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98-510: The ring road can be divided into two parts: the original ring road (the southern section of which is now excluded from the current ring road), and the newly extended ring road. This article only covers the current (new) 2nd Ring Road. The 2nd Ring Road runs close to where Beijing's city walls once stood; numerous junctions bear the old city gate's name. A small number of these city gates themselves still stand: Southeast corner tower , Deshengmen and Yongdingmen (which has been rebuilt). Most of

196-400: A U-turn under an overpass; pedestrians, cycles and motorcycles can make use of pedestrian overpasses. The speed limit is 80 km/ h except for sharply turning sections such as between Xiaojie Bridge and Dongzhimen. Speed checks are very frequent and cameras are often operating, some of the locations of these are known, while some are hidden beneath bridges or behind screens. Traffic jams on

294-627: A canal. The 2nd ring road was completed in the 1980s. All traffic lights were removed in the 1990s, and several new overpasses were built. In 2001, the 2nd Ring Road was overhauled. It was fully re-surfaced, and greenery substantially increased. Much of Line 2 of the Beijing Subway runs underneath the Second Ring Road. Many stations have exits on both sides of the road, with the exception of Andingmen . The former "old 2nd Ring Road" has an elliptical shape. Its northwest corner

392-440: A different floor plan. The gate tower at Zhengyangmen was the tallest and the most imposing Inner city gate tower. Chongwenmen and Xuanwumen were slightly smaller than Zhengyangmen. Dongzhimen and Xizhimen were smaller still, and Deshengmen, Andingmen, Chaoyangmen, are Fuchengmen were the smallest. Each gate tower had two floors. Soldiers could climb to the upper level to have a better view of approaching enemies. Each gate tower had

490-566: A flat instrument that produced a "tang" sound. Thus arose the saying that of "nine gates, eight tangs, one old bell". This story is a possible etymological origin of zhongdian to refer to the hour in the Beijing dialect. In the past there were many distilleries in the southern Daxing District . Carts would carry newly brewed spirits through Chongwenmen. This is the origin of the saying, "Chongwenmen has carts carrying spirits entering; Xuanwumen has carts carrying prisoners leaving". When Chongwenmen

588-428: A gap in the wall at Dongzhimen and Chaoyangmen, but failed because the soldiers could not get close enough to light the fuse without being shot. The barbicans, enemy sight towers, and corner guard towers proved to be quite effective at deterring enemy attacks. For example, on the night of 13 August, Russian troops succeeded in invading Dongbianmen's watchtower, but suffered heavy casualties in the barbican. It wasn't until

686-577: A moat system. It had the most extensive defense system in Imperial China . After the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, Beijing's fortifications were gradually dismantled. The Forbidden City has remained largely intact, and has become the Palace Museum . Some fortifications remain intact, including Tiananmen , the gate tower and watchtower at Zhengyangmen , the watchtower at Deshengmen ,

784-401: A move of his capital from Nanjing to Beijing. At that time, Beijing was just the capital of the dependency of the kingdom of Yan ; therefore it did not have very extensive fortifications. Extensive expansion and reconstruction work would be needed to meet the defence requirements of the new capital for it to withstand the sporadic Mongol incursions from the north. This marked the beginning of

882-407: A second city wall of rammed earth to the south of the original northern city wall. The new wall was later covered with stones and bricks. In 1372 the original northern city wall was completely dismantled and the materials used to reinforce the new wall. The perimeter of the original Imperial city was measured at that time as 1,206 zhang (approximately 4,020 metres). The perimeter of the southern city

980-477: A single missing brick—was swiftly reported to the authorities and repaired. Much damage was done to the fortifications during the Boxer Rebellion (1898–1901). The Righteous Harmony Society burned down the gate tower at Zhengyangmen , and its watchtower was destroyed by Indian troops . The watchtowers at Chaoyangmen and Chongwenmen were destroyed by artillery fire from Japanese and British forces, and

1078-431: A watchtower directly in front of it. They were all unique. The watchtower at Zhengyangmen was 38 metres high, 52 metres wide, and 32 metres deep, constructed on a raised platform 12 metres high. This gate, named "Qianmen", was for the exclusive use of the emperor. Built in multi-eaved Xieshanding style, it had grey tubed roof tiles with green glazed tiles at the top. The southern side had seven rooms with 52 arrow slits , and

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1176-413: Is at Xizhimen , the northeast corner is at Dongzhimen , and southern corners are at Dongbianmen and Xibianmen . The southern side is the so-called "Metro Road" which goes through Qianmen , at the southern end of Tian'anmen Square . The new road is simply an extension of the western and eastern parts of the original 2nd Ring Road. It extends beyond Dongbianmen and Xibianmen, thus reaching Zuo'anmen to

