Re-creating Beijing's glorious city wall and watchtowers

A craftsman carves on a wooden structure of an old Beijing watchtower replica.

Fond memories

Beijing's fortifications were built in the 15th and 16th centuries. The inner city wall was 24 kilometers long and 15 meters high, with a thickness of 20 meters at ground level and 12 meters at the top. It had nine gates. The outer city walls had a perimeter of 28 km with seven gates. Stacked together, they form a "凸" shape on a standard map.

American architect Edmond Bacon once described the city wall as "man's greatest single architectural achievement on the face of the Earth". And Swedish scholar Osvald Siren wrote: "When you are standing by the gate's archway, you can feel the liveliness of the entire city, even the entire city's great expectations, all passing incessantly through these rather dark and narrow archways－the city's heartbeat, pumping life force to this incredibly complex organism called Beijing, giving it life, giving it rhythm."

Unfortunately, much of the city wall was dismantled in the 20th century, especially during the political turmoil of 1950s-70s. Only some isolated remnants are now visible.

"I grew up in Beijing and as a kid got on some sections of the wall. It is a fond memory that I'd never forget," recalls Chan, from an aristocratic family that had become impoverished after the downfall of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Attending the unveiling ceremony, Shan Jixiang, curator of the Palace Museum (popularly known as the Forbidden City), gave a vivid summary of the city's history and the importance of the wall in public imagination: Human habitation of the place that would grow to be Beijing started as early as half a million years ago. A city came into shape 3,000 years ago and it became a capital city 800 years ago. Most people got to learn about its history through the Forbidden City and the old city wall.

"Today, the Forbidden City is still here but the wall with its gates and watchtowers is gone. It has yielded to the subway and a ring road. When I was a kid, we used to fly kites, catch dragonflies and skate along the wall. Most old Beijingers have tender and affectionate memories of the wall and now the replicas are a reminder of their cultural history. I believe it is a great way of making us remember who we are," Shan says.