ABSTRACT
A glance at a map of China will show that Beijing lies well away from the centre of the country, towards its north-eastern corner. The fact that the Great Wall runs immediately north of the city is a good indication that Beijing is, in fact, close to the edge of what was, historically, ‘China Proper’, the main area of Chinese culture. Immediately north and west of the city, the land is mountainous. The area is also dry, with annual rainfall of only about 600 mm [20 inches] or less. Combined with a long, cold winter, this severely limits the agricultural potential of the area around Beijing. Throughout much of its history, water and food supplies for Beijing have been problematic. Water is still in short supply today. Most of the city’s food has to be brought from southern China and there is a project under construction now to supply it with water from the Yangtze River. There seems to be no good reason why this city should have been chosen to be the capital of China. Throughout the first three millennia of China’s long history, it was not.