1274-522: The Chang'an Avenue . Although only Chinese characters are used, the characters themselves are coloured red, yellow or green according to the type of message. This and the map displays make it somewhat easier for non-Chinese speakers to understand. The Badaling Expressway is linked to (from the side road) at Deshengmen . A direct ramp connection from both directions to the Airport Expressway

1372-537: The Hongwu (1368–1398) and Yongle (1402–1424) eras. The walls were formed from rammed earth covered with rocks and a finishing layer of bricks on both the interior and exterior. The average height was 12 to 15 metres. The northern and southern sections, built in the early Ming dynasty, were thicker than the eastern and western sections, built during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). The thicker sections averaged 19 to 20 metres at

1470-747: The Jingshi Expressway before running into the western segment, which is linked with the Wukesong residential area, TV broadcasting centers, and, in the northwest, Zhongguancun IT zone. The northern segment is equally busy, running through Beitaipingzhuang, with links to the Badaling Expressway and the Jingcheng Expressway . Line 10 of the Beijing Subway has been constructed under the eastern segments of

1568-594: The Jingtong Expressway and ultimately the Jingha Expressway . [Heading in a clockwise direction as of the Northern 2nd Ring Road] Notes: 39°53′53″N 116°23′12″E  /  39.89806°N 116.38667°E  / 39.89806; 116.38667 Beijing city fortifications The Beijing city fortifications were a series of walls with towers and gates constructed in

1666-487: The Ming dynasty captured the city from the last Yuan emperor, Emperor Shun . Xu Da decided that Dadu's fortification system was too large to defend during a siege, so he ordered the city's northern walls rebuilt 2.8 kilometres (1.7 miles) to the south of the original location. This construction pre-empted the planned northern expansion of the city. The new wall was constructed with an extra layer of bricks, further strengthening

1764-564: The Mongols . In 1476 construction of an outer city was proposed. In 1553, a large rectangular outer city wall and moat system was completed to the south of the original city, forming a shape similar to the "凸" character. This defensive perimeter was maintained for nearly 400 years. The wall and moat defense system was retained unchanged by the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). However, the Imperial city

1862-464: The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the majority of the moats and gate towers were extant, albeit in a dilapidated state. In 1949 Beijing became the capital of the newly founded Communist government. Government-sponsored city planning studies showed that the remaining wall and moat structures were hindering traffic flow and were a barrier to expansion and development. The Outer city wall

1960-522: The Qianmen area. Arches for trains were cut in the city walls near Hepingmen , Jianguomen , Fuxingmen and several other minor gates. The walls of the Imperial city were fully dismantled, except for the south to southwest section. The gate towers, watchtowers, and corner towers of the major gates of both the Inner city and Outer city were dismantled over time due to lack of funds for maintenance. But when

2058-522: The Siege of Peking ; it was completely dismantled in 1920. The barbican was dismantled in 1950 and the gate tower in 1966. Chongwenmen was a "sighting gate", with the connotation of "a bright and prosperous future". Its symbol was the Chongwen iron turtle. Due to its close proximity to the busy Tonghui river, it was the busiest gate in Beijing. Entry and departure taxes were charged at Chongwenmen throughout

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2156-507: The Temple of Earth and Xiannong Temple were built in what was then the southern suburbs. Some sources indicate that the central axis of the city was moved eastwards to subdue the previous dynasty's Qi (new Qi comes from the east, where the sun rises daily). A second expansion of the city occurred between 1436 and 1445, on the orders of Emperor Ying of the Ming dynasty. Major works included

2254-536: The Yongle era (1402–1424), they were organized into three groups, called Wujunying (consisting of the majority of the army), Sanqianying (consisting of mercenary and allied Mongol troops), and Shenjiying (consisting of troops using firearms). The three ying were further divided into 72 wei, organised into five groups named Zhongjun (centre), Zuoyejun (left middle), Youyejun (right middle), Zuoshaojun (left guard), and Youshaojun (right guard); these were collectively known as

2352-402: The city center of Beijing . When Beijing first became the capital of the People's Republic of China , the road existed only in segments encircling the northern, eastern, and southern parts of the city. At the time, its segments were known as Beihuan (North Ring), Donghuan (East Ring), and Nanhuan (South Ring), respectively. The 3rd Ring Road was finally finished in 1994 with the completion of

2450-636: The guard tower at the southeast corner of the Inner city was spared, because the metro line veered towards the Beijing railway station . The tops of the walls were dismantled, making it no longer possible to walk along the top of them. Beginning in 1972, in order to pave the 2nd Ring Road above the Metro, and to serve high-rise apartments and hotels in the Qianmen area, Beijing's eastern, southern, and western moats were covered and converted to sewers. In 1979,

2548-581: The 1960s, relations between China and the Soviet Union soured. After the Sino-Soviet split , people felt that war with the Soviet Union was inevitable. Underground bomb shelters, underground "supply cities", and an underground railway—the Beijing Metro —were commissioned. Work on the Metro began on 1 July 1965. The construction technique used was cut-and-cover : wherever the path of the metro

