Xizhimen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Xizhimen (Chinese: 西直门, Pinyin: Xīzhímén; Manchu: Tob wargi duka) was former gate in the Beijing city wall and is now the name of a transportation node in Beijing. The gate formerly was the entrance of drinking water for the Emperor, coming from the Jade Spring Hills to the west of Beijing. The gate itself was demolished in 1969.
The 2nd Ring Road currently links with Xizhimen Outer Street, which has recently been transformed into a city express road, linking the western 2nd Ring Road via Beijing Zoo to the 3rd Ring Road. A triple-arched highrise building is a noticeable landmark at the intersection.
Line 2 and Line 13 of the Beijing underground railway network both stop at Xizhimen. However, these stations do not actually connect - a traveller must leave one station and walk around 50 metres across a road to reach the other line. This often leads to large queues during the rush hour. Line 13 has its western terminus at Xizhimen.
The Beijing North Railway Station is in the Xizhimen area.
A bridge is named after the region (Xizhimen Bridge). The bridge has a northern connection bridge built in the late 1970s. It will be removed and be replaced soon. The main Xizhimen Bridge, built also in the 1970s, once stood a rather frightening 5.5 m (it was then, and still is now, for the record, the tallest bridge on the 2nd Ring Road) and had three layers, with the top layer acting as a roundabout. Demolition of the old central bridge took place in 1999 by means of structural removal instead of a major bridge explosion. It was replaced with a series of new bridges which bear no resemblance to the old bridge.
