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General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Historical culture is the soul of a city. We must protect the city's historical and cultural heritage as if it were our own life."

The 7.8-kilometer-long Beijing Central Axis runs through the old city of Beijing from north to south. It is the axis of spatial planning and culture of Beijing, and is also the soul and lifeline of the city of Beijing. The 15 heritage elements along the line connect many landmark cultural landscapes and are an important carrier of Chinese civilization.

On July 27, 2024 local time, the 46th World Heritage Conference of UNESCO held in New Delhi, India passed a resolution to include "Beijing Central Axis - a Masterpiece of China's Ideal Capital Order" in the World Heritage List.

After the successful application of "Beijing Central Axis" for World Heritage status, various sectors in the capital have carried out various activities to present the profound historical and cultural heritage of the Central Axis and tell the story of the Central Axis well.

▲ Beijing Drum Tower Provided by Beijing Central Axis World Heritage Protection Office

The summer vacation and the successful application of the Central Axis for World Heritage status have made the Bell and Drum Tower Square in Dongcheng District even more lively. In addition to the surrounding residents who practice Tai Chi, spin tops, walk birds, and fly kites here, there are also tourists who come here for the sake of fame. The crowds are endless. Foreign tourists are very interested in the snacks, living habits, and historical folk customs of old Beijing. They will take the initiative to learn about them from the residents, and learn a piece of colorful satin dance and Tai Chi by the way, starting a day of sightseeing.

There are 15 heritage elements in Beijing's Central Axis, 12 of which are in Dongcheng District. Dongcheng District has a heavy responsibility to protect and inherit cultural heritage. In early August, Dongcheng District launched a series of cultural activities to celebrate the successful application of the "Beijing Central Axis" for World Heritage status. More than 10 cultural activities with four major themes, including the "Art Color·Central Axis" cultural performance series, the "Traces·Central Axis" city exploration series, the "Book Fragrance·Central Axis" national reading series, and the "Digital Intelligence·Central Axis" science and technology innovation series, were held successively to guide the public to participate in the protection and cultural dissemination of the Central Axis.

The "Art Color·Central Axis" cultural performance series is rich and colorful. Among them, the "Singing the Central Axis" series of mass performances show the magnificent landscape of the Central Axis and the cultural characteristics along the line through chorus, folk art, square dance, recitation, study and other methods; "I'm in the Drum Tower Life Festival" covers intangible cultural heritage shadow play, indoor light and shadow show, interactive immersive exhibition and other sections. After more than half a year of preparation, the shadow play "The Legend of Bells and Drums" created for the Bell and Drum Tower was staged recently. As night fell, the summer breeze blew through the Drum Tower. Adults and children sat on the ground, realizing punctuality, respect and cherishing time in the changing light and shadow.

In addition, activities such as the "Old Books, New Knowledge, Bells and Drums" cultural market, the Beijing Central Axis new book sharing session, and the "Understanding the Forbidden City on the Central Axis" Forbidden City art open class will lead the reading trend on the Central Axis. The Beijing Central Axis "Qidiandongdong AR Tour" activity and the "Central Axis Wonderful Night" VR experience project have opened up a new experience of the "Digital Central Axis".

The bustling city atmosphere and the solemn buildings on the central axis blend together, presenting the unique style of Beijing's central axis.

From August 3rd to 5th, three consecutive "Walking in Beijing" Central Axis Cultural Exploration Events were held, inviting citizens and tourists to learn about the historical and cultural value of the Central Axis.

The exploration activity adopts the form of city roaming, with two routes designed to cover the characteristic points of the central axis. Professional lecturers will lead everyone to feel the grandeur of ancient architecture, understand the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the ancient timekeeping system, and feel the profound cultural heritage.

Han Caiqiong, a doctoral student at the School of Literature of Zhejiang University, signed up for this event. She said, "I only knew about the scenic spots along the central axis before, but I didn't connect the dots to systematically understand the history of Beijing. What interested me most in this event was the expression of traditional Chinese concepts in the buildings along the central axis, especially the construction system and architectural decoration of Beijing, which expanded my knowledge."

On August 8, the "Beijing Central Axis - Brilliant Cultural Context and Magnificent Central Axis" exhibition, jointly organized by the Capital Museum and Beijing Daxing International Airport, opened at the terminal building of Beijing Daxing International Airport. The exhibition will last for one year and is open to the public free of charge. The exhibition is based on the "Glorious Central Axis - Special Exhibition to Commemorate the 870th Anniversary of Beijing's Founding as a Capital" in the Capital Museum. Through a digital touring exhibition, the exhibition shows the past and present of Beijing's Central Axis and the development of Beijing in three parts: "Central Axis Silhouette", "Central Axis Essence" and "Central Axis Overview". Visitors can also participate in scanning QR codes to answer questions in the "Reading the City" interactive area to learn about the central axis.

The central axis is the historical axis and cultural axis of the ancient capital Beijing, and it is also the innovation axis and development axis of the capital in the new era, which needs to be carefully protected. In the next step, Beijing will take "long-term, medium-term and short-term" measures to further optimize tourism services: in the long term, the "Beijing Central Axis Tourism Service Management Plan" will be formulated before the end of this year; in the medium term, the supply of tourism products on the central axis will be enriched in the third and fourth quarters of this year; in the near term, in conjunction with the summer tourism peak season, cultural exploration and experience activities on the central axis will be held, tourist routes will be optimized, tour guide explanations will be updated, and the safety and order of summer tourism will be coordinated.

"The successful application of the Central Axis for World Heritage status means that the task of inheritance and protection has become heavier. As the protection level is upgraded, we must continuously monitor the cultural relics, landscape environment and world heritage buffer zone, and comply with all the protection content promised when applying for world heritage." Shan Jixiang, director of the Academic Committee of the Palace Museum and director of the Dongcheng Cultural Development Research Institute, said, "The cultural and tourism departments must also provide better services to connect the culture of the Central Axis with the actual needs of citizens and tourists, so that the dissemination of the culture of the Central Axis will be more meaningful."

"The central axis is not just a line. There are many 'branches' extending beyond this line. The cultural resources contained in alleys and guild halls are worthy of study. In addition, according to the interests of different groups of people, the bridge culture, timekeeping culture and water system on the central axis can also be explored in depth to present the central axis from different angles." said Ma Xiaodong, a cultural and tourism practitioner.

China Culture News, August 19, 2024

Special report published on page 1

Strolling through Beijing and seeing the Central Axis

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Editor: Zhang Haining