2646-591: The 2nd Ring Road have become a part of daily life. Nevertheless, their intensity varies. The northern stretch between Andingmen and Xiaojie Bridge is often jammed, particularly in the lead to the turn-off for the Airport Expressway. The same goes for part of the road around Deshengmen and all of the western side. The entire eastern side is frequently jammed due to its proximity to the Beijing CBD. Less frequently jammed traffic can be found on

2744-451: The 2nd Ring Road, displaying information about current traffic. The information is only given in simplified Chinese characters at present. The western part of the 2nd Ring Road has "smart" electronic screens, automatically updated every five minutes. Traffic conditions are continuously monitored. Maps are also shown on them to notify drivers of road conditions at various parts of the road, including Jishuitan , Xizhimen , and Fuxingmen on

2842-486: The 3rd Ring Road and was completed in 2008. The 3rd Ring Road is notorious for its traffic jams . The eastern segment, which runs through Beijing's central business district (CBD), is regularly gridlocked during rush hour. The interchanges of this segment are modified diamond interchanges , consisting of openings of the road barrier on the right that separates the main lanes from the frontage roads. These interchanges can often back up traffic since they cannot easily handle

2940-416: The Beijing circum-city railway was built in 1915, the sight towers at the northeast and southeast corners were dismantled and the side walls of the guard towers at these corners had arches built as passageways for trains. The barbican and sluice gates at Deshengmen , Andingmen , Chaoyangmen, and Dongzhimen were dismantled for the passage of trains. The barbican at Zhengyangmen was dismantled to ease traffic in

3038-561: The Boxer Rebellion and Eight-Nations Alliance attack during the Qing dynasty. All but the Eight-Nations Alliance were successfully defended against. After the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the barbicans at Zhengyangmen, Chaoyangmen, Xuanwemen , Dongzhimen, and Andingmen were dismantled, along with Dong'anmen and the city walls of the Imperial city, to improve traffic flow and to allow for construction of

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3136-485: The Dongsi Shitiao archway), North Bell Tower Avenue archway, Xinjiekou archway, West Guanyuan archway, and Songhe'an alley archway. Beijing's Inner city wall had gate towers that sat atop rectangular platforms 12 to 13 metres high integrated into the city walls. Each gate entranceway, centred under the middle of its gate tower platform, had two giant red wooden gates that opened outwards. Iron bulbs were fitted on

3234-578: The Imperial city and the Forbidden city. Later the Imperial guards were joined by the Jinyiwei and the Tengxiangwei, whose commanders included "Mianyiwei Dahan General", "Hongkui General", "Mingjia General", "Bazong Director", and several others. A guard post in the Imperial city called "Hongpu" was formed. The city gates were closed at night and no one was allowed in or out unless special permission

3332-458: The Inner city had a perimeter of 24 kilometres. It was roughly square, with the east and west walls slightly longer due to the north and south walls being moved from their original positions. The northwestern section lacked a vertex; on a map it looks as if the corner had been bitten off. In the Chinese mythological story of Nüwa mending the heavens, "the heavens were missing in the northwest, and

3430-488: The Inner city walls, 106 of which were for military equipment such as direction flags, cannons, gunpowder, and guns. In 1835, 241 houses of three rooms each were added to the nine gates of the Inner city, as the original straw and earthen barracks were deteriorating. Twenty-eight store rooms were added, as well as 3,616 Outer city barracks. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), the Xiaoqiying soldiers usually lived outside

3528-477: The Ming and Qing dynasties included city walls, moats, gate towers, barbicans, watchtowers, corner guard towers, enemy sight towers, and military encampments both outside and inside the city. The mountains immediately north of the city and the interior Great Wall sections on those mountain ranges also acted as a defensive perimeter. During the Ming dynasty, troops under permanent encampment in and around Beijing were called Jingjun or Jingying ("capital troops"). During

3626-416: The Ming dynasty, Qing dynasty, and early Republican eras. The Empress Dowager Cixi 's "cosmetic spending" and the early Republican China president 's annual salary came directly from taxes levied at this gate. In 1924, Feng Yu xiang initiated a coup, after which the taxation at Chongwenmen was stopped. Only Chongwenmen had bells announcing the closure of the gates at the end of the day. The other gates used

3724-713: The Qianfengying, Hujunying, Bujun Xunbuying, Jianruiying, Huoqiying (in charge of artillery), Shenjiying (first begun in 1862), and the Huqiangying (in charge of guns). From the Yongzheng era (1722–1735) onwards, the Eight Banner guard troops in charge of protecting the imperial leisure parks were camped in the area around the Old Summer Palace and Fragrant Hills . The same system of Eight Banners

3822-601: The Righteous Sun'), completed in 1419, was located at the centre of the southern wall of the Inner city. It was constructed in the triple-eaved Xieshanding style, with green glazed tiles. Originally called Lizhengmen ("Gate of the Beautiful Portal"), the name was changed during the Zhengtong era (1435–1449). Each Inner city barbican contained a temple, and the barbican at Zhengyangmen had two: Guandimiao in

3920-529: The Ten Kings, residences of the imperial princes, residences of the officials and the Drum and Bell Towers were built at this time. The southern city walls were moved south by 0.8 kilometres (0.50 mi) to allow more space for the future Imperial City complex. In 1421 the capital of Ming dynasty China was officially moved from Nanjing ("southern capital") to Beijing ("northern capital"). The Temple of Heaven ,

4018-629: The Wujunying ("five troops"). The majority of the Jingjun were headquartered outside of west Deshengguan. Some camped in the rural districts of the capital area, at Nanyuan, Tonzhou, Lugouqiao, Changping, and the Juyongguan interior Great Wall. During the Tumu Crisis in 1449, the entire Jingjun was destroyed, a loss of some 500,000 men. Yu Qian then changed the organisational structure of

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4116-594: The Xianghong banner and Yongdingmen the Zhenglan banner. In 1728 permanent barracks were built for the eight banners in the Inner city, excepting Zhengyangmen. Each gate had barracks of 460 rooms for a ying, 90 rooms for a ban, and 15 rooms for a geng, for a total of 3,680 rooms. Outside the city walls were an additional 16,000 rooms, with each banner having 2,000 rooms. Manchu troops were allocated 1,500 rooms and Han troops 500 rooms. There were also 135 storage rooms atop

4214-811: The Xianghuang banner at Andingmen, the Zhenghuang banner at Deshengmen, the Zhengbai banner at Dongzhimen, the Xiangbai banner at Chaoyangmen, the Zhenghong banner at Xizhimen, the Xianghong banner at Fuchengmen , the Zhenglan banner at Chongwenmen and the Xianglan banner at Xuanwumen. Each banner had an office hall, several troop barracks, a patrol station and a warehouse. In addition to the Xiaoqiying, troops permanently encamped in and around Beijing included

4312-486: The Yongle era (1402–1424), the southern, eastern, and western walls were reinforced with stones and bricks. In 1435 construction began on gate towers, watchtowers, barbicans, sluice gates, and corner guard towers for the nine city gates. In 1439 bridges were built leading to the gates. In 1445 the interior walls of the city were reinforced with bricks. The wall and moat system of the Inner city was thus complete. The walls of

4410-419: The Zhenghong banner, Chongwenmen the Xianghuang banner, Xuanwumen the Zhenghuang banner and Zhengyangmen rotated between the eight banners. The Outer city's seven gates were manned by Han troops from the following banners: Dongbianmen the Xianghuang banner, Xibianmen the Zhenghuang banner, Guangqumen the Zhengbai banner, Guang'anmen the Zhenghong banner, Zuo'anmen the Xianglan and Xiangbai banners, You'anmen

4508-445: The Zhengtong era (1435–1449) the gate was called Shunchengmen ('Shun Cheng Gate'), while commoners referred to it as Shunzhimen. The gate tower was completely rebuilt during the Zhengtong era, and a barbican, sluice gate tower, and watchtower were added. The name was changed to Xuanwu ("martial advocacy"), from a quotation from Zhang Heng 's Dongjing Fu : "the martial integrity is to announce 武节是宣 wu jie shi xuan ". The watchtower

4606-457: The addition of an extra layer of bricks on the interior side of the city walls, creating the southern end at Taiye Lake , construction of gate towers, barbicans and watchtowers at nine major city gates, construction of the four corner guard towers, setting up a Paifang on the outside of each major city gate and replacing wooden moat bridges with stone bridges. Sluices were built under the bridges and revetments of stone and brick were added to

4704-500: The barbican at Suqingmen is also still visible today. In 1370, Hongwu Emperor granted his fourth son, Zhu Di (later Yongle Emperor ) the title 'King of the Yan dependency', whose capital was at Beiping (present-day Beijing ). In 1379, the new palace was completed, and Zhu Di moved in the subsequent year. In 1403, Zhu Di changed the name of the city from Beiping ("northern peace") to Beijing ("northern capital"). In 1406, he began planning

4802-460: The base and 16 metres at the top, with parapets at the top. The Inner city wall had nine gates and a tower at each corner. There were three sluice gates, 172 enemy sighting towers, and 11,038 battlements . Immediately outside the city walls were deep moats 30 to 60 metres in width. The city walls of Dadu were used as the foundation for the Inner city walls of Beijing. In 1368, after Ming troops entered Dadu, General Xu Da directed Hua Jilong to build

