Beijing Urban Planning Exhibition Hall

Why is the Planning Exhibition Hall in Beijing so Special?

There is a 3,200 square feet detailed model of Beijing and a theater showing two short films about the “Eternal City” or the history of construction of Beijing and about the “New Beijing” or Beijing’s present and future state in Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall as well as two bronze models of the natural geography of Beijing and of Beijing in 1949. There is also a museum room with artifacts and maps in the hall.

Where is the Planning Exhibition Hall in Beijing?

The Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall is located at No. 20 Qianmen E St, beside Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

How to Get There

  • Take Metro Line 2, get off at Qianmen Station, get out from Exit B and walk east.
  • Take bus 8, 9, 20, 44, 622, or Special Line 2, and get off at Qianmen East Station.
  • Take bus 5, 8, 17, 20, 22, 48, 59, 66, 67, 82, 93, 120, 599, 622, Tourist Bus Line 1, Tourist Bus Line 2, Sightseeing Line 1, Sightseeing Line 2, BRT Line 1, Special Line 4, Special Line 7, or Special Line 11, and get off at Qianmen Station.
  • Take bus 2, 5, 120, Sightseeing Line 1, or Sightseeing Line 2, and get off at Tiananmen Square East Station.

Features

It’s a four story building designed to introduce visitors to Beijing’s urban history and their plans for the future. The building is located in the middle of the Chinese government area and historic sites. It’s like a museum. The highlight of the visit to Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall is a very detailed city scale model, which reflects the face of China’s capital in 2020.

The First Floor

Once you enter the Planning Exhibition Hall, you will see a hemisphere copper sculpture with a length of 2.63 meters (8.6 feet), width of 2.05 meters (6.7 feet) and height of 1.57 meters (5.2 feet). This sculpture is called Beijing Gulf. It reproduces the geographical condition of the city with the scale of 1:60,000, which is a plain with mountains on three sides. On the sculpture, you can identify important traffic trunk lines, such as the 2nd Ring Road and the 3rd Ring Road, and river system.

The Second Floor

Near the lobby’s escalator area, there is a bronze relief named Old City of Beijing, hanging on the wall. It is about 10 meters (32.8 feet) high and 9 meters (29.5 feet) wide. The relief reflects the whole structure and main characteristics of the city in 1949 with the scale of 1:1,000. Streets, houses, trees and lakes can all be seen on this relief. According to the statistics, there are 118,000 houses and 60,000 trees carved on it.

The Third Floor

On the third floor, Model of Beijing City Planning is in a bold position. It demonstrates both ancient and modern charms of the city with a scale of 1:750. The whole area of this model is 302 square meters (361 square yards). There is the Model of the Forbidden City right next to it. With a length of 9 meters (10 yards) and a width of 4.8 meters (5.2 yards), it represents the panorama of the Forbidden City according to the ratio of 1:200.

The Ancient City Evolution Area shows 3000 years of urban construction history and 850 years of capital history. This area is composed of phantom cinema, electronic realistic picture scroll and white marble relief. In the cinema, you will see three generations of historical figures (1271-1911 A.D.) who have made very important contributions to urban construction. The original work of this painting was painted by a famous Chinese painting master and took five years to complete. With more than 5000 figures and hundreds of buildings, this painting represents the landscape of the ancient city in the 1930s and 1940s.

Useful Travel Tips

  • Admission Fee: Free
  • Opening Hours: 9:00 – 17:00 from Tuesday to Sunday; ticketing stops 16:00
  • Timetable of Multimedia Movie Hall ( English Movies): 10:00, 11:00, 14:30, 15:30

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