Huilongguan (回龙观) is a suburban residential neighborhood in northern

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, located in

Changping District Changping District (), formerly Changping County (), is a district situated in the suburbs of north and northwest Beijing. History Changping County and Jundu County which administered the area were established in the Han Dynasty. Changping was i ...

, 33 km north of the city. Originally, a satellite town, Huilongguan has grown to become part of the extended Beijing metropolis inside the

6th Ring Road The 6th Ring Road () is an expressway ring road in Beijing, China which runs around the city approximately from the center of the city. The 6th Ring Road is approximately long. The road is numbered G4501 and as such is strictly speaking con ...

History

During the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

Emperor Hongzhi The Hongzhi Emperor () (30 July 1470 – 9 June 1505) was the tenth List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1487 to 1505. Born Zhu Youcheng, he was the eldest surviving son of the Chenghua Emperor and his ...

established a

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

in what is now Huilongguan. This temple, named Xuanfu Palace, began construction in 1504 and was completed 12 years later, under the

Zhengde Emperor The Zhengde Emperor (; 26 October 149120 April 1521) was the 11th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1505 to 1521. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. Zhu Houzhao took the throne at only 14 with the era name Zhen ...

. The temple later came to be known as Huilongguan. After its completion, the temple was often used by the Ming emperors as a stopping place between the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...

and the

Ming tombs The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led ...

at Tianshou Mountain. This may explain why the temple was also known as Huilongguan (Returning Dragon View). Alternatively, the name could have come from a nearby Taoist temple named Huilong, which would have been visible from Xuanfu Palace.

Public transit

Huilongguan is accessible by the

Beijing Subway The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Municipality that consists of 25 lines including 20 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines, and 463 stations. The rail network extends acro ...

via Line 8 and Line 13. Line 13 makes three stops along the southern edge of Huilongguan, at Longze, Huilongguan and Huoying. Line 8 has stops at Yuzhi Lu, Pingxifu, Huilongguan Dongdajie, and Huoying. Huilongguan is also traversed by several public buses, some running from the many apartment complexes in the area to the subway stations and others from the suburb into the city.

References

External links

Huilongguan Net (HLGnet)
{{coord, 40, 04, N, 116, 18, E, display=title, region:CN_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Changping District Neighbourhoods of Beijing Subdistricts of Beijing