Edinburgh

Situated in the north of the UK, Edinburgh is a famous cultural city. It lies on the Firth of Forth, North Sea in the east and faces Scottish Highlands in the west. Edinburgh is the capital, administrative, cultural and business center of Scotland and the seventh largest city of the UK, with a total population of 470,000 and an area of 264 kilometers. Edinburgh has a temperate, maritime climate, with highest temperature annually 12.1℃ and lowest temperature 5.2℃.

The history of Edinburgh dated back to the Roman Empire period, when the place was made a stronghold by the vanguard units of Roman Legions. In 1329, the city of Edinburgh was founded, and had been a residence for the British Royal family until before the Second World War. Even nowadays, Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family members like to spend their holidays in Edinburgh from time to time.

With well-established modern scientific and technological infrastructure, Edinburgh has very solid industrial foundations. In addition to traditional industries like brewing, printing and papermaking, a lot of modern industries are also developing rapidly, such as electronics, light industry, machinery, with Hugh Chatea Electronics Specializing in producing computers for business, hospital and communication use, with a complete system ranging from design to production.  Edinburgh also houses the Bank of Scotland and head offices or branches of some major banks in the UK, as well as universities, scientific research and technology institutes.

Edinburgh is a well-known international tourist site, holding numerous scenic spots and historical sites, such as Edinburgh Castle built around 600 AD, the Parliament House, Holyrood Palace, St Giles’ Church, St Andrew Square,  Princes Street Gardens,  Assembly Hall and the National Gallery of Scotland. What attract tourists from home and abroad most are the annual Edinburgh Festival, including Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Edinburgh Comedy Festival, with the Art Festival lasting for 3 weeks the most appealing. During the festival period, performance troupes and artists from various corners of world hold colorful shows, exhibitions and festivities.

The Edinburgh Airport provides regular airlines to countries like America, France, Germany, etc. and over 90 airlines to various cities in the UK. The city also has favorable highways and seaway transportation. Perfect tourist service in Edinburgh is another important factor attracting tourists.

Edinburgh is also a cultural and educational center, housing dozens of museums, galleries and libraries. There are altogether nine universities and colleges, among which the University of Edinburgh is one of Scotland's ancient universities of 400 years history, the largest in Scotland and the most famous one after Oxford, Cambridge University, with high-quality scientific research and majors like medicine and animal husbandry.

The local authority of Edinburgh is the City Council, taking charge of the local matters such as local finances, economic development, culture, education, tourism, housing, municipal administration.

The present Lord Provost of Edinburgh is Donald Wilson and the city established sister-city relationship with Xi’an on April 16, 1985. The many other sister cities include: Vancouver, Canada; Dunedin, New Zealand; San Diego, America; Florence, Italy; Munich, Germany; Nice, France; Kyoto, Japan; Saint Petersburg, Russia; Kiev, Ukraine; Aalborg, Denmark; Kraków, Poland and Vilnius, Lithuania.