Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
places, above) the creek to lovely
YuyuantanPark
, on the periphery of which are the
Milit-
ary Museum
and
World Art Museum
.
Zhongnanhai
中南海
, zhōngnánhǎi • Tian'anmen West subway (line 1)
Closest to Tian'anmen is the large
Zhongnanhai
complex, much of it parkland, which func-
tions as the Communist Party headquarters - armed sentries ensure that only invited guests
get inside. Once home to the
Empress Dowager Cixi
, since 1949 it's been the base of the
party's Central Committee and the Central People's Government; Mao Zedong and Zhou En-
lai both worked here. In 1989, pro-democracy protesters camped outside hoping to petition
their leaders, and a decade later a similarly large protest was held by Falun Gong practition-
ers, whose quasi-religious sect remains proscribed by a government fearful of its still sizeable
following and resultant potential threat to the Party.
Further west, the present-day Aviation Office stands on the site of the
Democracy Wall
,
which received its name during the so-called “Beijing Spring” in 1978 when posters ques-
tioning Mao and his political legacy were pasted here.
National Center for the Performing Arts
中国国家大剧院
, zhōngguó guójiā dàjùyuàn • 2 Xichang'an Jie •
010 66550000,
chncpa.org
• Ti-
an'anmen West subway (line 1)
Designed by French architect Paul Andreu and nicknamed - for obvious reasons - the “Egg”,
the
National Center for the Performing Arts
, off Zhongnanhai's southeastern corner,
opened up in 2007. This glass-and-titanium dome houses a concert hall, two theatres and a
2500-seat
opera house
. Visitors enter through a tunnel under the surrounding moat, the park-
like banks of which are the best vantage point for this wonderful specimen of modern archi-
tecture - look east to the po-faced monumentalism of the
Great Hall of the People
to see how
far China's architecture has come in a few short decades.
Bank of China
中国银行
, zhōngguó yínháng • Fuxingmen Neidajie • Xidan subway (lines 1 & 4)
Overlooking Xidan station is the huge headquarters of the
Bank of China
, built in 2002.
It was designed by superstar Chinese architect I.M. Pei, who was also responsible for the
Louvre's pyramid in Paris; there are glass pyramids here too, easily visible from the giant
atrium.
Capital Museum
首都博物馆
, shǒudū bówùguǎn • Fuxingmenwai Dajie • Tues-Sun 9am-5pm • Free (bring ID) •
010
63370491,
capitalmuseum.org.cn/en
• Muxidi subway (line 1)
The gigantic
Capital Museum
is a real beauty, both inside and out, whose most interesting
feature is a giant bronze cylinder, which shoots diagonally down through the roof as if from
