Beijing was an unlikely capital. Designed to replicate the Chinese vision of the cosmos, Imperial Beijing was laid out according to the principles of feng shui - the perfect balance between yin and yang, it was believed, would ensure peace and prosperity in the empire.

Beijing is where China and the outside world met, mediated and collided. For centuries, it straddled the boundary between Chinese civilization and the nomadic tribes of Central Asia. In Beijing, Jesuit missionaries first introduced Western science to the Chinese emperors.

China’s capital has been the stage for some of the giants of Chinese and world history. From the conquering Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan to China’s exiled last emperor, Beijing’s annals are filled with stories of victory and defeat, and the exploits of its rulers, rebels and renegades.