Vue de Peking tiree de Nieuhof.

This handsome view shows Beijing from the countryside, showing the city rising above its massive ancient walls. When Nieuhof visited Peking in the 1650s, the city was then newly installed as the permanent capital of the Qing Dynasty, as this role was no longer to be shared with Nanjing, as it had been during the recently fallen Ming Dynasty (Beijing means 'Northern Capital' and Peking is a western corruption of this name). This facinating city had a population of almost 700,000, vying with Istanbul as the world's most populous city. If you look, you can make out the great Tianning Pagoda (built around 1120) in the far left and near the center, the red towers of the Forbidden City (the Emperor's sacred domain) are seen.

Johannes Nieuhof (1618-72) was a German-born diplomat and adventurer in the service of the Dutch VOC, who was perhaps the most widely traveled individual throughout the seventeenth-century. His experiences included important expeditions to various worldwide locations such as: Brazil, Africa, India, Indonesia, and China. From 1655-57, Nieuhof made an epic 2,400 mile trek through China, from Guandong to Beijing.