4900-686: The circum-city railway. In 1924 a new gate was created at Hepingmen to improve traffic flow. Many other gates and archways, such as the Qimingmen (the present Jianguomen ) and Chang'anmen (the present Fuxingmen ), were opened during this period. After 1949, the Chinese Communist Party ordered the demolition of the city walls on a giant scale. During the Korean War , in order to ease traffic density, six new archways were built: Dayabao alley archway, Beimencang archway (now called

4998-464: The city gates rather than on the city walls. This proved to be easier for defending the city during a siege. Only when the emperor was leaving the city for Yuanmingyuan or the Temple of Heaven did the soldiers station themselves atop the walls. An exception was Xuanwumen; as the only gate that stayed open at night, the top of the wall was continually manned. Cannons were fired at noon atop Xuanwumen to mark

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5096-575: The city in 1644, he ordered that the Ming Imperial palace complex and the major city gates be set afire. But in 1960, when the walls were finally dismantled, the workers realized that the Dongzhimen and Chongwenmen towers and gate sections were the Ming originals. The wall and moat systems were well maintained during the Ming and Qing dynasties, right up until 1900. No holes were allowed to be drilled, no arches made. Any damage—even if just

5194-410: The city of Beijing , China in the early 1400s until they were partially demolished in 1965 for the construction of the 2nd Ring Road and Line 2 of the Beijing Subway . The original walls were preserved in the southeastern part of the city, just south of the Beijing railway station . The entire perimeter of the Inner and Outer city walls stretched for approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi). Beijing

5292-547: The city walls and moats to beautify the environment. Pro-keep supporters included Redologist Yu Pingbo , then Department of Culture Vice Minister Zheng Zhenduo and many Soviet city planners then in the country. The pro-keep contingent was silenced by political pressure, and by the end of the Great Leap Forward (1958–1961), the Outer city wall was completely dismantled and the Inner wall was halved in length. During

5390-466: The city's defenses. The original northern walls were abandoned after 1372, but were still used as a secondary defense during the Ming dynasty. During the rebellion of An Da, there were some Ming troops stationed at those gates. Only a small part of the northern and western sections of the Dadu city walls remain, as well as parts of the moat system in those areas. The southern half of the rammed earth wall of

5488-452: The city's fortifications volunteered to participate in the demolition. After construction began on the metro system, troops were brought in to help with the demolition work to increase the speed and efficiency of the process. The first section of walls to be removed were the southern portion of the Inner city wall, Xuanwumen, and Chongwenmen, leaving behind a 23.6 km (14.7 mi) ditch. The second stage began at Beijing railway station in

5586-785: The construction of the Ming sections of Beijing's fortifications. Construction work on the Xinei ("inner west") began in 1406, upon the foundations of the Yan King's Palace. It was finished the following year. In 1409, Jianshouling was completed at Mount Tianshou in the Changping District . In 1416 construction of the Forbidden City complex began, in a style that imitated the original Nanjing Imperial Palace. The Forbidden City's halls, palaces, and pavilions, such as Taimiao , Ancestor Hall, Mount Wansui, Taiye Lake , residences of

5684-416: The earth was sinking in the southeast". According to scientific investigations done with remote sensing , this area originally had city walls, built in swamps and wetlands. The wall was abandoned in favour of a diagonal connection, placing a small triangle of land outside the city. Beijing's Inner city came under siege many times; for example, the invasions of Anda Khan and Houjin during the Ming dynasty and

5782-490: The embankment of the moat. The newly expanded city wall and moat system was 45 lis (22.5 kilometres (14.0 mi)) around the perimeter, providing formidable defence. The Imperial Tombs were built on the outskirts of the city. Changping city , a supply city, interior sections of the Great Wall and other distant fortifications were built for the protection of Beijing during a siege. The city faced many invasions from

5880-604: The emperor. Additional housing was built in the Inner city for imperial relatives, along with Buddhist temples of the Gelug sect. The "Three Mounts Five Gardens" park in the western suburbs was also built at this time. When the British first arrived Beijing during the Qing dynasty, they recorded the four parts of city on newspaper as: Chinese City (Outer City), Tartar City (Inner City), Imperial City and Forbidden City. Historical records indicate that when Li Zicheng retreated from

5978-520: The exterior side of the gates and gilt copper bulbs on the interior side. When the gates were closed they were locked with giant tree-trunk-sized wooden beams. The Inner city gate towers were built during the Zhengtong era of the Ming dynasty (1435–1449) in the multi-eaved Xieshanding style. The roofs were covered with grey tubed roof tiles and green glazed tiles. Zhengyangmen's gate tower was seven rooms in length and five rooms in width; Chaoyangmen and Fuchengmen were three rooms in width. Each gate tower had

