Spine of Beijing: Traversing the City's Central Axis

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I’m greeted by the crisp autumn air as I step out of Line 14’s Yongdingmen Wai Subway Station, a little way south of the city center. It’s here, past the Temple of Heaven, where Beijing begins to change from urban to suburban, as roads become less populated and sidewalks dustier. This is where my walk along the Central Axis begins.

A map showing the 7.8 kilometer route, which spans the old outer and inner cities

The Central Axis, or “Dragon’s Spine” for a more hardcore name, is an imaginary division stretching from 永定门 Yǒngdìng mén all the way through Qianmen and the Forbidden City, and finally ending at Gulou. This elaborate north-south path was once reserved for emperors – try walking on it back in the day as a commoner and there's a good chance you’d get your head lobbed off.

Walk the walk

Things begin at the aforementioned gate, which is more of a reconstruction of the original gate, the centerpiece of its own park.

Since my first visit in 2019, getting inside is a bit more difficult: It used to be that you could go through a pedestrian underpass and walk your way north to and through the gate. This entrance has been cordoned off – though it’s not clear if it’s for a bit of sprucing up or for pandemic controls – so your best bet is to head through the main entrance and backtrack a bit. Then, the true walk can finally commence.

This walk begins here: Yongdingmen

Getting from Yongdingmen to Qianmen is the easy part of the stroll, as there’s a tiled path that literally spans the roadway leading to the pedestrian street. That being said, this is where things begin to get tricky.

The lawn needs trimming, but at least the stone path is nice

The walkway ends at a three-way intersection of sorts, but one in which they forgot to add any crosswalks or pedestrian bridges that move people from north to south (and vice versa). To circumvent this, I found Zhushikou Subway Station and, entering through Exit D, I was eventually able to find my way to Exit A and Qianmen Pedestrian Street.

The crowds lining this sprawling lane of kitsch shops and overpriced tourist trap eateries, complete with a fake trolley rolling up and down the street, is quite the sight to behold. But it’s not the place to linger, especially when there’s a walk to finish!

View of the Zhengyangmen guard tower from Qianmen Pedestrian Street

Walk to the end and you’ll reach Qianmen. Also known as 正阳门 Zhèngyángmén, it consists of a massive guard tower and the gate itself, which shares a striking similarity to Yongdingmen.

Beyond this is Tian’anmen Square, which, although relatively new, works to add to the Central Axis – with Chang’an Jie snaking through it to separate new and old China from east to west.

Through crowds ‘til the end

If you’re up to it and managed to score tickets beforehand, adding the Palace Museum into the walk is a good way to get the full feel of the Axis. Heck, if you’ve been here before, you can just breeze through (stop to try one of those Forbidden City-themed popsicles while you’re at it).

Have you tried these guardian-shaped popsicles yet?

From here, it’s cake: Stroll up the hill in Jingshan Park and, after taking a break at the top if you so choose, exit and keep walking north along Di’anmen Wai Daijie until hitting the Bell and Drum Towers (钟楼/鼓楼; Zhōnglóu/Gǔlóu) the city’s old timekeepers.

The walk ends here: Gulou and Zhonglou

Get here by sundown and climb up the Bell Tower for a look back at your walk if you wish. As for me, when I reached the end of this long tour I could barely feel my legs and was hankering for some dinner. Thus, it was a hop on the subway and a restful ride back home.

Walk starts here:

Yongdingmen Park 永定门公园
18 East Binhe Road, Xicheng District
西城区永定门东滨河路18号

Walk ends here:

Bell & Drum Tower Cultural Square 钟鼓楼文化广场
7 Zhaofu Street, Andingmen Inner Street, Dongcheng District
东城区安定门内赵府街7号

Images: zhuanlan.zhihu.com, Vincent R. Vinci, CGTN, sohu.cn, Reddit, Beijing Private Tour

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