Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BĚIJĪNG POLICE MUSEUM
( Běijīng Jǐngchá Bówùguǎn; 8522 5018; 36 Dongjiaomin Xiang; adult ¥5, through ticket ¥20; 9am-4pm Tue-
Sun; Qianmen)
Propaganda aside, riveting exhibits make this a fascinating exposé of
Běijīng's
dà gài mào
(local slang for the constabulary). Learn how Běijīng's first Public
Security Bureau (PSB) college operated from the
Dōngyuè Temple
in 1949 and find out
how officers tackled the 'stragglers, disbanded soldiers, bandits, local ruffians, hoodlums
and despots…' planted in Běijīng by the Kuomintang (KMT). There are also eye-opening
accounts of how KMT spies Li Andong and Yamaguchi Takachi planned to mortar the
Gate of Heavenly Peace, and a welcome analysis of how the Běijīng PSB was destroyed
during the 'national catastrophe' of the Cultural Revolution. Altogether 9685 policemen
were dismissed from their posts during the paroxysms of violence - spot the yawning gap
among portraits of PSB directors from June 1966 to June 1977. The museum covers grisly
business: there's Wang Zhigang's bombing of Běijīng Train Station on 29 October 1980
and an explosion at Xīdān Plaza in 1968, while upstairs the museum gets to grips with
other morbid crimes and their investigations; for police weapons, head to the 4th floor.
The through ticket includes some laser-shooting practice and a souvenir.
|MUSEUM
|CHURCH
ST JOSEPH'S CHURCH
( Dōng Táng; 74 Wangfujing Dajie; 6.30am-5pm; Dengshikou)
A crowning edifice on Wangfujing
Dajie, and one of Běijīng's four principal churches, attractive St Joseph's Church is also
known locally as the East Cathedral. Originally built during the reign of Shunzhi in 1655,
it was damaged by an earthquake in 1720 and reconstructed. The luckless church also
caught fire in 1807, was destroyed again in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion and restored
in 1904, only to be shut in 1966. Now fully repaired, the church is a testament to the long
history of Christianity in China. A large piazza in front swarms with children playing, eld-
erly folk resting and newlyweds posing for photographs. Mass is held in Chinese at
6.30am and 7am from Monday to Saturday, and at 6.15am, 7am and 8am on Sundays. An
English version is held every Sunday at 4pm. The wide-screen televisions, bolted in place
above parts of the aisles and showing non-stop recordings of Chinese hymns being sung,
are a rather distracting recent addition.
BĚIJĪNG WÁNGFǓJǏNG PALEOLITHIC MUSEUM
( Běijīng Wángfǔjǐng Gǔrénlèi Wénhuà Yízhǐ Bówùguǎn; 1 Dongchang'an Jie, W1P3 Oriental Plaza; adult ¥10;
10am-4.30pm; Wangfujing)
Archaeologists and anthropologists will be rewarded at this
simple museum detailing the tools and relics (stone flakes, bone scrapers, fragments of
|MUSEUM
