Beijing/Central Dongcheng

Dongcheng District (东城区 Dōngchéng Qū) is in Beijing. It means "east city" and appropriately enough covers the eastern half of the old, imperial city. Most visitors to the city will come here to visit both Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, the former imperial palace. It also has other features of old and new China that are major tourist draws, such as the city's ancient hutong and temples to modern shopping areas like Wangfujing Street.

This article covers central Dongcheng, including Tiananmen Square and Wangfujing Street. Although the Forbidden City is within Dongcheng, and entered by Meridian Gate off Tiananmen Square, it's described on its own page. It's a separate precinct behind moats and high walls. Northern Dongcheng is covered by two articles, Gulou which includes the drum tower, Dongzhimen and Ditan in the northeast is home to one of Beijing's most famous temples, Yonghe Temple. Southern Dongcheng is covered in the Chongwen article and is famous for the Temple of Heaven, a.

Understand
Dongcheng is, for practical purposes, the center of Beijing. It is, as its name suggests, largely coterminous with the northeastern quadrant of the area inside the Second Ring Road, although some of its modern boundaries spill past that, reaching past even the Third Ring Road at the district's northern extreme. It includes all of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, amid a mix of neighborhoods historic and modern.

Neighboring Xicheng may have most of China's major government offices, Haidian the universities, and Chaoyang its corporate headquarters and commercial property. But Dongcheng is undeniably the city's cultural center, with attractions including more than a quarter of the city's national-level major cultural and historical sites, particularly some of its best-known temples. They are well-complemented by museums, galleries, theaters, shopping and nightlife. If you aren't staying there, your visit to Beijing will definitely be taking you to Dongcheng, probably more than once.

History
The biggest draw in Dongcheng is Tiananmen Square, the center of modern China's public life, and the Forbidden City to its north. The latter, the ancient imperial palace, dates to 1420. But even before then, settlement had begun in what is today's Dongcheng.

During the Liao dynasty, in the 10th century, the first small hamlets were established on the northeast of the wall protecting what was at that time the city, not just the imperial residence. Two centuries later, the Jin dynasty built the outer wall (along what is now the Second Ring Road) and incorporated the settlements into the city proper. By the time the Ming dynasty's emperor Zhongle built today's Forbidden City, Dongcheng had 15 lanes, the beginnings of today's hutongs.

As the Ming dynasty gave way to the Qing, China's last, in the 17th century, Dongcheng continued to thrive. Imperial officials who were not of high enough station to live in the Forbidden City, and merchants who sold to the court, built elaborate siheyuan, or courtyard houses, for themselves. Closer to the walls were the palace's food stores, which lent their names to many of the streets in that area. Eventually four divisions of the imperial army were stationed there as well. By the end of the 19th century, Dongcheng became a combat zone, when anti-Western nationalists besieged foreign diplomats and Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter for two months during the Boxer Rebellion. After an 8-nation allied force sent from Tianjin relieved the legations, the foreign forces engaged in widespread looting of cultural treasures from neighborhoods already severely damaged by the Boxers. This humiliating experience led to the fall of the Qing dynasty 11 years later, and the establishment of the Republic of China.

What is today Dongcheng was opened to the public for the first time with the passing of imperial rule. It became an even more desirable place to live, with more of the affluent settling there. On May 4, 1919 a large protest march took place in Dongcheng, against Japan's "Twenty-One Demands" on China growing out of the Treaty of Versailles and the Chinese government's weak response. The "May 4 Movement" not only lent its name to Wusi (literally "5/4") Street, where the former university building stands, it also exerted a strong influence on all leftists and nationalists in China, including the Communist Party of China (CPC) which was founded a few years later. Mao Zedong led that party to victory in civil war 30 years later, and it was at Tiananmen that he declared the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949 (which is today celebrated as National Day in China).

In power, Mao reshaped the district. He finally knocked down the city walls, save for fragments such as the Ancient Observatory. He had the plaza just south of the Forbidden City expanded into today's Tiananmen Square, the better to review large assemblies of troops and political rallies. In 1958 two previous districts were merged and renamed Dongcheng, the first time the name was used. The next year two of the Ten Great Buildings celebrating the 10th anniversary of the PRC, the National Museum of China and the city's main train station, were built in the district.

Dongcheng, also home to the country's premier acting school and its most prestigious theater companies, would continue to be one of the main stages on which China's national drama played out. Mao addressed huge rallies of the Red Guards in Tiananmen Square during the Cultural Revolution, and likewise the 1975 protests there following the death of Zhou Enlai heralded the end of that difficult period. Fourteen years later, the massive pro-democracy protests and their brutal suppression, symbolized by the iconic photograph of an unidentified protester facing down a column of tanks in front of the Beijing Grand Hotel, inaugurated the country's current epoch of "socialism with Chinese characteristics." In the years since, the economic growth unleashed by those reforms has led to protracted struggles by historic preservationists trying to save Dongcheng's remaining hutongs from demolition for urban renewal projects generally benefiting wealthy developers and their patrons in government.

That brings us to today. Your sojourn in Dongcheng will likely give you a look at both the old and new Chinas. By day you may well walk Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and other examples of classical Chinese architecture, or take in the National Museum's impressive exhibit on the country's ancient history, while evening may find you shopping and dining at either the modern Wangfuxing pedestrian mall or the funky alleyways and bars of Nanluogoxiang or Guijie. Take your pick—it's a giant oyster with some of China's brightest pearls.

