Wanping City

Wanping City is situated east of the Marco Polo Bridge (Lugou Bridge). This city was constructed during the late Ming Dynasty in 1640 and originally named Gongbei City. Wanping was originally a county affiliated to Shuntianfu (an important central government’s institute) and was later changed to Gongji City. In December 1, 1928, the office of Wanping County was moved into Gongji City. Since then, it had been named Wanping City but has now been changed to Lugou Bridge Town.

The Marco Polo Bridge located west of Wanping City was once the only path between Beijing and Inner Mongolia and from Beijing to the southern part of China. Wanping City turned into a must-visit city for traders from the south or north of China because of its special geographic location. Since the Qing Dynasty, the business people living west of the city and on the riverbanks of Yongding River have gradually moved to the inside of the city to open all kinds of shops and construct other buildings such as tea house, pub and ancestral temple.

The entire Wangping City stretches as long as 640 meters and as wide as 320 meters and covers an area of 208,000 square meters. This was once a bridge tower which shared the similar wall-building arts with those in downtown Beijing. There were two gates in it, and in the walls of it holes have been prepared for military purposes, with some for watching enemies and others for shooting arrows.

Since 1986, the government has renovated the towers on the city wall, along with their turrets, and so far the original appearance of the city has been renovated. In 2002, the West Fifth Ring Road of Beijing began its service but went through the place under the space between Wanping City and the Marco Polo Bridge aiming to avoid affect the antique buildings on the ground. All of the residents once lived inside the city have now moved out of it, and the road in the city have been paved with excavated slate dating back the Ming Dynasty. On the two sides of the road stand amazing antique shops which were built according to the styles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Now it is an attractive pedestrian street.