Peking is the capital of China. In 1979, it became Beijing. But the English language has not fully accepted this.
The name Peking entered European languages through the French missionary transcription of the Nanjing dialect in the eighteenth century. The k- represents a sound that, in the southern dialect spoken at the port cities where Europeans first arrived, was indeed closer to k. But the standard Chinese pronunciation—the one used in the capital itself—has always been closer to the j- sound represented by the b- in Beijing.
China officially adopted the pinyin spelling Beijing in 1979. Newspapers worldwide updated their style guides. The BBC switched. The New York Times switched. But Peking survives stubbornly in three places: Peking duck, Peking University, and Peking opera. The city changed its name. The menu did not.
This creates a strange asymmetry. A tourist in London can order Peking duck. The duck is from a recipe that originated in Beijing. The restaurant may even have a Chinese chef who calls it Beijing kaoya. But the English name remains Peking. The word is a time capsule from before the standardization of Chinese romanization.
There is no phonetic reason to preserve Peking. English speakers pronounce Beijing perfectly well. Every news broadcast since 1979 has demonstrated this. The issue is not pronunciation. It is habit. Peking duck is a brand that has been on menus for over a century. Changing it feels like losing something.
But keeping it loses more. Every tourist who learns Peking duck and later discovers Beijing has to reconcile two names for the same city. Every Chinese speaker who sees Peking duck on a menu in London is reminded that their language, as rendered by foreigners, was frozen in 1890 and never updated.
Beijing duck is the same dish, the same city, and the same sound. No flavor is lost in the translation.
Our Recommendation: Beijing. The capital has a name. Use it.