Beijing is located in a coastal region on the North China Plain directly on the border of the Loess Plateau. The present-day site of Beijing originally attracted conquerors because it was strategically located on the perimeter of the North China Plain. Many different groups, including the Khitan Mongols and the Manchurian Jurchen tribes, have held control over the region at one time or another in Beijing's early history. The majority of those ruling groups have made Beijing the capital of their empires because of its strategic location.
Located in a warm temperate humid/subhumid zone, the weather becomes very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter, when temperatures are known to drop below zero degrees Celsius. When present day Beijing was the capital of the Yan kingdom between 476 and 221 B.C.E., it was named Ji because of the marshy conditions of the area. These conditions are hihgly conducive to Chinese agriculutre, and a ring of agricultural land has sprung up around Beijing. It is this ring which provides the city with much of its food supply. This creates a sort of "odd couple" combination, as the ring is also home to many of the recently relocated Beijing industries.
Beijing is just on the northern fringe of the eastern region of China, a region which holds the vast majority of the country's population, industry, and basic modern amenities. Not located directly on the ocean or any major river, Beijing obviously did not have the opportunity to become a port city. However, it did develop as a land trading center because of the number of travelers which had to pass through the area. Also, with ample amounts of such natural resources as coal, iron, and petroleum, Beijing's geographical location primed it for development as a major industrial center. Recently, however, Beijing's premier stature among Chinese cities has been lost to its more southerly competitor, Shanghai.