An ongoing passion for historic Beijing

Friends living in more modern parts of the city would ask to be shown some of the hidden gems within the former historic walls — and were never disappointed. Recently two Australian visitors to Beijing, who are passionate about the city, went with me around the Zhonggulou area. Fortuitously some alleys still retained much, making it feel like little had changed.

Over my three decades of association with the city, Beijing has opened up to me like pages from a textbook. What is it that made the old city of Beijing so different, so special? After some thought, I realized it was like no other city in the way it was planned and laid out. At its heart resided the em-perors through various dynasties. The city symbolically was built around them and their needs, which included annual ceremonial visits to temples or altars representing the sun, earth, moon and heaven. Then there was the importance of water — or the lack of it — and time, in a city where people had neither clocks nor watches. I was thinking of this when I met up with my Australian friends outside Guloudajie Metro Station.