Xidan (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
:
西 单;
Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
: Xīdān) is a major traditional commercial area in
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 ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
It is located in the
Xicheng District
Xicheng District () is a district of Beijing. Xicheng District spans , covering the western half of the old city (largely inside the 2nd Ring Road - the eastern half is Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District), and has 706,691 inhabitant ...
.
The Xidan commercial district incorporates the Xidan Culture Square, North Xidan Street, as well as many supermarkets and department stores. The Xidan Cultural Square is the largest venue for cultural events with shopping nearby in downtown Beijing.
[
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Area
Xidan occupies around 80 hectares
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...
(197.7 Acres
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...
) within the Xicheng District
Xicheng District () is a district of Beijing. Xicheng District spans , covering the western half of the old city (largely inside the 2nd Ring Road - the eastern half is Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District), and has 706,691 inhabitant ...
.
Name
The name Xidan (literally, "West Single") came from the paifang
A ''paifang'', also known as a ''pailou'', is a traditional style of Chinese architectural arch or gateway structure. Evolved from the Indian subcontinent's ''torana'' through the introduction of Buddhism to China, it has developed many styles ...
that existed on one of the streets there. In this context, the name "Xidan" refers to the single ( 单) paifang that existed on the west side ( 西) of the city.
The paifang was rebuilt in 2008, and now stands at the Xidan Culture Square.
History
Xidan began to develop in 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 ...
as an area alongside the passage for traders from Southwestern China to enter Beijing. Restaurants and shops were eventually built for these merchants. Eventually, as the Western part of the city became the residential area for officials, Xidan became a commercial area. The location of several government agencies when Beijing was under the administration of the Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
also helped Xidan's economic growth.
The area began to experience massive growth in the 1950s, as the population of Beijing began to move westwards. By the 1970s, Xidan, along with Qianmen
Qianmen () is the colloquial name for Zhengyangmen (; Manchu:; Möllendorff:tob šun-i duka, literally meaning "Gate of the Zenith Sun"), a gate in Beijing's historic city wall. The gate is situated to the south of Tiananmen Square and once guar ...
and Wangfujing
Wangfujing () is a shopping street in Beijing, China, located in Dongcheng District. The majority of the main area is pedestrianised. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty there have been commercial activities in the area. In the Qing Dynas ...
, became the three major commercial areas in Beijing.
Currently, the area is known throughout Beijing as a shopping area. Many malls and department stores have stores within the area, the oldest of which is the China branch of the Taiwanese department store Chungyo.
Xidan is also home to Lingjing Alley
Lingjing hutong () is a hutong in Beijing, located near to Xidan, in the Xicheng District, Beijing. It is approximately long, running from Xidan North Street to Fuyou Street with a width of , it is considered the broadest hutong in Beijing.
His ...
, which, at 32m (34 yards
The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...
), is considered to be the broadest hutong
''Hutong'' () are a type of narrow street or alley commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, especially Beijing.
In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of ''siheyuan'', traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods wer ...
in Beijing.
Xidan Wall
Xidan Wall, also called Democracy Wall, is a long brick wall on Xidan Street. Erected in 1978, the event is generally recognized as the beginning of the Beijing Spring
The Beijing Spring () refers to a brief period of political liberalization during the "Boluan Fanzheng" period in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It began as the Democracy Wall movement in Beijing, which occurred in 1978 and 1979, right af ...
. Xidan Wall played a significant role in the democracy movement in Beijing during the summer of 1979. It was at that time where the wall received a significant number of posters that criticized China's leaders. Even an award-winning Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
journalist John Fraser John Fraser may refer to:
Politics
*John Simon Frederick Fraser (1765–1803), commanded the Fraser Fencibles in Ireland and was (M.P.) for Inverness-shire
*John James Fraser (1829–1896), 5th Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, 18 ...
put up his own "dazibao
Big-character posters () are handwritten posters with large characters, usually mounted on walls in public spaces such as universities, factories, government departments, and sometimes directly on the streets. They were used as a means of protest ...
," whose notice about a lost gold signet ring that concluded in vague political sentiment bizarrely resulted in his addressing the 1979 summer masses in Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen (" ...
. However, by December 1979, Beijing's municipal government banned the posting of wall posters on Xidan Wall in an attempt to curtail the democracy movement. The municipal government instead allowed allow posters on a site within Yuetan Park
The Temple of the Moon (Chinese: 月坛/月壇, Pinyin: Yuètán) is an altar located in Fuchengmen, Xicheng District, in western Beijing, People's Republic of China, China. The altar was built in 1530 during the Ming Dynasty for use in ritual sac ...
, a small park located in Beijing, but required registration with the city and an agreement to be "held responsible for political and legal implications of their messages." Eventually, the most widely regarded poster writer for Xidan Wall, Wei Jingsheng
Wei Jingsheng (; born 20 May 1950) is a Chinese human rights activist and dissident. He is best known for his involvement in the Chinese democracy movement. He is most prominent for having authored the essay "The Fifth Modernization", which wa ...
, was sent to prison.
Transportation
The area is served by Xidan station, which is an interchange between Line 1 and Line 4 of 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 ...
system. In addition, many Beijing Bus
Public bus service in Beijing is the among the most extensive, widely used and affordable form of public transportation in urban and suburban districts of the city. In 2015, the entire network consisted of 876 routes with a fleet of 24,347 bus ...
lines serve the area.
Government and infrastructure
The Chinese Ministry of Education is headquartered in , Xidan.
Education
Beijing Xidan Primary School (S: 北京市西单小学, P: ''Běijīng Shì Xīdān Xiǎoxué'') serves Xidan. The school's predecessor was a private school, Jiemin Primary School (洁民小学), established in 1934. The Ministry of Education took control in 1953. In 1958 Jiemin merged with Xidan Toutiao Primary School (西单头条小学) and Baimiao Primary School (白庙小学). The school received its current name in August 2002.
Future
The Chinese Government has targeted Xidan in its 11th Five Year Plan, which is scheduled to conclude by 2010, with a stated mission of improving the area's environment, as well as diversifying the genre of stores that open in the area. Portions of the plan were already completed in the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games.
References
External links
Xidan Commercial Street
from eBeijing, official website of Beijing government
Beijing Olympics Page on Xidan
Xidan Shopping Center
Beijing Xi Dan Primary School
{{Xicheng District
Neighbourhoods of Beijing
Xicheng District