Best for atmosphere
Site of Duan Qirui's government
Who built it? The premier of the Republic of China, Duan Qirui, ordered the construction of a complex for his government in the early 20th century. It stands today as an excellent example of classical Republican architecture.
Why it’s important Just as the appearance of President Duan’s building reflected a veneer of Western architectural style, so too did his government adopt a thin varnish of ‘constitutionalism’. He was called ‘Mr Democracy’ on account of his resistance to a Qing Dynasty restoration, but the nickname soon became one of derision. In subsequent years, the site of Duan Qirui’s government became the residence of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist troops until the Japanese chased them away. In 1945, the Nationalist army reclaimed this site until General Fu Zouyi surrendered the city to the People’s Liberation Army. Although ripe for renovation, an ownership dispute has left the buildings in disrepair today, and, despite being declared a cultural relic in 1996, it looks set to stay that way for the time being. These days, it is used as a downtown campus for Renmin University.
3 Zhangzizhong Lu (next to Yugong Yishan), Dongcheng district. 东城区张自忠路3号(愚公移山东南侧)
Best for history
Old Summer Palace
Who built it? The ‘Western Palaces’ are a legacy of China’s Jesuit tradition. The Qian Long Emperor commissioned Giuseppe Castiglione – a painter and architect who arrived in Beijing in 1715, and spent his life serving the Qing Court – to design them in 1747.
Why they’re important The final result was something of a reverse image of European chinoiserie, a fanciful interpretation of the palaces at Versailles with Chinese touches. But Castiglione was slammed by patriotic officials who despised such foreign outlandishness. Alas, this synthesis of East and West fell to the philistine destruction carried out by the Anglo- French armies that occupied Beijing in 1860, and today it lies in ruins.
Best for grandeur
Raffles Beijing Hotel
Who built it? L’Hotel Pekin, to use its proper name, was built by two enterprising Frenchmen during the reconstruction of the city after the Boxer Rebellion of 1900.
Why it's important It’s the city’s oldest-surviving ‘Western’ hotel and its different sections show how it was expanded over the years; the imposing French-infused colonnade facade was constructed in the early 1900s, with later extensions added. In the 1910s, warlords would gather at the hotel and down tumblers of cherry brandy while making contacts with shadowy characters offering loans from financial syndicates. In the roaring ‘20s, the hotel hosted the likes of philosopher Bertrand Russell and writer George Bernard Shaw; in the ‘50s, it underwent another renovation and became the centre for socialist soirees for visitors Nikita Khrushchev, Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara, along with their hosts, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou.
Best for spirituality
Dongtang Cathedral
Who built it? In 1652, the Shun Zhi Emperor granted the Jesuits permission to build a church at one of Beijing's most prestigious addresses.
Why it’s important A popular site for wedding photos, Dongtang Cathedral’s Romanesque domes call to mind the arrival of the Jesuits as the first European residents in Beijing after the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty. Despite repeated reconstructions because of earthquakes or civil unrest, a church has remained on that site ever since. The current structure was rebuilt in 1903, after the destruction of the Boxer Rebellion.
74 Wangfujing Dajie (500m north of Wangfujing subway station), Dongcheng district (6524 0634). 王府 井天主教堂, 东城区王府井大街74号
Best for indulgence
Former American Legation
Who built it? In the Qing Dynasty, this district was set aside by the Board of Rites for hostels where tribute missions from border countries would stay before their imperial audience. So, naturally, when the British and French came demanding a diplomatic presence within the city walls, the Qing court served up a part of town already suited to the barbarians.
Why it’s important At the western end of Dong Jiao Min Xiang (or Legation Street), the Americans established their legation in the 1860s. The site was seriously damaged during the Boxer Rebellion and soon a new building arose, supposedly constructed on the basis of a blueprint for a post office in Washington DC. Perhaps that urban legend is not true, but the building nevertheless bears an uncanny similarity to governmental agencies built in the US city in the first half of the 20th century. Now, the old legation hosts chic high-end restaurants developed in the ‘lifestyle development project’ called Ch’ien Men 23 for a new set of barbarians.
23 Qianmen Dong Dajie, Dongcheng district. 东城区前门东大街23号
M.A. Aldrich