Interesting discussion of placenames at the languagehat. Should we really change from Peking to Beijing just because trhe Chinese government ask us to? Apparently, 'Beijing' is closer to the Mandarin pronunciation than 'Peking' but both are pretty far from 'Pak-king' which is the Cantonese, i.e. equally Chinese, way of saying it.

Reminds me of the great HimALayas debate

B-)