Beijing

American  

[bey-jing] / ˈbeɪˈdʒɪŋ /

(Older Spelling) Peking

noun

Pinyin.

1. a city in and the capital of the People's Republic of China, in the northeastern part, in central Hebei province: traditional capital of China.

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Beijing British  

/ ˈbeɪˈdʒɪŋ /

noun

1. Former English name: Peking.  the capital of the People's Republic of China, in the northeast in Beijing municipality (traditionally in Hebei province); the country's second largest city: dates back to the 12th century _bc ; consists of two central walled cities, the Outer City (containing the commercial quarter) and the Inner City, which contains the Imperial City, within which is the Purple or Forbidden City; many universities. Pop: 10 849 000 (2005 est)

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Beijing Cultural  

1. Capital of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast region of the country. It is the second-largest city of China (after Shanghai) and the political, cultural, financial, educational, and transportation center of the country. The West knew it for many years as Peking.

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Discover More

Site of Tiananmen Square, where communist leaders suppressed a democratic protest in June 1989.

The Forbidden City, within the inner or Tatar City, was the residence of the emperor of China.

In 1949, the Chinese communists declared Beijing the capital of the People's Republic of China.

Example Sentences

Beijing was initially dismayed by the coup that triggered chaos on its doorstep, analysts said.

From Barron's • Jul. 10, 2026

Beijing has been closely watching Washington’s moves to regulate Anthropic’s Mythos, which is capable of detecting cybersecurity flaws automatically.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 9, 2026

Many South Pacific countries, with aid-dependent economies and indebted to Chinese banks for infrastructure loans, are reluctant to publicly criticise Beijing, although the Solomon Islands on Tuesday said it had protested over the missile firing.

From Barron's • Jul. 8, 2026

Zion Church is proud to have been among the first responders after the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake and to have hosted major blood drives in Beijing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 8, 2026

He also organized rallies against the hard-liners in Beijing in the flag plaza of the UN.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee