Beijing's Axis - China's 中

Glance at a map of Beijing; drawing a thick, imaginary vertical line down from the Olympic Village, directly through the imperial throne at the Forbidden City and on to the south. Allow your eyes to draw a line where the wall once was, where the Second Ring Road is now. If you only know three Chinese characters, then the one you've just drawn will be one of them.

The "Character" of the City

The huge zhong formed by tracing the largest visible features of Beijing is both outsized and yet intimately familiar. The strokes of the character describe the ley lines of the ancient Beijing-within-Beijing. And what does zhong mean? Centre, middle, exact fit; the middle of the Middle Kingdom.

This potent symbolism is not lost on the Beijing Municipal Government, and in November 2002, a competition was held featuring submissions from top local and international architectural and civic-planning firms to canvas ideas for how to both preserve and enhance Beijing's "axis," from the Olympic Park (Aolinpike Gongyuan) to the city's rapidly redeveloping south.

A New Master Plan

With this recent history in mind, and knowing that the Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design plans to release a master plan incorporating this area, it's time for an examination of what's being said about the areas under discussion. Old-timers in Beijing know just how quickly this city's built environment can change, once planning approvals and clear schemes are laid out; we at Beijing This Month are pleased to photographically capture a true Beijing moment.

Snapshots in Time

Photographs, of course, even great ones, only tell half the story. Outside the frame, there are whole districts of Beijing along the axis that beckon the tourist, the traveller, the jaded Beijinger to discover or rediscover hidden architectural treasures or to simply revel in what is surely Beijing's best outdoors season. Winter's too cold, summer's too hot, and spring's too dusty. It's autumn that really shows Beijing at its best.

Sightlines and Ley Lines

A key architectural concept is the idea of "sightlines." These are the aspects of the immediate surroundings, and the track to the horizon from key positions in an around a building or other significant public space. As the diagram opposite shows clearly, if one takes the trouble to get some elevation, say from the top of Jingshan north of the Forbidden City or from the top platform of Jian Lou south of Tian'anmen Square, Beijing's sightlines are truly spectacular and compare with those found in any world capital. On a clear autumn day, looking north from Zhong Lou to the Olympic Park, and then south from neighbouring Gu Lou across the lakes to the White Pagoda on the island in Beihai, the huge potential for integrating these districts becomes apparent, and one can really get a sense of the huge civic pride the Olympic plans have bought to the city. Finally, the world will get to see what Beijing's people have known was there all along.

The "Neglected" South

One of the most exciting parcels of new ideas bought to the planner's table involves the many plans under discussion for renovation and repurposing of the southern stretch of the Axis, and by extension the rest of Beijing's south. Part of this is already occurring, with Xuanwu District's Media Corridor, among other designs. Longer-term, however, it's the south that most directly connects Beijing with its port at Tianjin, and this corridor will doubtless see massive development in future. Some of the proposals call for extensions of existing green spaces, museum corridors, the creation of a second R&D hub for non-computer sciences. Whatever the final master plan, the south can expect some exciting times.

Walking Zone

Anyone who has battled crowds on public holidays at Beijing's key attractions will sympathize with those calling for a new-century way to handle the rapidly and hugely increasing number of tourists to Beijing. From the southernmost part of the Olympic precinct to the existing preservation zones around Houhai, discussions are ongoing about how to handle the anticipated increase in visitors wanting to see a little of "Old Beijing" and its hutong. The answers coming from the experts do not, thankfully, involve more bus parking. Mooted instead are plans for a "walking zone" to encompass this whole unique area. Modelled on the hugely successful (perhaps even a little too successful) changes at Houhai, these pedestrian-only areas would filter tourists and preserve the vital approaches to the northern key sites: Zhong Lou, Gu Lou, Houhai, Beihai, Jingshan Park.

Whatever the final makeup of all of these areas, we hope you make the most of this Autumn to get out there and make your own set of priceless "before" photographs. Beijing's always changing; that's one of the reasons we love it.