Comprising Sections

The 7.8-kilometer-long cityscape sequence of Beijing Central Axis contains contrasts and variations in a harmonious and unified order.

The layout is symmetrical with proportional modal relationships, while the building designs are clear in their hierarchy of form, undulating in their scale and moderate in their spatial arrangement. Through traditional Chinese urban planning and architectural design, Beijing Central Axis presents an imposing and orderly overall spatial form. In this way they reflect the differences in hierarchy while forming an intrinsically ordered whole. Its spatial experience full of rhythmic variations and integrating ritual and music systems demonstrates the unique aesthetic pursuit and richness of Chinese culture and expresses the rite and order followed in capital planning practices of ancient times.

As master architect Liang Sicheng wrote: “Rhythm and rhyme are critical factors contributing to a building’s artistic image…” “Such rhythm and rhyme are visible everywhere in the old city of Beijing. For example, the Tiananmen Gate is a key measure or beat in the musical movement from the Upright Gate to the Meridian Gate. The Thousand-Step Corridor on each side is rhythmically structured with a row of equidistant pillars. But such rhythm would pause every nine or eleven bays, with a partition of wall. Roof ridges with such design therefore gave rise to the Gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Gate of the Altar of Grain and Land on east and west sides respectively, as if a new theme were introduced. Such beats repeat rhythmically until they reach the Upright Gate and then happen again to the Meridian Gate.”

——Liang Sicheng, Architecture and Art of Architecture

Northern Section

The Bell and Drum Towers, the tallest building complex of Beijing Central Axis, stand majestically above the surrounding relatively low-lying gray brick and tiled traditional courtyards. The prosperous commercial buildings south of the Bell and Drum Towers clearly define the streetscape of the central road. Along the road, the Wanning Bridge crosses over the Yuhe River, adding a gentle and moderate quality to the north section and forming the first spatial ensemble of Beijing Central Axis from the north together with the towering Bell and Drum Towers and prosperous commercial streets.

Northern-Central Section

The northern-central section is dominated by imperial palaces, gardens and sacrificial buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It concentrates the highest-ranking buildings of Beijing Central Axis, with shining glazed roof tiles and splendid building colors, to form the second spatial ensemble of Beijing Central Axis. The Jinshan Hill as its commanding height provides the best viewpoint to enjoy the landscape in the south and the north. Looking south and north from the Wanchun Pavilion, one will see wide and straight roads and symmetrically arranged buildings that form a well-ordered, magnificent cityscape. The Five Pavilions, symmetrically laid out from east to west with the Wanchun Pavilion at the center, presents a pinnacle of landscape in this section of axis.

Southern-Central Section

The flat and extensive Tian’anmen Square Complex in the southern-central section is a place for hosting national ceremonies built from the 1950s to 70s. The Monument to the People's Heroes stands in the center of the square on the Axis in a classical Chinese stele style, emphasizing the principle of "choosing the center." The location, size, height, and facade of the National Museum of China and the Great Hall of the People face each other symmetrically on the east and west sides of the square. Their symmetrical designs, with flat roofs and colonnaded facades, highlight the dominant status of the Monument at the center of the square, integrated into the landscape created by the traditional Chinese architecture on Beijing Central Axis. This section harmonizes with the overall traditional cityscape of Beijing Central Axis, forming the third spatial ensemble of Beijing Central Axis.

Southern Section

The southern section from the Zhengyangmen Gate to the Yongdingmen Gate forms the fourth spatial ensemble of Beijing Central Axis. The northern section of Qianmen Street in its north is a bustling commercial quarter. In its south is the core area for emperors’ sacrificial and ceremonial activities during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The suburban natural environment has been maintained and imposing sacrificial buildings amidst ancient cypress trees are combined to create a natural, solitary and mysterious landscape.