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China has had several capitals through the thousands of years of its history. King Wu was the first to declare Beijing the capital city - then of the Kingdom of Yan - in 1057 BC during the Western Zhou Dynasty. Subsequently, the city has gone by the names of Ji, Zhongdu, Dadu, and finally Beijing when the Ming Dynasty Emperor chengzu chose the name in 1421.
For almost seven centuries, Beijing was a powerful center for the Mongols, the Ming era, the Manchus and now, since 1949, the People's Republic of China.
Unlike most major cities of the world, Beijing was not built on a waterway. Rather, it owes its geographical prominence to its positions as a gateway to other regions; Inner Mongolia to the north, the Great Wall's easternmost reach at Shanhaiguan, and to northeast China, once known as Manchuria.
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| A birdie view of The Forbidden City (Zijin Cheng), the former Imperial Palace which lies in the heart of Beijing. To its northwest is the North Sea (Bei Hai), a former imperial garden. To its south is the Gate of Heaven and the Tiananmen Square. | Temple of Heaven locates in the southern part of Beijing and was first built in 1420 for the emperors to worship heaven and pray for abundant harvests. Occupying an area of 270 hectares, the exquisite complex consists of the Hall of Prayer, the Imperial Vault of Heaven, the three-tier Circular Altar (as shown above), the Echoing Wall and the Thrice-Reechoing Stone. |
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| Located 10 km northwest of Beijing city, Summer Palace is one of China's largest (290 hectares) and best-preserved imperial gardens. | Beihai Park: the park, with its Beihai Lake, lies in the center of Beijing and is China's oldest imperial garden with a history of 800 years. The park centers on the Jade Flower Islet, where the scenic White Pagoda is located. It is a Lamaism Pagoda of Tibetan style. |