Beijing has a history of more than 3,000 years as a city and a history of more than 800 years as a capital. Although it is full of tall buildings and streets, it still cannot conceal the traces of people's lives for thousands of years. The long history has left Beijing with familiar attractions such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Temple of Heaven, as well as many quiet and simple historical sites scattered in the city. Away from the hustle and bustle of traffic and bustling crowds, these niche attractions are either mixed in residential houses, or built as free leisure parks along the highway, and have become unknown because they have integrated into the lives of ordinary people. But when you get closer, when you quietly face the scenic spots and objects that carry the fate and historical situation of many characters, you will find that their stories are so embarrassing and touching. I want to record all these niche attractions that I have visited.

Phase 1 Xinwenhua Street and Tonglinge Road

There is a block on the west side of Xuanwumen Inner Street. Two perpendicularly intersecting roads divide the whole block into four areas. One runs east-west and is called New Culture Street. Before 1965, it was called Shifuma Street. The primary school is next to Xinwenhua Street; another north-south road is called Tonglinge Road. There are many cultural attractions scattered on both sides of the road, the specific locations are as follows.


1. Inlaid with the red flag Manchuria Dutong Yamen

Built in the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, at the beginning of its construction, it was the yamen of Manchuria, Mongolia, and Han armies with Xianghong Banner. In the middle of Guangxu period, the yamen of Mongolia and Han army moved out. Now it is a residential compound and is not open to the public.

What is the inlaid red flag? That starts with the Manchurian Eight Banners system. The Jurchens, the ancestors of the Manchus, used shooting and hunting as their business. During the harvesting season every year, the clan or village was used as the unit, and the famous people were the leaders. This form of organization for collective hunting based on blood and geography is called cattle recording. . Later, due to the needs of military warfare, Nurhachi reorganized the establishment and designated 300 people as one Niulu, five Niulu as a Jiala, and Wujiala as a Gushan. Gushan means "flag" in Chinese. In other words, there are 7,500 people per banner, which is roughly equivalent to the number of people in a battalion of the current army. In the twenty-ninth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1601), four banners were initially set up, namely yellow, white, red, and blue. , Bordered white, bordered red, bordered blue, formed the Manchu Eight Banners, and also became the social organization system of the unity of soldiers and civilians in the entire Qing Dynasty. In the early years of Shunzhi, according to the size of military achievements and the results of military struggles, the Eight Banners were divided into the upper three banners (Jianghuang, Zhenghuang, Zhengbai) and the lower five banners (Zhenghong, Xiangbai, Xianghong, Zhenglan, Xianglan). The emperor's favorite concubine, Zhenfei, was from the inlaid red banner, and Wanrong, the empress of the late Qing Dynasty, was from the white banner.

2. King's Mansion of Keqin County

In the early Qing Dynasty, the Qing government entrusted eight founding fathers who made illustrious military exploits in the process of establishing the foundation. Jierhalang, the nephew of Prince Rui, Dorgon, the fourteenth son of Nurhachi, Duduo, the fifteenth son of Nurhachi, Prince Yu, Hauge, the eldest son of Huangtaiji, Prince Su, Shuosai, the fifth son of Huangtaiji, Prince Zhuang, and Daishan, the eldest son of Prince Li of Keqin County Yuetuo, Leke Dehun, the grandson of Prince Li Daishan of Shuncheng County. This Keqin County King's Mansion was awarded to Yuetuo's descendants by the imperial court during the Shunzhi period. After the Republic of China, the last generation of Keqin County King Manson sold the palace to Xiong Xiling, and Manson finally became a rickshaw driver. The world is impermanent, I am afraid this is something that the ancestors of King Keqin would never have imagined. Wangfu is now the Xinwenhua Street Branch of Beijing No. 2 Experimental Primary School, separated from the main campus by Tonglinge Road.

3. Lu Xun Middle School

The reason why Lu Xun Middle School is famous is that it is closely connected with a famous essay, which is "In memory of Liu Hezhen" written by Mr. Lu Xun. This is the former site of the Beijing Normal School for Women, which has been renamed several times. Lu Xun once taught here from 1923 to 1926. During Lu Xun's teaching period, it was called National Beijing Women's Normal University. On March 18, 1926, Liu Hezhen and her classmates set off from here to participate in the Tiananmen Rally led by Li Dazhao with more than 5,000 students in Beijing. Foreign warships in Tianjin, and the organization of Beijing citizens' anti-imperialist alliance and other resolutions. After the meeting, the masses staged a demonstration and were massacred by Duan Qirui's guards in front of the ruling government. 47 people were killed and 199 were injured. Liu Hezhen was among the 47 killed. Today's Lu Xun Middle School still maintains its original appearance at that time, hidden in the dense green shade, silently telling the bloody history.

