Students jump rope on Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, 1984. [Photo by JiansheGuo]

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, known as three first-tier cities, are often linked together, which share a lot in common: rich resources, fair mechanism and international atmosphere. However, there are also high living cost, heavy traffic jam and poor air quality,

In fact, their development history, cultural background and city features widely differ from one another, which can be summed up as: traveling in Beijing, for rich tourism resources; shopping in Shanghai, for strong commercial ambience; and eating in Guangzhou, for delicious Cantonese food.

But there's much more to the cities than this.