The Evolution of Modern Beijing is the story of how Beijing has developed over the last hundred years to become the city it is today.
What was the city like under imperial rule? How did it change after the last dynasty collapsed? What did the decision to move the capital to Nanjing in 1928 mean for Beijing? How did the Japanese occupation impact the city? And how come it is so difficult to find a piece of Cultural Revolution architecture? Join us as we search for answers to these questions and more.
We start the walk at the Urban Exhibition Center, where from the impressive miniature models we will get an idea of what the city looks like today and what it looked like during the dynasties.
To explore what came between then and now, we must venture into the hutongs. Walking through the narrow alleyways we will also discover the enormous changes that Beijing underwent following the communist liberation in 1949, when up through the 1950s Beijing was shaped like a “little Moscow”. Suddenly, for the first time in Beijing's history, the city became an industrial center. Production was even moved in to the densely populated hutong districts, when the communist powers sought to change society through the capital’s working class.
When we finally end the walk at the Beijing Postcards gallery, we will look at a display of original maps from our collection, tying together Beijing's development from a walled enclosure to the city of ever-expanding ring roads that we know today.
Where to meet: Beijing City Planning Exhibition Hall (北京城市规划展览馆) 100 meters from Qianmen Subway Station, Exit B
Cost: 300RMB per person