Yuán Dynasty Capital City Wall
Site Park 元大都城垣遗址公园
Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of Běijīng Suburbs and Beyond
The walls of Yuán dynasty Khanbalik, or Dàdū (Great Capital), were built between 1267 and 1276. The Míng dynasty, which founded the first Chinese capital on the site, built largely on the plan laid out by the Mongols but shortened its northern side, leaving a long east-west strip of Mongol wall isolated to the north of the Míng city. The route of the Míng walls is now marked by the Second Ring Road and metro Line 2 on the northern side.
The Yuán wall is out between the Third and Fourth Ring Roads, and followed by the recently constructed m Line 10. Although no more than a ribbon of raised earth up to 10m high paralleled by the canalised Xiǎo Yuè Hé (小月河) through a long narrow park with a small aviary near the middle, more of the Yuán wall now exists than of the Míng one. There are also occasional sculptures and murals, and retired people practising callisthenics, musical instruments, and singing, as in any almost any open space across the city.
As signs tell you, the wall is a ‘protected historic relic’, which means, of course, that it has been frequently breached for broad new north-south highways, and you can walk all over its crumbling earthen surface at will.
Beginning at m Xī Tǔchéng (Line 10) a section of the wall runs south for 2km, ending about a further 2km north of m Xī Zhí Mén (Lines 2, 4, and 13). From the same starting point it stretches east more than 6km, passing
m Mǔdān Yuán, m Jiàndé Mén, m Běi Tǔchéng, m Ānzhēn Mén, m Huì Xīn Xī Jiē Nán Kǒu, and m Tàiyáng Gōng (all Line 10), and ending near m Sān Yuán Qiáo (Lines 10 and Airport Express).
▶ Yuán Dàdū Chéngyuán Yízhǐ Gōngyuán, t 8464 8252, www.yddyzgy.com, 5.30am–10pm (or sunrise to sunset if shorter). Free. m Xī Tǔchéng, Mǔdan Yúan, Jiàndé Mén, & Ānzhēn Mén (all Line 10); Běi Tǔchéng (Lines 8 & 10), Huì Xīn Xī Jiē Nán Kǒu (Lines 5 & 10). b to 北土城西路东口 (there are multiple other options): 5, 21, 81, 82, 84, 92, 113, 620空调, 653.
Next in Museums and Other Sights: Běijīng Auto Museum
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For discussion of China travel, see The Oriental-List.
