VOL.84/2025.07

 

[New Ways of Walking Through Cities ⑥]

The Center of the World Behind High Walls: Beijing

 

2025.06.02

 

 

China is the fourth largest country on Earth. Its coastline spans more than 18,000 kilometers, and it borders 18 countries, including North Korea, Russia, Mongolia, and India. So, it’s impossible to summarize China in a few words or even a few sentences. This is what makes Beijing so special. Unlike Shanghai, Chongqing, Hong Kong, and other international cities, it has the symbolism of being a city that was built by only Chinese people under meticulous planning. It’s also in Beijing that fossils of Beijing Man (北京原人), a subspecies of Homo erectus, the first hominid to use fire, were discovered—no wonder the city has such historical significance.
Perhaps this is why, among the Chinese, it’s been labeled “the place for those who care more about their dignity than anywhere else in the country.” In fact, Beijingers are said to prefer to quote old poems and ancient tales in conversation. This is because they consider cultivation and erudition to be an important factor in evaluating a person. The city resembles such people. From a practical point of view, it is too big, too colorful, and too complicated. However, that is also what makes it the most Chinese. Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City are two such examples.
Of course, Beijing isn’t all about grandiose buildings. Many small, narrow streets stretch endlessly between historic spaces and buildings. This is why you need a detailed and helpful guide - one that doesn’t just point out signs and signposts, but also thoroughly walks you through the city’s history and values. Only then will you be able to get a glimpse of the real Beijing, a city that has steadfastly maintained its values behind its high and thick walls.

 

The center of the world made by Chinese people

 

 

Beijing is a place that is unlike any other city in the world. It has long been the center of China, and as such, it feels like it is located at the very heart of the country. It is intimidating to approach, and you often feel like you could get lost if you take the wrong step, with walls blocking your view everywhere. The “bamboo curtain” that marked the border between China and non-Communist countries during the Cold War is perhaps the best way to describe Beijing. And the book, Beijing Culture Behind the Fence (Areumnamu), explains in detail why Beijing has come to have the image it does, and whether those preconceptions are true or misunderstood. It starts with an explanation of what Beijing looks like. The illustrations help you familiarize yourself with the city’s geography, while the photographs show typical spaces in each district. Thanks to this, you will feel like you are reading a friendly travel guide. Plus, there’s plenty of historical and cultural commentary throughout.

 

 

The detailed descriptions of famous spots in the east, west, north, and south of Beijing’s center, the back streets that can be reached by bike, and the internationally acclaimed Dashanzi, or the 798 Art District, are also fascinating. In particular, the humane aspects of Beijing and the results of its resistance to homogenization make the city even more mysterious. Of course, the book emphasizes that these elements cannot be experienced and appreciated all at once, because Beijing is so big and far-reaching. That is why the book’s efficient itinerary is so helpful: it will help inflate your excitement for the city.

 

Sinocentrism realized as a city

 

 

Once you have gotten a sense of Beijing’s layout and structure, it is time to explore the meaning that underlies it. The book, Walking Through the 800-Year History of Beijing (Purun Yoksa), draws on a variety of historical facts to explain what role Beijing has played over the course of its nearly 800 years as a city and 600 years as a capital. It is intriguing to glance at the accounts of Beijing written by officials and scholars from neighboring Joseon, as well as missionaries and diplomats from Europe. They all point out how meticulously the city was planned and how that plan is actually functioning. Beijing is literally a city that has never been seen before in the East and West.

 

 

The book elaborates on how much effort went into realizing the ideal of Beijing as the “center of the world.” It highlights what you need to pay special attention to in this massive planned city, which was built with a combination of legends, yin & yang and the five elements, and the most advanced engineering of the time. Of course, we can also get a glimpse into the ordinary lives of the common people living within. In addition, you will find yourself getting even more excited to head to Beijing, as the book describes the hutongs (胡同), the friendly alleyways that could be free from the imperial presence of the “High One,” as if they were unfolding before your eyes.

 

A friendly guide to a gigantic art city

 

 

Beijing Salon (Edition W) by Cheon Soo-Rim, a former contributor to various art publications and editor-in-chief of a photography magazine, provides a more in-depth look at Beijing, as the title suggests. While you can read about the city’s epic history and grand narrative, the book’s charm lies in its intimate explanation of the artistic symbolism that permeates it. The author’s focus is not on the big buildings and wide boulevards, but on the alleyways and shops, where small but colorful lives go on. The various facets of life that are being created in them are both diverse and, therefore, beautiful. Their existence, she says, has been left unrecorded by history, and has laid the groundwork for Beijing to become one of Asia’s most culturally vibrant cities. One of the most representative areas is the bookstore.

 

 

Beyond bookstores, this book offers a fascinating look at the breadth of Beijing’s cultural spectrum, with examples from sectors as diverse as cuisine, clothing, music, and film, such as Beijing’s world-class cuisine, the colorful porcelain bowls that accompany it, and the European art pieces inspired by it. The key point to note is that it was not a single empire and a few ethnic groups, but a multilayered mix of many ethnicities from many countries that created the unique content of Beijing. In addition, the book details how that uniqueness manifested itself in the living environment of Beijingers.

 

 

Ever since the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty moved the capital from Nanjing in 1406, Beijing has consolidated its status and function as a capital city for more than 600 years. Throughout this period, countless people have traveled to Beijing from all over China and the world. The stories and traces they have left behind are so vast that nothing can fully capture them. As such, it is impossible to see all of Beijing in just a few days. Even those who have spent years in the city say its physical vastness and historical depth are beyond measure.
Of course, Beijing has also undergone significant changes as China went through rapid modernization and industrialization. Nevertheless, the symbolism of Beijing, which China claims to be the center of the world and also the heart of China, has grown bigger and stronger. Maybe that is why Beijing represents China. Beijing is the city that embraces all things and eventually reorganizes them to fit the Chinese order.

 

 

---

Written by Jeong Hwan-Jeong