Beijing’s Chongwen District: Scratching Beneath the Surface of the City

The great Qianmen Dajie runs all the way from the west entrance to Tiantin Park, and the munificent Temple of Heaven within, to the massive Qianmen gate itself, entrance to Tian’amen Square and the Forbidden City beyond. To the east of this great thoroughfare lies a forgotten little district of narrow hutongs and crumbling courtyard houses that few visit apart from when they arrive or depart the city from Beijing Main Railway Station at the far edge.

Within this district, however, the intrepid traveler will discover the Ming Dynasty City Wall Ruins Park, home to the last remnants of the great city wall, a funky (but overpriced) little cafe and the hip Red Gate Gallery. The entrance to the sprawling Beijing Underground City is also to be found here for those wishing to get beneath the surface of this enigmatic city and experience its Cold War nightmares. Finally there’s the chance to sample Beijing’s most famous culinary creation, the eponymous roast duck, in the genuinely traditional atmosphere of the family run Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant.

With Qianmen Dajie now undergoing a major facelift in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games the future of this district hangs in the balance so visit now while you still can.

Quick Tips:

This somewhat grubby and run down district has little in the way of decent places to sleep, eat or drink so it is probably best to base yourself in either the backpacker ghetto of Xuanwu District to the east or the high-class tourist area of Dongcheng District to the north and then just venture into this area for the day.

Best Way To Get Around:

Chongwen District is home to Beijing’s main railway station and is thus one of the hubs of the city’s transport network.

The city’s Number 2 Metro Line has three stops within the district Beijing Zhan services the main railway station, Qianmen comes up next to the great gate while Chongwen in between makes a good jumping off point for the districts curious attractions.

To get further a field hop on a train at Beijing Zhan to numerous locations the length and breadth of this huge country or hop on the shuttle bus to Beijing International Airport for a plane to a completely different country.

This tiny little family-run eatery in a old courtyard house in a rundown hutong in a forgotten district of the capital is undoubtedly the most authentic place to taste the city’s signature dish.

The cramped little restaurant is a very pleasant place to eat surrounded by the hustle and bustle of staff and patrons alike as everything spills out into the courtyard where you could find yourself sharing a table with anyone. Photos that dot every available square inch of wall space show past patrons from the Ambassador of Canada and the Defence Minister of Britain to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and action superstar Jet Li. The staff treat all however in a friendly and efficient manner that allows you to relax amid the apparent chaos.

The freshly roasted duck is presented to you by the chef who offers you the chance to carve it yourself if you wish so, if not he whisks it away and returns a short time later with a platter of succulent meat encrusted with a thin layer of crispy skin. The waitress meanwhile provides the accoutrements of paper-thin pancakes, slivers of spring onion and cucumber, and rich plum source. She will also outline the procedure for the uninitiated. This involves laying out a pancake on your plate, taking a piece of duck and using it to spread the sauce liberally across the pancake, adding more duck and vegetables, rolling it up and popping the delicious package into your mouth for one of the greatest culinary experiences of your life. At ¥138 for a duck set (enough for 2 or 3 people) the price is very reasonable and there are plenty of other dishes on the menu. 

Despite its somewhat out of the way location this restaurant always appears to pull in a crowd so it’s best to make a reservation and get them to put your duck in the oven an hour before arriving. This will give you just about enough time to try and locate the place as this unassuming restaurant can be a tad difficult to locate. The surrounding neighbourhood, in which you will doubtless find yourself lost, can be more than a little off putting; I urge you to just let the graffiti signs spray painted on the walls of crumbling constructions lead you through the trash-strewn streets to this gastronomic wonderland as you will not regret it.

In the late 1960s as Sino-Soviet relations hit an all time low and nuclear war looked imminent the people of Beijing, under the direction of their great Chairman, started burrowing beneath the streets.

Soldiers and citizens alike spent the best part of a decade digging out an estimated 85km² of tunnels and vaults beneath the ancient city. Wide tunnels with space for two cars to pass were dug between the most important locations in town, bomb shelters were constructed with space for around 40% of the city’s population, and hospitals, armouries and even cinemas were setup. No sooner had this been done than the Soviets trundled into Afghanistan and forgot all about China so the tunnels fell into disuse.

In the decades that followed the underground city was largely forgotten, drifting into the realms of urban legend, but parts of it still turned up as metro stations and underground car parks. The stories continued to draw the curious until it became necessary for the city officials to start blocking up the remaining entrances that dotted the city. Finally in late 2000 a small section was opened up to the public as the Beijing Underground City (daily 08.30am-6pm, ¥20).

