History of Beijing
Capital of the most populous country in the world, Beijing, situated in northeast China, is loaded with key historical sights and was the seat of the Qing dynasty emperor. More recently, the city acquired great monuments under the communist leader Mao, who ruled until his death in 1976.
Beijing beginnings
Beijing, meaning ‘northern capital’, is a relatively young city compared to other urban centres in the land that reach back to the first millennium BC. Beijing played a key role however as capital of a united China, which it first served in the mid 1200s, when Mongol Kublai Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan) set up his centre of administration here to rule the new empire, known as the Yuan dynasty.
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End of the Yuan dynasty
It was just over 100 years later when the Mongol Yuan dynasty folded, in 1368, and Beijing was stripped of its capital status, which was handed to Nanjing in the south. Capital status was again returned to Beijing in 1403 however, at the hand of Zhu Di, the 3rd Ming emperor. Ming also named the city Beijing and beautified it greatly with some dazzling buildings and monuments. The Forbidden Palace and the Temple of Heaven are just two of the magnificent present-day landmarks remaining from this golden era.
Beijing strife
Beijing remained the capital of China for a further 500 years and well into the Qing era, although it again lost its capital status to the southern city Nanjing after the chaos that followed the abdication of the last Emperor. There was much fighting between warlords and eventually the political party, Kuomintang, gave capital powers to Nanjing and renamed Beijing to Beiping; meaning ‘Northern Peace’.
Kuomintang was ousted by the communists in 1949, who renamed the country the People's Republic of China and once again, sought Beijing as its capital.
Modern Beijing
Today, Beijing is still at the helm of a growing communist state, where the economy reaches ever greater heights and the need for expansion and modernisation has turned the city into one of the world’s most polluted areas. Beijing was granted the 2008 Olympics in 2001 and it has frantically beautified itself in preparation. Numerous hotels and tourist attractions have been created alongside the iconic monuments of yesteryear.