Xizhimen, known as Heyimen in the Yuan Dynasty
Seventeen years of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1419)
After repairs, it was renamed Xizhimen
It is one of the nine gates of the inner city of old Beijing
It is also outside the Zhengyang Gate
One of the largest city gates
Xizhimen is the inner city of Beijing leading to the northwest suburbs
Especially the royal gardens in the western suburbs
Important channels
The long river outside the door is clear
The water of the Xizhimen Outer Long River (Liao called Gaoliang River, Jin called Soap River, Yuan called Jinshui River, YuHe, qianlong after the Qing Dynasty called The Long River) flows day by day.
Although this river is not the largest river in the Beijing area, it is very important for the development of Beijing city and is the only channel for the introduction of the waters of Xishan Yuquan into the city of Beijing. The Changhe River runs north from the south side of Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace, through Wanshou Temple and Gaoliang Bridge to Xizhimen, and enters the North Moat.
The Yangtze River was once an important source of clean and polluted water in Beijing.
The water that enters the city through the pond is divided into two in the Shichahai Sea, one through the west pressure bridge into the three seas, and the other through the east pressure bridge into the Tube River, that is, the two major ditches in the east and west cities, all of which are washed by the water, so as not to accumulate filth and evaporate the evil smell.
Old Winter River Scenery (Digital Coloring)
In the Qing Dynasty, the Yangtze River was also an important traffic waterway, which was a special waterway for the emperor to go to the Western Suburbs Imperial Garden, so it was also called the Royal River.
●Kangxi 26 (1687)
After the construction of Changchun Garden, the Kangxi Emperor dredged the Yangtze River to facilitate travel between the Imperial Palace and the Imperial Garden in the western suburbs.
● Qianlong Dynasty
Sanshan Wuyuan became the political sub-center of the Qing court, the Changhe River began to become a special waterway for the royal family, and palaces such as Leshan Garden, Yihong Hall, Five Pagoda Temple, Wanshou Temple, and Zizhuyuan were built along the coast.
At that time, the area around The Gaoliang Bridge outside Xizhimen was also a cool resort. The sorghum bridge spans both sides of the long river, and the river embankment is lined with green willows and the blue curtain covers the sky. The paddy fields and lotus ponds are endless, the breeze is everywhere, and the blue waves are ringing, which makes people linger.
Autumn colors along the South Yangtze River at Beijing Zoo (November 6, 2019)
"Tinder cake is very crisp"
In the old Days of Beijing, there was a saying that "there are three expensive outside the Xizhimen Gate, and the tinder gold cake is big and crisp".
●Tinder
It is used by people to make fire and sickles for fire, and at the end of the Qing Dynasty, when matches were listed, the old object of fire velvet gradually faded out of people's sight.
●Golden cake
That is, hawthorn cake, which is the best made and sold by the North HSBC Jai Dried Fruit Shop on Xizhimenwai Avenue Road, and is quite famous.
●Large thin crisp
A fried pasta that tastes great as a refreshment, is best sold at the Yiluju Tea House near Beiguan Guangtong Temple outside Xizhimen.
In the "Beijing Trivia", it is recorded that in the twelfth year of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty (1673), Kangxi Weifu paid a private visit to the Yuanmingyuan, passed by the Guangtong Temple of Xizhimen, and greatly praised the large and crispy Yiluju, and later passed on the instructions to be enshrined. Therefore, although the tea house sells a variety of refreshments, it is most famous for its large and crispy.
Yiluju was originally located in Luxi, because the Kangxi Emperor often stopped when traveling to and from the western suburbs, and there was a throne in the tea house. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, during the Guangxu period, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded the city of Beijing, and the house of the Yiluju Tea House was destroyed, and the throne did not exist.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, The Gaoliang Bridge outside Xizhimen
After that, Yiluju was rebuilt and moved to Lunan, where it was still open for business when it was in the Republic of China. The door head hangs in a wooden cover like a thin brittle one. The shop is thin and crisp, divided into sweet and salty, and the preparation method is extremely secret and never shows anyone.
Later, Western-style refreshments became popular, with a variety of tricks, and the large thin and crisp flowed in the submerged, even if there were those who sold "osmanthus pot stove sugar thin crisp", its taste was not as good as the crisp and delicious taste of Yiluju.
There are many memories in the zoo
The Beijing Zoo outside Xizhimen is famous and holds the beautiful memories of generations of Beijingers.
● Late Qing Dynasty
At that time, the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, in view of the lack of revitalization of agriculture at that time, specially established the Beijing Normal Agricultural Experimental Field here.
●1908
The Agricultural Test Site is open to the public.
●1929
The agricultural test site was renamed the Natural Museum.
To the east is the zoo, where jackals, tigers and leopards, orangutan bear elephants, ape elk and large and small feathered birds are all gathered. The most magnificent buildings of the zoo are the two places of fengfeng hall and changguan building, which are lined with flowers and trees, which are pleasant and refreshing. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the people's government carried out large-scale renovation and expansion of the place, and in 1955, it was officially named Beijing Zoo.
Xizhimen is located in the northwest corner of the capital
To the city of Beijing since the Yuan Dynasty
The development and evolution of the spatial pattern
This has had a crucial impact
Since the construction of the capital city in the Yuan Dynasty
Through the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China and even modern times
The Xizhimen area is important to Beijing
A hub for land and water transport
It joins the long river and is upwind and watery
Not only was it conceived
The beautiful ecological culture of Beijing City
Also for Beijing since modern times
Rapid development in the Northwest Region
It provides a broader historical geographical space
Today's antiquities are explored
That's it
See you in the next issue
Source: Beijing Daily client (abridged)
Image source: Visual China
Source: Cultural Tourism Beijing