Historical Sites

Beijing is home to the Peking Man, one of the earliest human species that existed some 500,000 years ago. Historic records and archeological findings prove that as a city, Beijing dates to more than 3,000 years ago. It was the capital of five feudal dynasties-the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing. On October 1 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded and since then Beijing has been the national capital, the country's political and cultural center and center of the country's international exchange. The Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace are on the UNESCO List of World Heritage.