of the street, the 13th-century Drum Tower (Gulou Dongdajie, tel 86 10 6401 2674), marking the center of the old Mongol capital, affords picturesque views of the surrounding hutongs.

Architecture buffs will no doubt want to take in Herzog & de Meuron’s “Bird’s Nest” as well as the neighboring “Water Cube” on Beijing’s Olympic Green (Beichen Donglu). Contrast these modern marvels with the epitome of Ming architecture at the city’s other architectural mecca, Temple of Heaven Park (Tiantan Donglu, tel 86 10 6702 8866).

Further afield on Beijing’s northwest side, the Summer Palace (19 Xinjian Gongmen, tel 86 10 6288 1144) of China’s vacationing royalty is worth an afternoon spent wandering its gardens, lakes and pavilions.

And no visit to Beijing is complete — plus Mao would say you’re not a man — without a trip to The Great Wall. Several sections within an hour or two of the city offer varying experiences of the 5,500-mile barrier. Badaling is the most popular, Simitai the steepest and Jinshanling the least developed — but all are awe-inspiring.

Lodging

Aman Beijing

Set within an imperial garden adjacent to the Qing Dynasty Summer Palace, Aman offers an urban escape fit for an emperor. 1 Gongmenqian St., tel 86 10 5987 9999 $$$

Grand Hyatt Beijing

A longtime favorite among business travelers, Grand Hyatt Beijing has top-notch service and an unbeatable location just steps from the Forbidden City. 1 E. Chang An Ave., tel 86 10 8518 1234 $$–$$$$

The Opposite House

Japanese designer Kengo Kuma’s minimalist boutique hotel features modern art installations and stylish rooms in Beijing’s most happening club district. The Village, Building 1, 11 Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District, tel 86 10 6417 6688 $$$$

Dining

Beijing Da Dong Kaoya Dian

Chef Dong’s Peking duck is delicate, crispy and accompanied by toppings — both tra
ditional and innovative — that border on perfection. 1-2/F Nanxincang International Plaza, Chaoyang District, tel 86 10 5169 0329 $$

Ding Ding Xiang

Tourists and locals alike love this upscale hot pot restaurant for its individual boiling pots and secret dipping sauce. Opposite Donghuan Guangchang, Chaoyang District, tel 86 10 6417 2546 $

Maison Boulud

Celebrity chef Daniel Boulud serves refined French cuisine in the pre-communist opulence of the former American embassy. Qianmen Dong Da Jie 23, Beijing City Center, tel 86 10 6559 9200 $$$$

Checking In with Lee Mack

Managing Editor, Beijing City Weekend

Which Beijing hot spots are must-visits for business travelers?

Mosto in Sanlitun is still one of the best restaurants in town for convenient, upscale, casual-chic dining. Maison Boulud still rules the high end, with Capital M a close second. Both marry haute cuisine with a bit of Beijing history.

Beer fans will want to check out the Great Leap Brewery, where you can sip excellent house brews in a restored courtyard environment. Contempio is another great place for a cocktail or wine — it sits inside a 400-year-old renovated temple and has all the ambience you’ll ever need.

Nanluoguxiang used to be a great place to stroll for an afternoon, but it’s been overrun by tourists in the last couple of years. Instead, head to Wudaoying Hutong near the Lama Temple. It’s an alley with history, and growing up inside it are funky boutiques, decent restaurants, a few bars and even a jazz club.
What are the strongest businesses in Beijing right now?

Digital, digital, digital. All the excitement is online and on the mobile phone. Western-based online game companies have opened shop in Beijing, designing games for social media, iPhones, iPads, Android — anything with a cursor. These products are largely destined for export back to the West.

E-commerce is also huge. Taobao, based in Hangzhou, is massive and getting bigger, and everything is available for online purchase now. No one wants to go out in the traffic, and why should they when delivery is next to nothing? Even traditional offline businesses like bakeries are marrying their expertise to e-commerce, selling baked goods for delivery. Cupcakes were huge last year. Wine is another fast-growing sector; it’s really picked up steam. Wine bars, wine retailers and online wine shopping are firmly implanted in Beijing now.