Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ina had been united under a single empire and leader. He was Qin Shihuang, China's first
emperor.
Qin Shihuang was partial to China's west, Xi'an in particular, so Beijing didn't immediately
assume the position of capital. Instead it remained just a provincial city for much of China's
first 1,000 years of imperial rule. Time and time again over this period, the emperors recon-
figured the country like pieces of a puzzle. At one point, Han emperor Wudi sliced up the
country into 13 provinces, and the surrounding territory of Beijing became the province of
You, or Youzhou (
幽州
), and Ji remained its capital. But then under the Western Jin dynasty
(AD 265-316), Yan's capital moved to a city that was farther west and Ji was downgraded
to a mere county seat.
Ancient temples, such as Dongyue Temple on Chaoyangmenwai Dajie, can be found scattered
throughout the city.
After the Western Jin dynasty was overtaken by people from the northern steppes in
around AD 304, things got a little messy for several years with a succession of short-lived
kingdoms controlling various places at various times, and again splitting the country into
north and south. Eventually, the Northern Wei regime took control of northern China and