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6076-513: The force, bringing approximately 100,000 well-trained troops from several different camps into one supergroup: the 10-battalion supergroup. This was raised to 12 battalions during the reign of Emperor Xian of the Ming dynasty. These were commanded from within the Inner city at Dongguanting and Xiguanting. Drilling and training fields outside of the city walls could also be used as temporary encampments. The original Wujunying, Sanqianying, and Shenjiying were converted to guard units in charge of protecting

6174-414: The former Inner 2nd Ring Road ("Metro Road") passes are: Only Zhengyangmen is still standing today. After completion in the 1980s, the design of the 2nd Ring Road was sufficient for its traffic load. However, as utilization increased in the late 20th century, the road surface rapidly deteriorated. Prior to 2001, the road gave motorists an uncomfortable bumpy ride. Since the total resurfacing, driving on

6272-420: The gate tower, forcing them to abandon their plan. Thus even in the modern era of the 1930s and 1940s, the dilapidated fortifications were still useful defensively. Beijing's Inner city is also called Jingcheng ("capital city") or Dacheng ("big city"). The eastern and western sections were originally part of the Yuan city of Dadu, while the northern and southern sections were built during the early Ming dynasty in

6370-453: The gates, thus allowing Alliance troops into the Imperial city. In an incident on 25 July 1937, a battalion of Japanese troops camped at Fengtai District , declaring that they intended "to protect Japanese immigrants" and "to protect Dongjiaomin Street's Embassy district", tried to advance into Beijing. When they began entering Guang'anmen, around twenty Chinese soldiers fired on them from atop

6468-477: The government called off the demolition of the remaining city walls and named them cultural heritage sites. By this time, the only intact sections were the gate tower and watchtower at Zhengyangmen, the watchtower at Deshengmen , the guard tower at the southeast corner, the northern moats of the Inner city, the section of the Inner city wall south of the Beijing railway station, and a small section of Inner city wall near Xibianmen. The defense system of Beijing during

6566-551: The guard tower at the northwest corner of the Inner city was destroyed by Russian cannon. British troops tore down the western section of the Outer City walls at Yongdingmen and the city walls surrounding the Temple of Heaven. They moved the terminus of the Beijing–Fengtian Railway from Majiapu , outside the city, to the grounds of the Temple of Heaven, where the British and American forces were headquartered. This

6664-489: The huge traffic volumes of Beijing. The situation is often worsened by the bus stops that are located right adjacent to the exits. The 3rd Ring Road is 2.5 kilometers (1.6 mi) from the 2nd Ring Road and 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) from the city center . The 3rd Ring Road goes through mostly residential and some commercial areas (except for the CBD) that were created during Beijing's first wave of rapid expansion. Until 2003,

6762-434: The inner walls and outer walls by a structure called a barbican. The barbicans of Dongzhimen or Xizhimen were square; the ones at Zhengyangmen and Deshengmen were rectangular; at Dongbianmen and Xibianmen they were semicircular. Most of the Inner city barbicans had rounded corners, which provided better sight lines and were more difficult to climb or destroy. Each Inner city barbican had a unique design. Zhengyangmen ('Gate of

6860-456: The late morning of 14 August that they conquered the gate tower at Dongbianmen, a mere 50 metres (160 ft) away. Even after the Outer City and Inner City fell to Alliance forces, the Imperial city's defenses still held. On the morning of 15 August, American forces used several guns to try to destroy the Tiananmen gates, but they held. Japanese troops used ladders to scale the wall and open

6958-414: The northern side had five rooms with 21 arrow slits. The eastern and western sides each had 21 arrow slits. The other Inner city watchtowers had exterior designs similar to that of Qianmen, with multi-eaved Xieshanding-style gate towers in the front and a series of five rooms in the back. Both the upper and lower levels of the watchtowers were equipped with arrow slits. The watchtowers were connected to both

7056-536: The northern wall had two gates. The three eastern gates, from north to south, were called Guangximen ( 光熙门 ), Chongrenmen ( 崇仁门 ), and Qihuamen ( 齐化门 ). The three western gates, from north to south, were called Suqingmen ( 肃清门 ), Heyimen ( 和义门 ), and Pingzemen ( 平则门 ). The three southern gates, from west to east, were called Shunchengmen ( 顺承门 ), Lizhengmen ( 丽正门 ), and Wenmingmen ( 文明门 ). The two northern gates, from west to east, were called Jiandemen ( 健德门 ) and Anzhenmen ( 安贞门 ). In August 1368 General Xu Da of

7154-405: The old city walls were pulled down shortly after the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. Although it was suggested that the 2nd Ring Road was built over the old city walls, by comparing current city maps with old maps of Beijing, it has been found this is not exactly true. The road instead mostly follows the former moat that surrounded the city wall; in places, the moat survives as

7252-598: The port city of Tientsin (now Tianjin ) in the event of the need to retreat. British troops also tore down the eastern section of the Outer city wall near Dongbianmen for the construction of the Beijing Dongbianmen-Tongzhou feeder railway. The Imperial government of Qing China collapsed in 1911. Between 1912 and 1949, the Republic of China Beiyang government and Nationalist government all undertook minor deconstruction and adjustment work. When

