In pictures: Old Beijing vs New Beijing

Over the last 20 years, Beijing has changed to a remarkable extent. Over the course of a century, the Chinese capital is barely recognisable as the same city.

American traveller and blogger Sarah Schmeer has documented this incredible transformation by retracing the footsteps of celebrated adventurer and writer Richard Halliburton, taking photos of the places he visited during his 1922 journey to Beijing.

Schmeer is following in Halliburton's footsteps around the world for her blog, Uneven Tenor, and has recreated his nearly century-old photographs in various countries. The below before shots of the Chinese capital, however, are from museums in Beijing.

The intrepid traveller has shared these stunning photos exclusively with Time Out. We've posted them below along with some of Schmeer's observations of Beijing.

Dongbianmen

'Halliburton wrote several times in his letters home about walking the city walls with friends he made in the city,' notes Schmeer. 'Had he stood there in 1922 and looked south, he would have seen a busy transportation canal backed by endless plains and hills. Now you can see no end to the urban sprawl'.

The gates (or ghosts thereof)

Qianmen

'Qianmen and Tiananmen, though unmoored by the loss of their walls, somehow manage to remain a natural part of the cityscape,' says Schmeer.

Tiananmen

'Where previously you could look north from Qianmen Gate all the way to the northernmost end of the Forbidden City, now you can only see the humongous concrete cube of Mao's Mausoleum'

Dongzhimen

'Most of the gates and towers are simply gone,' says Schmeer. 'Their ghosts are remembered in the names of subway stops and the way the roads curve bizarrely around towers that no longer exist. But mostly there are just roads.'

Fuchengmen

Legation Quarter

Yokohama Specie Bank

'The Yokohama Specie Bank is one of the more distinctive buildings of this district. Leafy trees – and a public toilet – now obscure much of the view, but the distinctive dome still catches the eye.

American legation

The Drum Tower

And the view from the Drum Tower

Yonghegong (Lama Temple)

Temple of Heaven

'In a letter home, Halliburton wrote warmly of the temple: “The Altar of Heaven is the most spiritual monument yet"'.

Forbidden City

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