Beijing

Beijing, once known in English as Peking, serves as China’s capital. Its population exceeds 21.8 million, making it the most populous national capital on the planet, though it ranks second among Chinese cities by urban area, trailing only Shanghai. Situated in northern China, it functions as a provincial-level municipality directly under the central government, divided into 16 districts. Hebei Province wraps around most of Beijing, while Tianjin Municipality lies to its southeast; these three areas together constitute the Jing-Jin-Ji economic cluster.

As a global city, Beijing stands as a leading hub for culture, diplomacy, politics, finance, business, economics, education, research, language, tourism, media, sports, science, technology, transportation, and the arts. It hosts the corporate headquarters for most of China’s largest state-owned enterprises and boasts more Fortune Global 500 companies than any other city worldwide, along with the four biggest financial institutions by total assets.

The city is a major nexus for national highways, expressways, railways, and high-speed rail. For the decade leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, Beijing Capital International Airport held the title of Asia’s busiest airport (2009–2019) and the world’s second-busiest (2010–2019). In 2020, the Beijing subway ranked fourth globally in ridership and second in length. Its second international airport, Beijing Daxing International Airport, features the largest single-structure terminal in the world.

The city has staged numerous international and national sporting events, most notably the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. In 2022, Beijing became the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, as well as both the Summer and Winter Paralympics.

Beijing’s architecture blends traditional Chinese design with modern styles: one half of the city has been modernized and renovated, while the other half preserves historic hutong neighborhoods. One of the world’s oldest cities, its recorded history spans more than three millennia. As the last surviving of China’s Four Great Ancient Capitals, it has served as the nation’s political center for most of the past 800 years and was the world’s most populous city for much of the second millennium AD.

Mountains surround the inland city on three sides, and combined with ancient fortifications, this positioning made Beijing a strategic imperial residence. The city is famous for its lavish palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls, and gates. It is considered one of the world’s top tourist destinations; in 2018, it ranked second globally in tourism earnings, behind only Shanghai. Beijing contains numerous national monuments and museums and boasts eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site, Beijing Central Axis, and portions of the Great Wall and the Grand Canal—all popular with visitors.

Traditional siheyuan courtyard homes and the narrow hutong alleys between them are major attractions, common throughout urban Beijing.

Public universities in Beijing account for more than one-fifth of all Double First-Class Construction universities, with many consistently ranking among the best in the Asia-Pacific and globally—examples include Tsinghua University, Peking University, and UCAS. The Beijing CBD serves as a focal point for economic expansion, featuring multiple skyscrapers under construction or recently completed. The Zhongguancun area is a world-leading center for scientific and technological innovation and entrepreneurship.

Since the Nature Index began in 2016, Beijing has ranked first among cities for scientific research output. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies and the headquarters of numerous organizations, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Silk Road Fund, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the Central Academy of Drama, the Central Conservatory of Music, and the Red Cross Society of China.

Etymology Over the past 3,000 years, Beijing has gone by many names. The name “Beijing” means “Northern Capital” (from the Chinese characters for “north” and “capital”) and was first applied in 1403 during the Ming dynasty to distinguish it from Nanjing (“Southern Capital”). The English spelling “Beijing” follows the government’s official romanization system, adopted in the 1980s, based on Standard Mandarin pronunciation. An older spelling, “Peking,” appeared in a popular atlas published in Amsterdam in 1655 by Jesuit missionary Martino Martini. Though “Peking” is no longer the common name, some older locations and facilities—such as Beijing Capital International Airport (IATA code PEK) and Peking University—still retain that romanization. The single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京, seen on vehicle license plates, and the official Latin abbreviation is “BJ.”

History Early history The earliest evidence of human habitation within Beijing’s municipal boundaries comes from the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils found there date to between 230,000 and 250,000 years ago. More recently, Paleolithic Homo sapiens inhabited the area around 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have also uncovered Neolithic settlements across the municipality, including at Wangfujing in central Beijing. The first walled city in the area was Ji, the capital of the ancient state of Ji.