China is called Zhongguo in Chinese. The character zhong means "middle" or "central," while guó means "state". The term can be literally translated into English as "Central Kingdom" or "Central Country" , the less accurate translations are "Middle Country" and "Middle Kingdom". Beijing is the capital city of the People's Republic of China. It's name simply means, "northern capital",  Beijing is the second largest city in China in terms of population, after Shanghai. Beijing was elected the host city for the games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008.