Beijing has been the capital of the People’s Republic of China since it was founded back in 1949. Before this, however, it had also served as the capital through several dynasties during Imperial rule but its name did vary from dynasty to dynasty. During the Liao Dynasty it was known as Yanjing while during the Jin Dynasty it became Zhongdu. Throughout the rule of the next two dynasties, Ming and Quing it was known as Jinghshi and many of you probably remember it being referred to as Peking too. Now, however, it appears the name is here to stay for a while and while Beijing did lose its position as capital between 1911 and 1949, it appears that it is going to remain as capital for quite some time too.