5-minutes Journeys into the Former Legation Quarter
A Peek into the Former Belgium Legation
In the old legation quarter of Beijing almost no former diplomatic compounds are today open to the public, but the former Belgium representation is an exception. The compound was constructed after the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 and modeled after the residence of the notorious King Leopold the second. After the Boxer troubles the Legation Quarter was turned in to a foreigners only compound with very restricted access for Chinese people.
The Making of A Foreign Island
The Legation Quarter existed in the middle of Beijing for just around 100 years. The first permanent legations were established around 1860 in the aftermath of the second opium war. The foreign presence meant that areas under international law was now present in the Chinese capital. Two very different systems of law the Chinese and the Western dominated international law system seemed bound for a clash….
Beyond the Boxers
In the year 1900 Beijing was occupied. Western forces occupied the city and the Imperial government fled. As a consequence a western style modernizaton was forced on the capital. Trains, rickshaws, universities and much more changed the city completely. In his social survey from 1921 Sydney Gamble is constantly referring to the year 1900 as a watershed moment, a line drawn where after the conservative Chinese capital was connected to the outside world.