Weekend Walk: Exploring Xicheng's Two Towers
Weekend Walk is your guide to getting away in the city using nothing but your own two feet.
While most Beijing residents are acquainted with Chaoyang, Dongcheng, and Haidian Districts, Xicheng has remained a little off the beaten path. The old neighborhoods west of the Forbidden City and Houhai might not have the cafe cool of Gulou or the modern charms of Sanlitun, but it is an area rich in history and culture. Back streets and alleys still feature the shops and streetside food stalls of an earlier era in the capital’s past (by which we mean pre-2015), and there is no shortage of temples and parks to explore.
Start Here: Fuchengmen Metro Stop (Line 2) and Fuchengmen Nei Dajie
Depart from via Exit B and head east on Fuchengmen Inner Street (阜成门内大街 fùchéngmén nèi dàjiē). If you skipped a meal, there are several excellent roadside restaurants and street stalls selling traditional Beijing snacks including 糖火烧 táng huǒshāo and 肉饼 ròubǐng. Many of these mom-and-pop snack shops have been rolled up by urban renewal in Dongcheng and Chaoyang. It’s nice to have a spot to stroll and sample a few of the greatest hits of city street food.
Lu Xun Memorial and Museum
The next stop along Fuchengmen Nei is
the Lu Xun Memorial and Museum (北京鲁迅博物馆 běijīng lǔ xùn bówùguǎn). Lu Xun is one of the most famous writers
in Chinese history, and his stories were sarcastic, satirical, and
often bitterly funny. He also had one of the great mustaches in Chinese
history…think 1970s American Pornstar Stache, and you get the idea.
Bai Ta Si (White Temple Tower, also known as Miaoying Temple)
Heading east from the Lu Xun Museum, you
will see the first of the two towers. The White Temple Tower (白塔寺 bái tǎ sì, also known as the Miaoying Temple 妙应寺 miàoyīng sì) is a stupa
constructed in the 13th century when today’s Beijing was the Mongolian
capital of Khanbaliq ruled by Kublai Khan and his lot. Kublai’s tower
replaced an even earlier structure on the same site. The White Stupa
Temple buildings, which surround the tower, are mainly from the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644) with several renovations over the centuries, most
recently in 2010.
Temple of the Ancient Monarchs
Continuing our temple trek, a few
hundred meters east of the White Tower is the Temple of the Ancient
Monarchs (历代帝王庙 lìdài dìwáng miào). The emperors of the Ming and Qing venerated their own
ancestors at various spaces around the capital, including the Ancestral
Temple (太庙 tàimiào) just to the southeast of the Forbidden City. However, the Temple
of the Ancient Monarchs was where the emperors could pay their respects
to the monarchs of dynasties past. The original complex was built in the
mid-16th century.
Guangji Temple
Finally, completing the temple trifecta
is Guangji Temple (广济寺 guǎngjì sì), one of Beijing’s most famous religious sites. The
predecessors to the current buildings date from the Jin period
(1115-1234), but most of what you see today is from the Ming (1368-1644)
and Qing (1644-1912) eras. In the second courtyard is a two-meter tall
bronze vessel cast with the eight treasures of Buddhism that is over 200
years old.
Geological Museum of China
Across the street from Guangji Temple
sit the modern buildings housing the Geological Museum of China (中国地质博物馆 zhōngguó dì zhì bówùguǎn). The
massive complex is also home to the Ministry of Natural Resources and
the National Oceanic Administration. The museum’s attraction will be in
proportion to your interest in rocks and/or dinosaur fossils. If you
haven’t already, be sure to check out Simon Cockerell’s project to visit
every museum in Beijing. Cockerell is the GM of Koryo Tours, and he has
been posting excellent reviews of the city’s museums, including the
Geological Museum and the Lu Xun Memorial and Museum, on their site: koryogroup.com.
1901 Cafe
Continuing straight ahead for a long
block after the Geology Museum and the Guangji Temple, you will come to a
T-Crossing where Xisi Dongdajie (西四东大街 xīsì dōngdàjiē) meets Xihuangchenggen Beijie (西皇城根北街 xīhuángchénggēn běijiē). Take a
right, and head south on Xihuangchenggen Beijie until you reach the
intersection with Xi’anmen Dajie (西安门大街 xī'ānmén dàjiē) and turn left. Heading east on Xi’anmen
Dajie, you will see a Western-style villa on the north side of the
street. This is a former ecclesiastical property attached to the nearby
Church of the Savior (read more below). For many years, 1901 Cafe has operated inside the
villa, and it’s a wonderful space to grab a warm beverage and relax
before continuing your journey.