Dongcheng District is considered as a large region in Beijing. The main precincts you are likely to visit are:

Wangfujing
Wangfujing is a prestigious place in Beijing and features many famous shopping complexes and department stores that dominate the cityscape. It's considered the modern heart of the capital, having been developed on grand scale to be more inviting and attractive.

Tiananmen
Tiananmen is considered the centre of major events of Chinese modern history. This place is famous for Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, National Centre of Performing Arts, the iconic portrait of Chairman Mao, China National Museum and many other famous magnificent buildings and monuments. The gate was the first main gate into the Imperial City, and is the only one of the four gates that survives.

Get in

 * For public transport in the city, see Beijing

Central Dongcheng is very well served by subway. Line 2, the loop line, runs along its north and east edges. Line 1 bisects the district from east to west, serving Tiananmen Square and other stops along Chang'an Avenue. Line 6, running east-west, forms the northern boundary of the area. Line 5 was the only north-south line crossing the district until 2021, in its eastern section. Plus, Line 8 crosses the district east of the central axis line, serving Nanluoguxiang, Wangfujing and Qianmen. All of central Dongcheng is within walking distance of one or more of these lines.

Most of the city's bus routes with numbers under 300 pass through Dongcheng at some point along their routes. Many other higher-numbered routes may start or end in the district as well. Beijing's taxi drivers know the district and its destinations well; however consider the advice here first.

If coming by private vehicle, several of the Beijing-area expressways terminate near Dongcheng. The S12 Airport Expressway connects to the Second Ring Road as the G101 at the district's northeast corner; it is a toll road from the Third Ring Road out to the airport. The S11 portion of the G45 expressway spills onto the Third Ring Road a short distance to the north. And from the end of the G6 expressway at the Third Ring Road, the G110 can be followed to the Second Ring Road at Deshengmen, then down Gulou Road West to the Drum and Bell Towers.

Get around
If you're up for the exercise, the air quality is good or moderate, and you're really willing to see Beijing at street level, consider walking around between subway stops and Dongcheng's many attractions. The terrain is mostly level, and the district has many different pedestrian experiences—from the wide sidewalks and overpasses of major arteries like Dongsi, to the more intimate narrow hutongs and foot-only spaces like Wangfujing and Tiananmen Square. The things you see along the district's streets might well turn out to be the sights that make your visit truly memorable. For wheeled open-air short-distance options, there are bicycles and rickshaw-style cabs on motorbikes. See here for general information about getting around by the former method—due to China's rapid economic growth, the city is not as bike-friendly as it once was. In Dongcheng you can make your bicycling easier and safer by utilizing the hutongs and bike lanes on major roads to get between points. In the latter, remember to keep an eye out for minibikes coming up from behind, and sudden pedestrian jaywalks.

As for the rickshaws, who aggressively solicit the business of any foreigner they see walking anywhere beyond the main tourist areas, remember that you must negotiate the fare beforehand if you are to have any chance to avoid a scam. It helps considerably as well if you know some Mandarin and are familiar with the area your route will be taking you through.

See
The Forbidden City is administratively in Dongcheng, but due to its complexity and quantity of sights, it has its own article

Tiananmen Square (天安门广场; Tiānānménguǎngchǎng) is the largest square in the world. Built by Mao to impress, the square is surrounded by Soviet-style monuments and government buildings. It remains an astounding place and a spot to linger and see visitors from all over China, many visiting their capital for the first time. There is a flag raising and lowering ceremony at dawn and dusk at the north end of the square, and the former in particular is a very popular spectacle for Chinese tourists visiting their capital. There are four marble lions in front of the Tiananmen gate, the northwest one has a bullet hole on its stomach from the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre (the lions are enclosed by fences, so this is impossible to see up close).

The square is best reached by subway. Tiananmen East and Tiananmen West, both on line 1, are at the northern end of the square. Qianmen station on line 2 is at the southern end (use exit A).

Due to traffic restrictions, taxis cannot stop on the square, so if you come by taxi, the driver will have to let you out on a nearby side street. It is also necessary to pass through a security check before you go on the square or into the Forbidden City.



Mid-range
A number of mid-range hotels are located east of the Dongzhimen subway station. From the subway stop, walk around 800 m east to the next big intersection. On the southeast corner is another Home Inn location (see listing above). On the northern side of the street (not on the main road, but in the residential compound behind), half a dozen large hotels can be found. A double costs ¥150-250 a night depending on the season. It's worth haggling and comparing with the other hotels around before you book. Although the hotels are conveniently near a ring road, the subway also provides a convenient and quick access to the city center. Right next to the subway station there is a McDonald's, and—more interestingly—a large shopping center (Ginza Mall) with a food court hidden in the lowest floor.



Splurge






Go next
It's quite likely that your travels into Dongcheng will take you into the neighboring Xicheng, or "west city", district. There you'll find amidst all the government buildings, ancient treasures like the very popular Beihai Park and modern delights like the egg-shaped National Performing Arts Center. Venturing further out into the city is likely to take you into the sprawling Chaoyang district to the north and east, a more modern home to many corporate headquarters, foreign embassies and the facilities used for the 2008 Summer Olympics, some of which have been successfully adapted for post-Games use (and others, not).

Two of Beijing's other World Heritage Sites, the Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven, are the major draws for the Haidian and Chongwen districts respectively, on the northwest and south. Southwest of Dongcheng is the last of the four central districts, Xuanwu, with temples, mosques and hutong that draw far less tourists than better-known counterparts elsewhere in the city but are equally rewarding. On the south outside the city center is Fengtai, home to both Beijing West Railway Station and the Marco Polo Bridge, where World War II, which the accompanying museum of the Sino-Japanese War can tell you about, really began.