Beijing Central Axis: Connecting the History and Future of the City of Two Olympics
On November 14, 2021, at the Bell and Drum Tower Square in Beijing, Mr. Jiang, a citizen, took a little girl to test ride his "high seat" bicycle modified with bamboo poles.
The bamboo board on the car is engraved with the emblem of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
The Bell and Drum Tower is located at the northernmost end of Beijing's traditional north-south central axis. It used to be the time-reporting center of Beijing during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
Today, the "morning bell and evening drum" is no longer ringing here, and the Bell and Drum Tower Square has become a good place for citizens to relax and exercise.
On August 17, 2008, on Qianmen Street in Beijing, citizens cheered for athletes participating in the women's marathon at the Beijing Olympics.
On March 1, 2019, the first leg of the 2019 FIS China Beijing Cross-Country Skiing Grand Prix was held at the Bird's Nest Ceremony Square in Beijing Olympic Park.
On the evening of January 28, in Dongcheng District, Beijing, under the Yongding Gate, citizens took pictures in front of the lighting of the Olympic Rings.
On the same day, the Yongdingmen Park Section (Dongcheng Section) of the "Lighting the Central Axis" landscape lighting improvement project was lit.
On January 14, in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in front of the "Wonder Olympics" themed flower bed, two men were broadcasting live on their mobile phones.
On December 15, 2021, at the Beijing Capital Museum's "Reading the City - Exploring Beijing's Central Axis" exhibition, Beijing geohistory expert Zhu Zuxi (second from right) explained the buildings on the central axis to the visitors next to the model.
On February 4, at the 2022 Beijing News Center, two young people used virtual reality technology to "ride" between the central axis and the Winter Olympics venues.
On February 8, the 2022 Beijing News Center held a live broadcast of "Walking on the Central Axis" of "The City of Double Olympics, Watching the Code". Experts and scholars including member Wang Zhijie (right) appeared on the scene, and many reporters stopped to take pictures.
People play in the snow in Beijing Olympic Forest Park on February 18.
On December 1, 2021, on Di'anmenwai Street in Beijing, workers were sorting building materials in front of a roadside fence when a pedestrian passed by on a bicycle.
Inside the enclosure, the transformation and repair of the hutongs related to the application of the central axis are being carried out.
Citizens look north in front of the Beijing Central Axis nameplate on the top of Jingshan Mountain in Beijing on December 2, 2021.
The number of the Gregorian calendar date of the day is 20211202, and the numbers are completely symmetrical. Many citizens in Beijing came to Jingshan, the commanding height on the central axis, to check in and appreciate the beauty of symmetry.
Mr. Jiang is a cycling enthusiast. When the weather is good, every weekend, he rides his "high seat" bicycle modified with bamboo to travel through the alleys in Beijing, the Bell and Drum Towers and Di'anmen near the central axis. , the corner tower of the Forbidden City and other places are his frequent places.
The emblem of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is engraved on the support plate of the bicycle, and he said that he hopes to cheer for the Beijing Winter Olympics in this special way.
The holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics has made Beijing the only "Double Olympic City" in the world that has hosted both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics.
"When the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opened, I watched the live broadcast on TV. The scene of 29 fireworks in the shape of large footprints from Yongding Gate to the Bird's Nest along the central axis left a deep impression on me." Jiang said Mr.
The central axis has a long history, and riding in it now has a feeling of traveling through time.
The central axis of Beijing refers to the symmetry axis of the buildings in the east-west symmetrical layout of the city of Beijing.
The central axis in the traditional sense starts from Yongdingmen in the south and ends at the Bell and Drum Tower in the north, with a straight-line distance of about 7.8 kilometers.
According to historians, this north-south axis of Beijing began in the Yuan Dynasty and has a history of more than 700 years. It is the longest and most complete ancient city axis in existence in the world.
