The former name of Beijing, the capital city of China, used especially in historical contexts.
From Mandarin 'běi' (north) and 'jīng' (capital), Romanized as 'Peking' by Western traders in earlier centuries. The city changed its official spelling to 'Beijing' in 1979 to match Mandarin pronunciation more accurately.
Peking was renamed to Beijing officially in 1979, but Western newspapers kept using 'Peking' in their masthead until the 1980s-90s — it's a perfect example of how global politics affects language!
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