Cheongsam was first developed in Beijing. After Qing army entered Beijing through Shanhai Pass, the army of the Eight Banners resided in Beijing and their families formed a huge "Beijing Banner" group. Their posterities were called banner men (or son of Eight Banners). The nationality dressed of the women of each banner was then called Cheongsam, meaning banner dress.
Cheongsam at the beginning was a loose gown (without the tight waist popular later). The dress helped preserve warmth and prevent cold and was fitted for horse riding and work. The biggest difference of Manchu women and Han women at that time was Manchu women did not bind their feet and they wore cheongsams rather than skirts. They had kept their tradition for always.
When Qing Dynasty came to an end, cheongsam did not vanish into thin air immediately. The dress used to be worn by banner women, then became fashion of Beijingers and quickly spread out from Beijing. In the middle of the 20th century, wearing cheongsam became a vogue of women all over China. Not only women in city chose to wear cheongsams rather than skirts, but also the village women.
Cheongsam was once the specialty of old Beijing. However, it showed its gleaming more in Shanghai in 1930s and 1940s. The trendy girls in Shanghai improved the style of cheongsams with their ingenuity, making the dress a combination of Chinese tradition and fashionable as well. It seemed that Cheongsam had met its own "flower-like years". After conquering the Forbidden City, it became the fad of the city of foreign adventures.