Church of the Savior (North Cathedral)
The front gate of the Church of the
Savior (救世主堂 jiùshìzhǔ táng), sometimes also called the Xishiku Church (西什库天主堂 xīshikù tiānzhǔtáng) is just a short walk beyond the 1901 Cafe. You may need to walk
north along the narrow road to get a good glimpse of the cathedral,
better known as North Church (北堂 běi táng). The original church was built in a
different location in 1703 on land given to the Jesuits by the Kangxi
Emperor (r. 1661-1722). In 1864, a new church was built in the old
location with towering gothic spires that peaked over the walls of the
nearby imperial gardens. After some negotiations between the French
Lazarist missionaries at the church and the Qing government, a new
cathedral was built at this current location in 1887. From June to
August in 1900, 80 Europeans and more than 3,000 Chinese Christians took
refuge here during the Boxer Rebellion.
Ancient Books Division of the National Library
Continuing east, Xi’anmen Dajie becomes
Wenjin Street (文津街 wénjīn jiē) as it crosses between the Zhongnanhai Compound (you may know
the famous resident there who values his privacy) on the south side of
the street and Beihai Park. The Ancient Books Division of the China
National Library (国家图书馆古籍馆 guójiā túshū guǎn gǔjí guǎn) is just before the bridge. This complex, built in 1931,
served as the main branch of the National Library before moving to its
current location in Haidian District.
South Gate of Beihai Park/Round City
On the opposite side of the bridge, we
come to the south gate of Beihai Park (北海公园 běihǎi gōngyuán). While the buildings in the park
today are primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries, the gardens here
began in the 11th century when it was used as a “Summer Palace” by the
emperors of the Jin Empire. On the park’s southern edge is the “Round
City” (团城 tuán chéng), part of the Jin-era gardens. Inside the park and across the
bridge from the Round City is Qionghua Island (read more below琼华岛 qiónghuá dǎo), capped by the second (and
more famous) of the white towers on this walk.
The White Dagoba of Yong'an Temple and Qionghua Island
The White Dagoba of Yong'an (永安寺白塔 yǒng'ān sì bái tǎ), as it is known in
Western scholarship, was built in 1651 to commemorate a visit to the
Qing court in Beijing by the Fifth Dalai Lama. Before there was a
500-meter tall monument to overcompensation, i.e., The Citic “China Zun”
Tower, people living in Beijing would use the top of the White Dagoba
for navigation purposes, although the foreign community, known for their
dickish and unfair descriptions of famous Beijing landmarks, referred
to the Beihai tower as “The Peppermint Bottle.”
You can walk up
and over (or around) the tall hill on Qionghua Island (琼华岛 qiónghuá dǎo). One of the best
approaches is from the north, entering the gates of the Yongan Temple
and proceeding up the stairs to each of the temple’s halls. Think of it
as a slow slog upwards toward enlightenment.
Hao Pu Jian
On the island’s eastern shore is a
bridge that takes you back to the mainland. Walking north from the
bridge to the east bank of Beihai is a wonderful experience at any time
of year. There’s always something happening in the park. There is a
slightly hidden gap between the rocks and small hills along the
lakeshore if you can find it. One of these gaps leads to the Hao Pu Jian (濠濮间 háo pú jiān) –
aka The Hao and Pu Garden. This lovely respite from the bustling
lakeshore was a place for the emperors and other members of the court to
relax and watch fish. The name of the space is taken from a story about
the Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi speculating on the mental health of the
fish in the Hao River.
Altar of Silkworms
Returning lakeside and continuing north
to the gate of Beihai Park, you will pass a large temple closed to the
general public. This is the Altar of the Silkworm (先蚕坛 xiān cán tán), one of many imperial
sites in Beijing for rituals related to agriculture. Unlike most other
altars in the capital, the rituals here were done by the women of the
court rather than the emperor. In the 1950s and 60s, it was reportedly
used as a school for the children of the leaders living in nearby
Zhongnanhai. Today it is a kindergarten.
End Here: North Gate of Beihai Park/Beihai Metro Stop (Line 6)
Exiting the North Gate of Beihai will take you to the end of our walk and the .
Almost all of the sites in this article are open to the public, but be aware that access will involve scanning QR codes and registering before being allowed inside. The security guards and ticket windows are generally pretty helpful when it comes to entrance policy, but experiences may vary depending on conditions in the city and the blood sugar levels of the staff.
Aldrich, M. A. (2008). The search for a vanishing Beijing: A guide to China’s capital through the ages. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Arlington, L. C., & Lewisohn, W. (2015). In search of old Peking. Vancouver, British Columbia: Soul Care Publishing, 2015. (Originally published: Peking, H. Vetch, 1935)
Cohn, D., & Zhang, J. (2013). Beijing Walks. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Li, L. M., Dray-Novey, A. J., & Kong, H. (2008). Beijing: From imperial capital to Olympic city. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lovell, J., & Li, Y. (2010). The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun. New York: Penguin Classics
Naquin, S. (2008). Peking: Temples and city life, 1400-1900. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Jeremiah Jenne earned his Ph.D. in Chinese history from the University of California, Davis, and taught Late Imperial and Modern China for over 15 years. He has lived in Beijing for nearly two decades and is the proprietor of Beijing by Foot (beijingbyfoot.com) and organizes history education programs and walking tours of the city which are deeper dives into the route and sites described here.
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Images: Uni You, Jeremiah Jenne
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