4. Qingxue Department

In the 21st year of Guangxu (1905), the imperial examination was stopped, and schools were established in all provinces. In order to manage the affairs of schools across the country, a school was established here. After the Revolution of 1911, it was changed to the Ministry of Education, and the street in front of the gate is also called Education Street. From 1912 to 1926, Mr. Lu Xun served as an officer and section chief of the first section of the Social Education Department of the Ministry of Education. Now it is Jinghua Experimental School.

5. General Tong Linge commemorative landscape

On the east side of the north entrance of Tonglinge Road, there is a miniature landscape, which includes two sculptures of a pocket watch and a book. The time on the pocket watch was fixed at 14:30 on July 28, 1937, which was the time when General Tong Linge died for his country, and his life story was simply recorded on the page. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke out on July 7, 1937. Tong Linge led the 29th Army stationed in Beiping to rise up and resist, and died in the battle to defend Nanyuan. Tong Linge was one of the first senior Kuomintang generals who died after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, and Zhao Dengyu also died at the same time. After the battle, his wife, Peng Jingzhi, and his children sadly collected his bones and sent them to the Bolin Temple in Beiping. Out of admiration for the general’s patriotism against Japan, the abbot of the temple kept his secrets even after the fall of Peking. The memorial tablet of "The Spirit of Hukoukou, the Lord of Xianfu" was laid on Xiangshan until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. After Zhao Dengyu died, his body was buried on the spot with the officers and soldiers of the 29th Army. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, his subordinate He Jifeng buried the general and the loyal remains of the officers and soldiers of the 29th Army who died in the fierce battle. There is a monument on the west side of the road at Daokou Station, and flowers will be laid to pay tribute to it every Ching Ming Festival. Because Tong Linge once lived here, in memory of him, this road was named Tong Linge Road. There is another road in Beijing called Zhao Dengyu Road. Maybe it's not enough publicity, maybe it's not much reading. Before I learned about this road, I didn't know anything about these two anti-Japanese heroes. I thank the country for not letting the heroes be submerged in history in this way. Sitting on the bench next to the landscape, what echoed in my mind was the hail of bullets back then, while the whole body felt the tranquility and ease of the present.

6. Former residence of Li Dazhao

From the summer of 1916 to the spring of 1927, Li Dazhao worked and lived in Beijing for ten years and lived in eight places successively. From the spring of 1920 to January 1924, Li Dazhao's family lived in Wenhua Hutong for nearly four years. This was the residence where he lived with his family for the longest time outside his hometown. This period of time was also an important period before and after the founding of the party, and it was the first golden period of Li Dazhao's revolutionary cause. On April 6, 1927, Li Dazhao was arrested by the government of Zhang Zuolin. On the afternoon of April 28, 1927, Li Dazhao and others were escorted to the Xijiaominxiang Jingshi Detention Center by soldiers with live ammunition. He looked at the noose calmly and was the first to board On the gallows, he made the last speech in his life: "Just because the reactionaries hanged me today, the great communism cannot be hanged. Communism will surely win a glorious victory in China!" How firm his belief is! How accurate is his judgment on history!

With the popularity of "The Age of Awakening", more and more people have gradually learned about and visited here.

7. Chinese Holy Church

I have passed by him countless times, but it was not open to the public at that time. From the outside, this is a church. What is particularly striking is the two octagonal skylights on the roof, which are antique and have the charm of traditional Chinese architecture. In March 2022, I accidentally discovered that there was a bookstore here. The first time I walked into this bookstore was also the first time I walked into a church in my life. Although the area inside the church is small, the roof is very high, the circular dome in the middle is magnificent, and the stained glass windows are large and gorgeous, making the overall feeling very atmospheric. It was originally the private residence of an official of the Qing government. During the Gengzi Incident in 1900, the British army occupied the area inside Beijing's Xuanwu Gate, and British missionaries forcibly purchased it to build a church. In the 33rd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1907), Bishop Shi Jiale of the North China Diocese of the Anglican Church (a branch of Christianity) invited people to design and construct the church building. It was completed in that year and has been standing until now.

Bus information: The traffic around the block is very convenient

Bus station: West Exit of Xinwenhua Street, South of Xidan Intersection

Subway station: Exit J1, Xidan Station, Metro Line 4