Rare original copper plate engraved antique print the Fortress (long ago demolished) guarding the cross roads of the meeting of the major rivers in Beijing (Peking) by Jakob van Schley - after Nieuhoff - in 1755 and published in Antoine François Prevost’s 15 volumes of Histoire Generale des Voyages written by Prevost & other authors between 1746-1789.
Several major rivers, including the Yongding, Chaobai, Juma and Wenyu flow through Beijing Municipality. They originate in the highlands of Hebei and Shanxi, cut through the mountains west and north of the city, and eventually flow into the Hai River, which empties into the Bohai Sea. Over the centuries, the hydrologists have channeled rivers through the city into man-made lakes, moats, channels and aqueducts, which provide water to the city and drain its refuse, but no longer threaten Beijing with flooding.
