I walked a mere 20 minutes from my apartment to find these treasures in the neighborhood around Deshengmen. Beijing’s city walls once had a series of massive gates at various points for entry. In the early and mid-20th century, they tore down almost all of the city wall to make room for modernization and to use the bricks as building material. Along with the wall went almost all of the gates. Today, only a few remain.
Deshengmen Arrow Tower
Deshengmen was located along the northern side of the city wall. Historically, if the Chinese army was victorious, they would return through this gate. Unfortunately, only half of the gate compound remains, the Deshengmen Arrow Tower. This magnificent structure now houses the Beijing Ancient Coins Museum in the temple below it and an exhibition about defending the city in the tower above. The tower’s platform affords great views of the inner city looking over hutongs with the Bell and Drum Towers, Beihai’s white stupa, and Jingshan’s pavilions in view.
Canals and Locks – Old City Moat
A moat ran around the ancient city walls. It was part of the greater canal system that connected all important points in Beijing, and to the southeast joined with the Grand Canal connecting southern China with northern China. Although the walls were removed, many of the canals have remained or been reconstructed. This is true of most of the moat along what was the northern city wall, which is now the northern 2nd Ring Road.
All along this waterway, you’ll find lovely and serene parks, some of them historical. An ancient Chinese secret also lies in plain sight near Deshengmen. Beijing is mostly flat, but it rises as you approach the mountains to the north and west. This meant using the canals for transportation wasn’t possible without a series of locks. All along Beijing’s waterways locks allowed for boat travel, especially for the royal entourage going out to the Summer Palace to the northwest. Purple Bamboo Park boasts a set of locks, which is why it was an imperial park serving as a rest stop to change boats on the way up the canals.
Huitongci Guo Shoujing Memorial Hall
The engineer responsible for Beijing’s waterways is commemorated in a memorial hall near Deshengmen. Guo Shoujing was an astronomer and engineer during the Yuan Dynasty. In addition to connecting Dadu (the name of Beijing at the time) to the Grand Canal among his other water projects in the Mongol capital, the Emperor named him the chief astronomer of China. As such, he constructed more than two dozen observatories across china and created a new calendar for the realm. This new calendar calculated each year to be 365.2425 days, almost exactly as we understand it today.
The replicas stand at the northern end of the Shichahai lakes, where the originals once stood. The city demolished the originals in the 1960s when Line 2 of the Beijing Subway. They built Jishuitan Station at that spot. The hall is free, with ID, and exhibits wonderful information, some in English, about this man and his legacy. There are also replicas of a couple of the astronomical tools he designed on the grounds.
