Beijing , [ a ] previously romanized as Peking , [ b ] is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, [ 11 ] it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city after Shanghai.
Beijing is a global city and one of the world's leading centres for culture , diplomacy , politics , finance , business and economics , education , research , language , tourism , media , sport , science and technology and transportation and art. It is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies and houses the largest number of Fortune Global companies in the world, as well as the world's four biggest financial institutions by total assets.
In , Beijing became the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics , [ 21 ] and also the Summer and Winter Paralympics. Beijing combines both modern and traditional style architectures , with one side of the city being modernized and renovated to fit the times, and the other half still offering traditional hutong districts.
As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China , Beijing has been the political center of the country for most of the past eight centuries, [ 24 ] and was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium AD.
(mh=zKInmUVGU4kT0thf)7.jpg "Anal Girl in Rock Hill")
The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. In , Beijing was the second highest earning tourist city in the world after Shanghai. Beijing's public universities make up more than one-fifth of Double First-Class Construction universities, and many of them consistently rank among the best in the Asia-Pacific and the world. Beijing's Zhongguancun area is a world leading center of scientific and technological innovation as well as entrepreneurship.