Many buildings on both sides of the central axis are distributed symmetrically in pairs, such as the Temple of Heaven and the Xiannong Temple, the National Museum and the Great Hall of the People, the Cultural Palace of the Working People (Tai Temple) and Zhongshan Park (Sheji Temple).
Through the central axis, we can understand how Chinese people express their awareness of political ideas, cultural symbols and living spaces through planning and layout.
Shan Jixiang, President of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics and Director of the Academic Committee of the Palace Museum, introduced: In addition to connecting the epitome of a city's history, the symmetry of the central axis itself also incorporates the essence of traditional Chinese culture.
Throughout the 5,000-year history of China, the central idea and the sense of righteousness are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
In the 1990s, in order to connect the city center and the Asian Games Village, Beijing led out Gulouwai Street from the Bell and Drum Tower Bridge on the Second Ring Road, and then went north to the Third Ring Road and changed its name to Beichen Road. Sports Center, and to the west is the Chinese National Park.
In 2001, after Beijing's successful bid for the Olympic Games, the central axis was extended to the north again and became the landscape avenue of the Olympic Park.
To the east is the National Stadium (Bird's Nest), and to the west is the National Aquatics Center (Water Cube).
Go further north, pass through the Olympic Park, and arrive at the Olympic Forest Park, where Yangshan and Aohai are on the central axis.
During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, some races were specially arranged to be held near the central axis and surrounding buildings: the starting point of the road cycling race was set under the Yongdingmen gate, passing through the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen, Yuandadu Ruins Park, etc.; the starting and ending points of the race walking race In the National Stadium, the competition route is set on the landscape avenue in the Olympic Park, which is a 2-kilometer round-trip route.
In 2015, after Beijing and Zhangjiakou successfully bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, related ice and snow sports in Beijing are also in full swing.
Bird's Nest Happy Ice and Snow Season, Orson Park Ice and Snow Carnival, etc., have been held for several times so far, and become the destination for people to play ice and snow every winter.
In March 2019, an international cross-country skiing competition was held in front of the Bird's Nest Festival Square. The landscape avenue on the central axis was covered with artificial snow and turned into a ski track.
At this year's Beijing Winter Olympics, the "Water Cube" became the "Ice Cube" and became the venue for curling competitions.
On the evening of March 4th, the Beijing Winter Paralympics will open, and the "Ice Cube" will also become a wheelchair curling arena.
As early as June 11, 2011, the sixth cultural heritage day in China, the Beijing Central Axis Application for Cultural Heritage Project was officially launched.
In 2012, Beijing Central Axis was selected into the "China's World Cultural Heritage Preliminary List".
Since then, in 2018, 19 heritage sites including Yongdingmen, Xiannongtan, and Temple of Heaven were identified in Beijing's central axis application, aiming to basically meet the requirements for application in 2030 and ensure that the target of application for the application is achieved by 2035.
Today, the central axis of Beijing is still growing, extending north to the foot of Yanshan Mountain and south to Daxing International Airport, with a total length of 88 kilometers.
In addition to the extension of the physical space, the central axis is also sprouting and growing in the digital space of the network.
During the Beijing Winter Olympics, at the 2022 Beijing News Center, an interactive experience game called "The City of Double Olympics, Joyful Tour" attracted the attention of many people.
The game uses virtual reality technology to allow participants to experience the feeling of riding between the central axis and the Winter Olympics venue on the exercise bike.
A volunteer serving in the interactive experience area said that this game can not only exercise, but also enjoy the scenery of Beijing's Double Olympics City, which is very suitable for young people.
"During the ride, you can see yesterday, today and tomorrow in Beijing," she said.
At the end of 2021, the "digital axis" initiated by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics and other units will also be officially launched. According to reports, the "digital axis" will use big data, cloud computing, game technology, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and knowledge graphs. and other new technologies and creative forms of cultural content to promote the digital protection and inheritance of cultural heritage.
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Chen Jian photo report source: China Youth Daily