How long is the history of Beijing?
There are two dimensions to the history of Beijing. As a capital city, it has a history of 800 years. As a cradle for human civilization, however, Beijing has a history of over 700,000 years, as evidenced by the famous Peking Man caves at Zhoukoudian. Over 3,000 years ago, the Zhou Dynasty established a dukedom here. By the middle of the 12th century, the Jin Dynasty officially set its capital at Beijing. Throughout the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, Beijing was the political, cultural and economic center of China as it is today.