7350-409: The road has been much more pleasant. Partial resurfacing work is ongoing. Located in the heart of the city, the 2nd Ring Road is also a transportation bottleneck . Traffic jams are common, and it is hard to find immediate alternative routes as the 2nd Ring has few direct links to expressways. For cars and larger vehicles, there is no way to cross the 2nd Ring Road except at full junctions, or by making

7448-481: The southeast and the Caihuying overpass complex in the southwest. The extensions were known for a while as the external 2nd Ring Road , though this term is becoming more and more unpopular. The 2nd Ring Road passes the sites of many of the old city gates around Beijing. These include: Only Deshengmen and Yongdingmen (rebuilt 2005) still stand; the others were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s. Gates through which

7546-469: The southeast corner of the Inner City and passed through the sites of Jianguomen , Andingmen, Xizhimen , and Fuxingmen . Towers and walls were removed and another 16.04 kilometres (9.97 mi) of ditch was created. A section of wall near Xibianmen about 100 metres (330 ft) long was used as a storage area for raw materials, and thus was spared from demolition. Another section from Chongwenmen to

7644-602: The southeastern corner guard tower, and a section of the Inner city wall near Chongwenmen . The latter two components now form the Ming City Wall Relics Park . None of the Outer city remains intact. Yongdingmen was completely reconstructed in 2004. The city of Dadu , the forerunner of Beijing in the Ming and Qing dynasties, was built in 1264 by the Yuan dynasty . Dadu had 11 city gates. The eastern, southern, and western sides had three gates per side, and

7742-548: The southern stretch of the 2nd Ring Road from Caihuying through Zuo'anmen . While the 2nd Ring Road is often congested, unlike the 3rd Ring Road , it is never gridlocked. The 3rd Ring Road uses diamond interchanges , which includes traffic lights. These interchanges back up traffic and causes gridlock. The 2nd Ring Road instead employs mostly cloverleaf interchanges , which allows traffic to flow freely and without traffic lights, therefore eliminating traffic back up. Electronic message signs (or screens) are placed throughout

7840-479: The time. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the principal defensive weapons were firelocks, cannons, and bows and arrows. In 1629, Houjin troops attacked Beijing, and in 1644, Li Zicheng's troops laid siege to Beijing. Troops atop the city walls used cannons extensively during both sieges. During the Second Opium War (1856–1860), invading troops stationed outside the city walls gave up, because Beijing

7938-507: The west and Guanyinmiao in the east. Guandimiao had Ming original statues, including the "three treasures" of Guandimiao: a precious sword, a Guandi painting, and a white jade horse statue. The Qing emperor would visit Guandimiao and light some incense each time he returned from a visit to the Temple of Heaven. The temples of Guandimiao and Guanyinmiao were dismantled during the Cultural Revolution. The watchtower at Zhengyangmen

8036-578: The western segment. There are 52 flyovers, including Sanyuanqiao , which links it to the Airport Expressway . The speed limit is a uniform 80 km/h. The ring road runs through the busy CBD section in the east through Panjiayuan and Fenzhongsi, linking up with the Jingjintang Expressway . It continues south toward Muxiyuan and Yuquanying , linking up with the Jingkai Expressway . It then proceeds west, linking up with

8134-541: Was 5,328 zhang (approximately 17,760 metres). The southern city consisted of the remnants of the Jin dynasty capital, Zhongdu . After the capital was moved to Beijing in 1406, the southern city wall was moved south by 2 li (about a kilometre). The original Dadu city walls were not destroyed, except for a small section that overlapped the planned Ming Imperial city. Nevertheless, Dadu's southern city walls were gradually torn down by people looking for free bricks and stones. During

8232-401: Was built in 1419. The name was changed during the Zhengtong era (1435–1449). The new name was taken from Zuo Zhuan : "崇文德也"('It is a virtue to respect civility'). The barbican, sluice gates, and a watchtower were built in the Zhengtong era. The gate tower was built in multi-eaved Xieshanding style, with grey and green glazed tiles. In 1900 the gate tower was destroyed by artillery fire during

8330-438: Was completely dismantled in the 1950s, and the inner walls were torn down starting in 1953. Meanwhile, a debate was raging as to whether to keep or to dismantle the remaining city walls. Architect Liang Sicheng was a leading advocate for keeping the walls. He recommended cutting more arches to accommodate new roads that would serve increased traffic needs, and suggested building a giant circum-city public park immediately outside

8428-489: Was completely redesigned. Many houses that had been used as residences by Ming dynasty inner cabinet officials were converted into housing for commoners, as were many imperial official's offices, servant's quarters, warehouses, and hay storage barns. The Han Chinese were forced to live in the Outer city or outside the city, as the Inner city residences became exclusively homes for the Eight Banners — Manchus related to

