Dongcheng District 东城区

History

At the start of the Zhou the area belonged to Ji (蓟) and later to Yan (燕); after several renamings the county covering it became Daxing County (大兴县) under the Jin in 1154. English Wikipedia dates the first settlement between the later inner and outer city walls to small hamlets that formed in the 10th century under the Liao dynasty, outside the north-east corner of the city of that time. The Ming Yongle emperor built the Forbidden City in the early 15th century, when the area outside it had only 15 lanes, the start of its hutong neighbourhoods.

The modern district was formed in May 1958 by merging the Dongdan (东单区) and Dongsi (东四区) districts. In June 2010 it absorbed Chongwen District (崇文区) to the south and kept the Dongcheng name. The Beijing municipal government had its seat in the district from September 1949 until it moved to Tongzhou (通州区) in January 2019.

What to see

The district government counts 365 immovable cultural relics in Dongcheng, 37 of them national key protected sites, and describes it as one of the parts of Beijing where historic sites are most concentrated. Two are UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Forbidden City (故宫) and the Temple of Heaven (天坛). Tiananmen Square lies at the west-central edge of the district.

The government's own list continues with the Yonghe Temple (雍和宫); the Guozijian (国子监), the highest academy of the Yuan, Ming and Qing; the Imperial Ancestral Temple (太庙); the Ancient Observatory (北京古观象台); the Drum and Bell Towers (钟鼓楼); and the former homes of Mao Dun (茅盾), Lao She (老舍) and Chen Duxiu (陈独秀). Traditional courtyard houses (四合院) and a large group of museums complete the picture.

Getting oriented

The ground is flat, 30 to 50 metres above sea level on the North China Plain. Temple of Heaven Park is the largest park at 267 hectares, followed by the Temple of Earth Park (地坛公园) at 42.7 hectares. Shoppers head for the Wangfujing (王府井) pedestrian street and the Malls at Oriental Plaza, while the hutongs of Nanluoguxiang (南锣鼓巷), east of the Drum and Bell Towers, are known for bars and nightlife. Beijing railway station, with its large open forecourt, lies within the district.

Highlights

• Yonghe Temple 雍和宫: Described by the district government as a monastery of esoteric Buddhism.
• Guozijian 国子监: The highest academy of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
• Imperial Ancestral Temple 太庙: Forms, with the Altar of Land and Grain (社稷坛), the 'ancestors on the left, altar on the right' layout of the imperial city.
• Ancient Observatory 北京古观象台: Listed by the district government among its best-known heritage sites.
• Nanluoguxiang 南锣鼓巷: Hutongs east of the Drum and Bell Towers known for bars and nightlife.