A cammo-clad guide leads you down a long stairway some 8m underground to a small chamber where you are briefly introduced to the history of the underground city. Then you are guided along a section of the tunnels decorated with propaganda posters and cammo-clad mannequins, passed sealed doorways marked Armoury, Hospital, Cinema etc, and unlit corridors marked to Palace Museum, to Tiantin Park, etc. You finally come to a quilt shop and the stairs back to the surface.

Hidden away down a forgotten backstreet and unknown even to many locals this curious memorial can be difficult to find and is not exactly a fulfilling experience, but it is an entertaining enough for those with plenty of time on their hands and an interest in Cold War paranoia.

The last great city wall to surround Beijing went up at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (CE 1368-1644) and by completion reached for 40km around the city but now only a few remnants remain.

The wall survived many battles unscathed but it was the rapid development that followed the communist takeover in 1949 that finally saw it fall. Much was torn down to make way for the second ring road with the rest lost to the development of Tian’men Square and the Number 2 Metro Line, but on the edge of Chongwenmen Dongdajie a small section survived shielding the Beijing Main Railway Station from the busy street.

This small section has recently be tidied up and opened to the public as the Ming Dynasty City Wall Site Park (daily 24 hours, free). The park starts at the former site of Chongwenmen gate itself, now a busy traffic roundabout and location of the Chongwenmen Metro Station, it was originally constructed in 1436 and later held a tax office that became responsible for collecting the commercial tax of the entire city before being demolished in 1960.

The wall was originally constructed in 1419 from rammed clay and it was later reinforced with bricks and stone. It is 11m high, 18m thick at its base, 15m thick at the top and stretches along the pleasant grass verge for 1.5km with dun tai (square buttresses) every 80m. Following the communist takeover in 1949 the wall was greatly neglected, falling into disrepair. However, this section has been restored using traditional lime and plaster techniques and many of the original bricks returned by locals who had purloined them for construction of sheds, toilets, and air raid shelters.

The park covers 15.5 hectares of sculpted greenery and it’s a pleasant local, but one with few amenities. An exception to this is a pleasant little café situated halfway along the wall in an old signal station, built by the British in 1901 for the Peking-Fengtian Railway. A section of the 1912 railway, one fought over by the Russians and Brits, was recovered during the restoration work and is displayed outside. The café itself is nice enough, pumping soft jazz out over the patio but at ¥20 for a can of pop it is horrendously overpriced. The modern toilets below, however, are a great boon.

The wall ends at the magnificent Southeastern Corner Tower (Dōngnán Jiăolóu) now home to the hip Red Gate Gallery. Continuing to the north Jinguomen Nandajie will take you pass a small un-restored section of the wall to the Ancient Observatory and adjacent Jinguomen Metro Station.

Rising up at the far end of Ming Dynasty City Wall Site Park is the magnificent Southwest Corner Tower (Dōngnán Jiăolóu) the only surviving arrow tower in Beijing and the largest and earliest in China.

Originally built in 1436, as part of the great reinforcements of the Ming Dynasty (CE 1368-1644) wall, it is nearly 30m tall and has 144 arrow holes. The tower was a key part of the city’s defense well into the Qing Dynasty (CE 1644-1911) seeing action as late as 1900 when it fell to the Eight-Power Allied Forces that besieged the city. Russian and American graffiti from that time can be seen on the side of the tower next to a sign that reads "Do not vandalize the historic relic". It has since been restored and opened to the public as an important historic site.

Entrance to the Southwest Corner Tower (daily 8am to 5:30pm, ¥10) is gained through the magnificent 9.2m x 8.2m railway arch which was knocked through one of the great buttresses in 1915 to make way for the Round-the-Capital Railway Line. From the concession stands and public toilets beyond, you make your way up the gently sloping horse way to the top of the wall where you will find a couple of pushe that acted as both barrack house and armoury, the old flagpole stone from which once flew the Pure Blue Banner, a 1.5 ton iron cannon from 1638, and the entrance to the tower.

The four-story tower now houses the Red Gate Gallery (daily 10am to 5pm, free) one of Beijing’s leading cultural institutes. Established in 1991, the gallery offers eight solo shows a year from its own residency program and an exciting series of temporary exhibits from local and international artists alike. At the forefront of Chinese contemporary art, this gallery is well worth regular visits. Check out what’s currently on at http://www.redgategallery.com. The upper stories of the tower are currently under restoration but upon completion will once again offer fine views across the district and beyond.

The wall used to run all the way from here up to the Ancient Observatory in Dongcheng District but this connection was severed by the construction of the Beijing Main Railway Station. So instead, watch the trains coming and going for a short while before returning to continue your explorations at ground level.