Beijing is the capital city of the People's Republic of China. The city used to be known as Peking. It is in the northern and eastern parts of the country. It is one of the most populous capital cities in the world. The city has been an integral part of China’s history over the past eight centuries, and nearly every major building of any age in Beijing has at least some national historical significance. People in Beijing commute by subway, bus, automobile, or bicycle and on hot summer evenings sit outside their apartment blocks to catch cooling breezes and to chat. Beijing is famous for the ancient Chinese architecture, the roast duck, the cloisonné, the Hutongs, the Peking opera, and the 2008 summer Olympic Games. 

• Bei means northern, and jing means capital. Beijing literally means the north capital.Beijing is the center of the nation’s politics and international exchanges, and it is also China’s second largest city after Shanghai.
• The current population of Beijing according to the 2010 census, as reported by the official Chinese Government statistics agency, was 19,612,368. Although this last ten years have seen the most rapid growth in the city's modern history, the city has been consistently growing at a fast pace - the average growth rate since the 1960s has been around 20% per decade. Even today, the city continues to grow.
• Forbidden City, also known as Gu Gong in Chinese, lies at the city center of Beijing. It is the world’s largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. It is surrounded by a 52-meter-wide moat and a 10-meter-high wall and contains more than 8,700 rooms. It was forbidden to enter without special permission of the emperor. Hence its name ‘The Forbidden City’.
• The Great Wall at Badaling, although 80 km from the city center, is technically in the Beijing Municipality. Therefore, Beijing is home to the world’s largest and longest wall.
• Beijing was the capital to 6 notable dynasties spanning over 21 centuries.
• Beijing is a city of extremes when it comes to its climate. The highest temperature in Beijing is 42 °C (109 °F) while the lowest temperature is -27 °C (-17 °F). This means the best time of the year to go is right before summer, or just after. April, May, September and October are the most beautiful and comfortable months.
• Public transport infrastructure is extremely impressive, with 14 lines currently running on the subway and 21 more lines to be added by 2020. Beijing’s train stations are also built to carry the heavy burden of its huge population: 4 main stations, including one high-speed train station, service 590 trains every day, taking passengers throughout the entire country. On overage 9 million people ride the subway every day.

Beijing is one of the four centrally administered (i.e., province-level) shi (municipalities) in China (the others being Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin), and there is no governmental tier between it and the central government. The municipality is divided administratively into four urban and six suburban chu (districts) and eight xian (counties) in the peripheral areas. Beijing’s municipal government is part of the hierarchical structure of the Chinese government that extends from the national organization, through the provincial apparatus, to the municipal and, ultimately, neighbourhood levels. Executive authority is formally assigned to the Beijing People’s Government, the officers of which are elected by the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress, the governmental decision-making body. The local government consists of a mayor, vice mayors, and numerous bureaus in charge of public security, the judicial system, and other civil, economic, social, and cultural affairs.

Beijing is one of the three 'command centres' for the People's Republic of China, due to its role as the political and cultural capital of the country. It is a hub for the national highway, expressway, railway, and high-speed rail networks. The Beijing Capital International Airport has been the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic since 2010. The city's financial sector is based in the central business district of Chaoyang. Beijing has the second largest number of Fortune Global 500 company headquarters in the world.

As the capital city of China, Beijing is not only the nation’s political, cultural, scientific and educational center, but also one of the leading growth machines in the country. The city has experienced double-digit growth in its gross domestic product (GDP) for at least the last decade, and government revenues have increased at rates between 18 and 30 percent in recent years. Real estate has been one of the most important sectors of economic growth since the mid-1990s, with public and private investment leading to improved urban infrastructure, intense demands for housing and increased land consumption. This rapid growth has fundamentally changed the physical pattern of the city, both in the existing built-up central areas and throughout the municipal region. At this time of transformation from a planned economy to a market economy, Chinese urban planners are reviewing the existing planning methodology and urban systems.