Pingjin campaign

Through the western gates

On 31 January 1949, vanguard units of the Communist-led People's Liberation Army began entering Beiping through its western gates and moved to prearranged billets.

The entry implemented a negotiated transfer arranged with the Nationalist commander Fu Zuoyi: his garrison was withdrawing for reorganization while PLA units assumed responsibility for the city's defense.

The city changed hands without an urban battle, ending Nationalist military control of Beiping and concluding the Beiping-Tianjin campaign.

Subdued first, staged later

The first troops' arrival was subdued rather than the spectacle familiar from photographs. Soldiers entered looking tense, and many bystanders watched with curiosity rather than cheering; one contemporary observer recorded a resident responding to the news by complaining that prices had risen.

The official grand-entry parade was held on 3 February and inspected by Lin Biao, who had commanded the Northeast Field Army through the campaign. Reports from inside the city put Communist troop strength there at a minimum of 25,000 by 1 February.

Still Beiping until September

Nationalist headquarters ceased operating at the close of 31 January, and within two days Communist administrators were taking over government offices and water and electricity facilities. Ye Jianying headed the Beiping Military Control Commission responsible for the takeover.

The takeover spared the old capital an urban battle, but only after its commander had been isolated by siege and the fall of Tianjin. The city was renamed Beijing on 27 September 1949, and the People's Republic of China was proclaimed on 1 October.