Beijing, earlier known as Peking and Peiping, was founded by Zhou around 700 B.C. Kublai Khan made it the capital of his Khanbalik Empire, from 1264 to 1267. The Ming emperors made it their capital in 1421 and it remained China's capital till 1912 when the Manchu Empire fell and SunYat Sen turned China into a republic. In 1949, the Communists captured the city and made it their capital, which it has remained to this day.
