The campus of Peking University is located in northwest Beijing, in the Haidian district which was designated for universities. Peking University was established in Beijing in December 1898 during the Hundred Days Reform and was originally known as the Imperial University of Peking. It is regarded as one of the best and the most selective universities in China. Peking University is the first formally established university, and the first national university of China.
At present, Peking university has 216 research institutions and research centres, including 2 national engineering research centres, 81 key national disciplines, 12 national key laboratories. With eight million holdings, the university library is the largest of its kind in Asia.