Hi Helen
You've asked a good question because, while the two words 'close and near' are similar when talking about a distance, they have different meanings and usages in some cases.
It would take several pages to explain the different meaning and usages, but here is a very good concise (brief) explanation:
http://random-idea-english.blogspot.ca/2014/06/confusing-words-near-nearby-close-next.html
You will see that your sentence can be written as:
which city is the nearest to Beijing, OR
which city is the nearest Beijing
So, both ways are correct.
Usually, I would write "which city is the nearest Beijing".
November 27, 2015
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Nope. It has to be "nearest to Beijing."
November 27, 2015
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