Founded in 1898 as the Imperial University of Peking (
京师大学堂),
北京大学 is China's first modern national university. It was the epicenter of the May Fourth Movement (
五四运动) in 1919, which transformed Chinese culture and politics. Universally abbreviated as
北大 (Běidà). Its campus at Yanyuan (
燕园) includes the iconic Weiming Lake (
未名湖) and Boya Pagoda (
博雅塔).
