Beijing (Peking)

The northern city of Beijing has been the Chinese capital since 1267 C.E., with the exceptions of a five-decade period during the late 14th to early 15th century and a stretch during the 1920s-1940s. The first modern incarnation of Beijing was built by Yuan (Mongol) dynasty leader Kublai Khan. Later, during the Ming Dynasty, the Yuan city (known then as Dadu) was abandoned and a new Beijing was built in a location to the southwest.

Lying within a mountain embayment in the northernmost portion of the Huabei Pingyuan (North China Plain), Beijing is far from centrally located within China, but has traditionally been important as a transportation link on the routes to Mongolia to the north and the Dongbei Pingyuan (Northeast or Manchurian Plain) to the northeast.

Traditionally, Beijing was known primarily as a center of government, education, and culture. Since 1949, however, the city has developed significant business and manufacturing sectors. Initially, Beijing’s largest industries were involved in textiles, steel and iron production, machinery, and petrochemicals, and were mostly located east and south of the central city.

More recently, however, the city has developed a high-technology sector, centered in the northwestern part of the city in an area known as Zhongguancun. Located near Tsinghua University and Beijing University, China’s top two ranked universities, Zhongguancun has developed some of the same synergies between research universities and new technology-related businesses that characterize Silicon Valley and suburban Boston.

Beijing is one of the most popular tourism destinations in China, largely due to the tremendous amount of Chinese history that can still be viewed around the city. Most famously, it is one of the few major Chinese cities with relatively close access to remaining sections of the Great Wall. In the center of Beijing lies the Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Today it is also known as the Palace Museum. To the southeast and northwest of central Beijing lie the Temple of  Heaven and the Summer Palace, two well-known remnants of the Ming and Qing eras, respectively. Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites, as is the Forbidden City.

In recent years, the city has undertaken a substantial renovation and addition of infrastructure in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games. Beijing’s recent architectural additions include the new Terminal 3 at the Beijing Capital International Airport (twice the size of the Pentagon, the terminal is the largest building in the world), a new National Center for the Performing Arts, a National Stadium (known as the “bird’s nest”), and a National Aquatics Center. Despite the innovation and modern appeal of the new structures, some Chinese have faulted city planners for demolishing historical neighborhoods and necessitating the relocation of tens of thousands of residents. Regardless, additional large scale projects are planned or underway as Beijing continues to modernize its urban landscape.