In English, the city was called '''Peking''' until the 1980s. When [[Chiang Kai-shek]] moved the capital from Peking to [[Nanjing]] in the Republican period, Peking became '''Peiping''', which means, "Northern Peace", to show that it was no longer the capital - there have been many different capitals of China and various Chinese states throughout history, and Beijing has been the capital of the People's Republic since its founding in October 1949. | In English, the city was called '''Peking''' until the 1980s. When [[Chiang Kai-shek]] moved the capital from Peking to [[Nanjing]] in the Republican period, Peking became '''Peiping''', which means, "Northern Peace", to show that it was no longer the capital - there have been many different capitals of China and various Chinese states throughout history, and Beijing has been the capital of the People's Republic since its founding in October 1949. |