8526-563: Was damaged by fire in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion . The Hui and Dongxiang Muslim Kansu Braves under Muslim General Ma Fulu engaged in fierce fighting during the Battle of Peking (1900) at Zhengyangmen against the Eight-Nation Alliance . Ma Fulu and 100 of his fellow Hui and Dongxiang soldiers from his home village died in that battle. Indian soldiers used wood from the damaged tower as firewood that winter. The gate

8624-475: Was danger of enemy attack were soldiers stationed atop the city walls. During the Ming dynasty, Beijing was often under siege by Mongol and Manchu forces. The city of Beijing was totally closed many times, with commoners forbidden entrance into the city. During the Qing dynasty, Beijing's defense forces mainly relied on the Xiaoqiying, who were scattered in encampments within the Inner city, then mainly inhabited by Manchus. They were organized into Eight Banners:

8722-416: Was dismantled during the Cultural Revolution, workers discovered that the gate was the original Ming structure, using phoebe puwennensis wood. Some of the recovered wood was used during reconstruction work in the Forbidden city and Tiananmen. Xuanwumen ('Gate of Advocated Martiality') was located on western section of the southern wall. It was built in 1419 when Beijing's southern walls were expanded. Before

8820-409: Was dismantled in 1927. The watchtower platform and the barbican were dismantled in 1930, and the gate tower was dismantled in 1965. The giant cannons on Xuanwumen were fired at noon. 3rd Ring Road (Beijing) The 3rd Ring Road ( simplified Chinese : 北京三环路 ; traditional Chinese : 北京三環路 ; pinyin : Sān Huán Lù ) is a 48-kilometer (30 mi)-long city ring road that encircles

8918-490: Was finished in 2006. The Jingkai Expressway is easily accessible by proceeding south to the complex-and-impressive Caihuying overpass. There are no direct connections from the 2nd Ring Road to the Jingshen Expressway , Jingjintang Expressway , or Jingcheng Expressway . It is possible to get to the Jingshi Expressway by heading southwest at Guang'anmen . Jianguomen links via Jianguomen Outer Street to

9016-432: Was given though one exception was the carts that continually brought spring water from Mount Yuquan. The city streets had guards on constant patrol at night. Some streets had barricades erected at night to keep traffic away. The city walls normally had no soldiers on station, day or night. Most lived under the walls in encampments, with a few doing night shifts at gate towers, watchtowers and enemy sight towers. Only when there

9114-463: Was in place for the nine gates of the Inner city. The troops consisted of an equal distribution of Manchu, Mongol, and Han soldiers. The soldiers of the Chengmenling, in charge of protecting the city gates, came from these banners: Andingmen the Zhenglan banner, Deshengmen the Xianglan banner, Dongzhimen the Xiangbai banner, Xizhimen the Xianghong banner, Chaoyangmen the Zhengbai banner, Fuchengmen

9212-477: Was reconstructed in the latter years of the Qing dynasty. Internal Affairs minister Zhu Qiqian ordered the barbican dismantled in 1915 to ease traffic congestion. The watchtower and gate tower were saved from demolition in 1965 on the orders of then premier Zhou Enlai . Chongwenmen ('Gate of Respectful Civility'), commonly called "Hademen", was located on the eastern section of the Inner city southern wall. Originally called "Wenmingmen ('The Door of Civilization'), it

9310-629: Was the capital of China for the majority of the Yuan , Ming , and Qing dynasties, as well as a secondary capital of the Liao and Jin dynasties. As such, the city required an extensive fortification system around the Forbidden City , the Imperial City , the Inner city, and the Outer city. Fortifications included gate towers , gates, archways, watchtowers, barbicans , barbican towers, barbican gates, barbican archways, sluice gates, sluice gate towers, enemy sighting towers, corner guard towers , and

9408-482: Was the first time since the Ming dynasty that the city walls had been breached. In 1901 British troops tore down the eastern section of the Outer city walls at Yongdingmen to allow an extension of the railway eastwards to Zhengyangmen. This enabled the construction of the Zhengyangmen East railway station (the present Qianmen Station ). Here, British embassy and consulate staff could board trains to travel to

9506-445: Was to go, everything on the surface had to be demolished. Since demolishing houses and relocating people would have been such a great undertaking, the decision was made to build the metro line where the city walls and moats were located. The demolition work, which began in 1965, was under the supervision of Beijing city government's roads and development department. People and factories that hoped to gain access to building materials from

9604-427: Was too extensively protected. Between 13 August and 15 August 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, the fortifications withstood bombardment by cannon attacks for two full days before being overrun. The Qing forces took full advantage of their higher elevation and the protection of the thick walls to shoot Alliance troops. Russian and Japanese forces attempted several times to use nitrocellulose to blow

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