Check Out the Capital's Defenses at Ming City Wall Park

原创 Vincent V. theBeijinger

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Beijing was once a city of walls and gates. Take Line 2 or Line 7 and you’ll hear the names of some of these gates. In fact, Line 2 runs along a loop route more or less tracing what used to be the city wall. Besides a few gates still standing – Zhengyangmen and Deshengmen are notable examples – only one section of wall remains, residing in the Ming City Wall Relics Park.

For such a long and grandiose name, there may not be much besides a reconstructed section of wall and its southwest corner watchtower, but it’s a slice of history none the less, with a lot of Easter Eggs for history buffs to boot.

To get to the park, you can take Subway Line 2 and get off from Chongwenmen Station Exit C. From there, cross a street heading east to find yourself face to face with the giant corner watchtower.

The park itself is like any capital park albeit with a giant grey monolithic structure running through it. You’ll find couples walking or running, old folks doing tai chi or shepherding young children, the usual. Walk east for a bit more and then you’ll reach a hole in the wall.

More of an archway than a hole, this puncture came to be in the 1900s, to allow easier access for trains heading to and from the then recently constructed Beijing Railway Stationnear present day Qianmen. Today, the archway has been appropriated a ticketing entrance for those who want to climb up onto the wall for a better view.

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The archway today.

Detail of an old map of Beijing showing the southwest corner archway.

After forking over RMB 10, you ascend a set of stairs for a somewhat modest view of Beijing’s skyline. It may no longer be one of the tallest structures in the city, but you can get a good view of the park below to the north and partake in some trainspotting, watching passenger trains as they roll in and out of the newer Beijing Railway Station.

Trainspotting from atop the wall, Beijing Railway Station in the distance.

Up here you’ll be able to get a closer look at the corner watchtower, which is somewhat notoriously referred to as the Fox Tower. Long after the walls had been abandoned by soldiers and archers keeping guard over the city, rumors spread that this tower was haunted by fox spirits (狐狸精 húlíjīng), malevolent beings who, after taking the form of beautiful women, would lure unsuspecting men to their deaths.

The notorious Fox Tower as seen from below.

Inside the tower, you’ll find windows upon windows open to the outside, with stairs leading nearly all the way up its eight stories. While you'll find the other occupants to be pockets of fellow tourists rather than evil spirits, the additional quiet and emptiness of the place does make for an eerie feel.

Well into the 1930s, the city walls could be accessed by the public, and people made regular strolls around them. Sauntering along this remaining section of wall today, imagine what it would’ve been like, circling this former imperial city in all its grandeur from atop these ramparts. The rest of the wall may be gone, of course, but it’s a nice place to imagine.