what was the city of beijing previously known as
Peking
title: Beiping text: Beiping Beiping or Peiping (), meaning "Northern Peace" in Chinese, is a former name of Beijing, which means "Northern Capital". The city was called Beiping from 1368 to 1403 and from 1928 to 1949, when the Chinese capital was at Nanjing, or "Southern Capital". In 1403 and again in 1949, the city's name was changed from Beiping to Beijing or "Northern Capital." From 1937 to 1945, the city under Japanese occupation served as the capital of a puppet regime and was renamed Beijing but most Chinese histories use the name Beiping for the city during that time period. Youbeiping or title: History of Beijing text: History of Beijing The city of Beijing has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,000 years. Prior to the unification of China by the First Emperor in 221 BC, Beijing had been for centuries the capital of the ancient states of Ji and Yan. During the first millennia of imperial rule, Beijing was a provincial city in northern China. Its stature grew in the 10th to the 13th centuries when the nomadic Khitan and forest-dwelling Jurchen peoples from beyond the Great Wall expanded southward and made the city a capital of their dynasties, the Liao and Jin. title: History of Beijing text: When Kublai Khan made Dadu the capital of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), all of China was ruled from Beijing for the first time. From 1279 onward, with the exception of two interludes from 1368 to 1420 and 1928 to 1949, Beijing would remain as China's capital, serving as the seat of power for the Ming dynasty (1421–1644), the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1644–1912), the early Republic of China (1912–1928) and now the People's Republic of China (1949–present). The earliest remains of hominid habitation in Beijing Municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian title: Beijing text: construction of multiple skyscrapers. Beijing's Zhongguancun area is known as China's Silicon Valley and a center of innovation and technology entrepreneurship. Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had numerous other names. The name Beijing, which means "Northern Capital" (from the Chinese characters for "north" and for "capital"), was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing (the "Southern Capital"). The English spelling is based on the pinyin romanization of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin. An older English spelling, Peking, is the postal romanization title: Yanjing text: Yanjing Yanjing (Chinese: 燕京, also known as Youzhou 幽州, Ji 薊 or Fanyang 范陽 for administrative purposes) was an ancient city and capital of the State of Yan in northern China. It was located in modern Beijing. Yanjing was founded by State of Yan, whose rulers made it their capital city. After the conquest of Yan by the State of Qin, the city was made the capital of Guangyang commandery (). During the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 BCE), the city was renamed Fanyang as the capital of Yuyang commandery (漁陽郡). It was the administrative center of Youzhou at the time