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More information about one of the

The earliest remnants of human habitation in the municipality are found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where the Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the caves date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic homo sapiens also lived there about 27,000 years ago.[19] There were cities in the vicinities of by the 1st millennium BC, and the capital of the State of Yan, one of the powers of the Warring States Period (473-221 BC), Ji (薊/蓟), was established in present-day .[1]

After the fall of the Yan, the subsequent Qin, Han, and Jin dynasties set up local prefectures in the area.[1] In Tang Dynasty it became the headquarters for Fanyang jiedushi, the virtual military governor of current northern Hebei area. An Lushan launched An Shi Rebellion from here in 755 AD.

Medieval period
The Pagoda of Tianning Temple, at 13 stories and 57.8 m (189 ft) in height, built in 1120 during the Liao Dynasty
The Pagoda of Tianning Temple, at 13 stories and 57.8 m (189 ft) in height, built in 1120 during the Liao Dynasty

In 936, the Later Jin Dynasty (936-947) of northern China ceded a large part of its northern frontier, including modern , to the Khitan Liao Dynasty. In 938, the Liao Dynasty set up a secondary capital in what is now , and called it (the “Southern Capital”). In 1125, the Jurchen Jin Dynasty conquered Liao, and in 1153 moved its capital to Liao’s , calling it Zhongdu (中都), “the central capital.”[1] Zhongdu was situated in what is now the area centered around Tianningsi, slightly to the southwest of central . Some of the oldest existing relics in , including the Niujie Mosque and the Tianning Temple, date to the Liao era.

Mongol forces burned Zhongdu to the ground in 1215 and rebuilt it to the north of the Jin capital in 1267.[20] In preparation for the conquest of all of China, Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty founder Kublai Khan made this his capital as Dadu (大都, Chinese for “great capital”),[20] or Khanbaliq to the Mongols, otherwise spelled as Cambuluc in Marco Polo’s accounts. Construction of Dadu finished in 1293.[1] The decision of the Khan greatly enhanced the status of a city that had been situated on the northern fringe of China proper. Dadu was situated north of modern central . It centered on what is now the northern stretch of the 2nd Ring Road, and stretched northwards to between the 3rd and 4th Ring Roads. There are remnants of the Yuan-era still standing, and they are known as the Tucheng (土城 literally, the ‘earth ’).[21]

and Qing period

In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Dynasty and future Hongwu Emperor, made his imperial ambitions known by sending an army toward the Yuan capital. The last Yuan emperor fled north to Shangdu and Zhu declared the founding of the Dynasty after razing the Yuan palaces in Dadu to the ground.[22] The city was later rebuilt by the Dynasty and Shuntian (順天) prefecture was established in the area around the city.[23] In 1403, the new (and third) emperor - the Yongle Emperor - designated to be the co-capital alongside the (then) current capital of . The new capital was renamed Beiping (北平), or “northern peace”.[20] was the subject of a major construction project for a new Imperial residence, the that lasted nearly 15 years (1406 to 1420).[20] When the palace was finished, the Yongle Emperor ceremoniously took up residence. The city was renamed, yet again, as (北京), or “northern capital”[20] and from 1421 onwards, was the “official” capital of the Empire while was demoted to the status of “secondary” capital. This system of dual capitals (with being vastly more important) continued for the duration of the Dynasty. Thirteen of the sixteen are buried in elaborate tombs near .
A corner tower of the
A corner tower of the

By the 15th century, had essentially taken its current shape, and the -era city served as the city until modern times, when it was pulled down and the 2nd Ring Road was built in its place.[24] It is believed that was the largest city in the world from 1425 to 1650 and from 1710 to 1825.[25] Other notable buildings constructed during the period include the Temple of Heaven (built by 1420).[26] The Tiananmen Gate, now a state symbol of the People’s Republic of China and featured on its emblem, was first built in 1420, and rebuilt several times later. was built in 1651 and enlarged in 1958.[27] Jesuits finished building the first -area Roman Catholic church in 1652 at the Xuanwu Gate, where Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci lived; the modern Nantang (南堂, Southern ) has been built over the original .[28]

The end of the came in 1644 when, for 40 days, Li Zicheng’s peasant army captured and overthrew the government. When the powerful army arrived at the outskirts of the city, Li and his followers abandoned the city and as a result the forces, under Prince Dorgon, captured without a fight.

Prince Dorgon established the Qing Dynasty as a direct successor to the , and remained China’s capital.[29] The Qing Emperors made some modifications to the Imperial residence, but in large part, the buildings and the general layout remained unchanged. at this time was also known as Jingshi, which corresponded to the Gemun Hecen with the same meaning.[30] The classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber is set in during the early years of Qing rule (the end of the 1600s).

At the end of Qing period, was the scene of the siege of the foreign legations during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.[31] Some important Imperial structures in the city were destroyed during the fighting, including the Hanlin Academy and the , just outside the city.

Republican era

The Xinhai Revolution of 1911, aimed at replacing Qing rule with a republic, originally intended to establish its capital at . After high-ranking Qing official Yuan Shikai forced the abdication of the Qing emperor in and ensured the success of the revolution, the revolutionaries in accepted that Yuan should be the president of the new Republic of China, and that the capital should remain at . Yuan gradually consolidated power and became by 1915 the new emperor but died less than a year into his reign.[32] China then fell under the control of regional warlords, and the most powerful factions fought frequent wars (the Zhili-Anhui War, the First Zhili-Fengtian War, and the Second Zhili-Fengtian War) to take control of the capital at . Following the success of the Kuomintang (KMT)’s Northern Expedition, which pacified the warlords of the north, was officially made the capital of the Republic of China in 1928, and was renamed Beiping (Peip’ing) (北平) on 28 June that year,[33] in English meaning “northern peace” or “north pacified”.[8] During the Second Sino-Japanese War,[8] Beiping fell to Japan on 29 July 1937,[34] and was made the seat of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, a puppet state that ruled the ethnic Chinese portions of Japanese-occupied northern China;[35] the government was later merged into the larger Wang Jingwei Government based in .[36]

People’s Republic
Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949
Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949
A man stands before a column of tanks sent to to suppress the protests of 1989
A man stands before a column of tanks sent to to suppress the protests of 1989

On 31 January 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, Communist forces entered Beiping without a fight. On 1 October of the same year, the Communist Party of China, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, announced in Tiananmen the creation of the People’s Republic of China and renamed the city back to .[37] Just a few days earlier, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference had decided that would be the capital of the new government.

At the time of the founding of the People’s Republic, Municipality consisted of just its urban area and immediate suburbs. The urban area was divided into many small districts inside what is now the 2nd Ring Road. The city was torn down to make way for the construction of the 2nd Ring Road, which was finished by 1981 in accord with the 1982 city plan. That road was the first of a series of new ring roads intended for automobiles rather than for bicycles.[38]

Following the economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping, the urban area of has expanded greatly. Formerly within the confines of the 2nd Ring Road and the 3rd Ring Road, the urban area of is now pushing at the limits of the recently constructed 5th Ring Road and 6th Ring Road, with many areas that were formerly farmland now developed residential or commercial districts.[39] According to a 2005 newspaper report, the size of the newly developed land was one and a half times larger than the land of old within the 2nd Ring Road.[40] Wangfujing and Xidan have developed into flourishing shopping districts,[41] while Zhongguancun has become a major centre of electronics in China.[42] In recent years, the expansion of has also brought to the forefront some problems of urbanization, such as heavy traffic, poor air quality, the loss of historic neighbourhoods, and significant influx of migrants from poorer regions of the country, especially rural areas.[43]

On 13 July 2001, the International Olympic Committee selected as the host for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[44]

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of

Beihai Park, a garden in the center of
Beihai Park, a garden in the center of
The Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden

is situated at the northern tip of the roughly triangular North China Plain, which opens to the south and east of the city. Mountains to the north, northwest and west shield the city and northern China’s agricultural heartland from the encroaching desert steppes. The northwestern part of the municipality, especially Yanqing County and Huairou District, are dominated by the Jundu Mountains, while the western part of the municipality is framed by the Xishan Mountains. The Great of China, which stretches across the northern part of Municipality, made use of this rugged topography to defend against nomadic incursions from the steppes. Mount Dongling in the Xishan ranges and on the border with Hebei is the municipality’s highest point, with an altitude of 2303 m. Major rivers flowing through the municipality include the Yongding River and the Chaobai River, part of the Hai River system, and flowing in a southerly direction. is also the northern terminus of the Grand Canal of China which was built across the North China Plain to Hangzhou. Miyun Reservoir, built on the upper reaches of the Chaobai River, is ’s largest reservoir, and crucial to its water supply.

The urban area of is situated in the south-central part of the municipality and occupies a small but expanding part of the municipality’s area. It spreads out in bands of concentric ring roads, of which the fifth and outermost (the Sixth Ring Road; the numbering starts at 2) passes through several satellite towns. Tian’anmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) and Tian’anmen Square are at the centre of , and are directly to the south of the , former residence of the emperors of China. To the west of Tian’anmen is Zhongnanhai, residence of the paramount leaders of the People’s Republic of China. Running through central from east to west is Chang’an Avenue, one of ’s main thoroughfares.

The city’s climate is a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dwa), characterised by hot, humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and generally cold, windy, dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone.[45] Average temperatures in January are at around 1 °C (33°F), while average temperatures in July are around 30°C (87 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded was 42 °C and the lowest recorded was -27 °C.[46] In 2005, the total precipitation was 410.77 mm; a majority of it occurred in the summer.[

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