The Battle of Gaoliang River was fought in 979 between the Liao Dynasty

Liao Dynasty

The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...

 and Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 in what is today the city of Beijing

History of Beijing

The city of Beijing has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,000 years. Prior to the unification of China by the First Emperor in 221 BC, Beijing was for centuries the capital of the ancient state of Yan. During the first millennia of imperial rule, Beijing was a provincial city in...

. The Liao victory ended a Song campaign to recapture the Sixteen Prefectures

Sixteen Prefectures

The Sixteen Prefectures are a region in northern China stretching from present-day Beijing westward to Datong. In most areas, it is approximately seventy to one hundred miles in width...

 in North China

North China

thumb|250px|Northern [[People's Republic of China]] region.Northern China or North China is a geographical region of China. The heartland of North China is the North China Plain....

.

After founding the Song Dynasty in 960, Emperor Taizong sought to recapture the sixteen prefectures, which the Khitan

Khitan

The history of the Khitans dates back to the 4th century AD. The Khitan people dominated much of Mongolia and modern Manchuria by the 10th century, under the Liao Dynasty, and eventually collapsed by 1125 ....

 Liao Dynasty

Liao Dynasty

The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...

 acquired in 936. Song Emperor Taizong

Emperor Taizong of Song

Emperor Taizong , born Zhao Kuangyi, was the second emperor of the Song Dynasty of China from 976 to 997. He was the younger brother of Emperor Taizu. His temple name Taizong means "Grand Ancestor".-Overview:...

 personally led a military expedition that reached Youzhou

Youzhou

Youzhou is a historical place name in northern China. From the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty in 106 BC to the Five Dynasties period in the 10th century AD, Youzhou generally referred to the prefecture around modern-day Beijing and parts of Hebei Province...

 in 979, and laid siege to the city. The city's walls, some 16 km in circumference withstood the siege for three months. Defenders were bolstered by Khitan reinforcements who were able burrow under the Song siege and into the city itself. A large Liao reinforcement arrived and defeated the Song Army north of Youzhou, just west of Xizhimen

Xizhimen

Xizhimen was formerly a gate in the Beijing city wall and is now the name of a transportation node in Beijing. The gate formerly was the entrance of drinking water for the Emperor, coming from the Jade Spring Hills to the west of Beijing...

, in present-day Beijing.

More than 160 years after this defeat, the Song briefly took control of modern day Beijing in 1123 when the Song-Jin Alliance

Alliance on the Sea

The Alliance on the Sea was a political alliance in Chinese history between the Song and Jin Dynasties in the early 12th century against the Liao Dynasty. The alliance was negotiated from 1115 to 1123 by envoys who crossed the Bohai Sea, and is also called the Alliance Conducted at Sea...

defeated the Liao and the city was ceded by the Jin Dynasty to the Song. However, two years later, the Jin invaded the Song and retook Yanshan.