Beijing Mysteries: The Underground City

The entrance when it was open to tourists

Despite a brief period as a tourist attraction in the late 00's, Beijing's system of underground tunnels remains as secret as it did during the days of the Sino-Soviet border skirmishes.  Few tourist strolling through the Qian'men neighborhood even know the series of underground tunnels and vast rooms lays just below street level, and many locals seem to know even less about this wonder of Beijing.  

The entrance now

The government opened a large section of the former shelter to tourists about the time of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.  Since then the cavernous tunnels have again become something of a mystery.  I traveled with Beijing's favorite tour guide to try to get to the bottom, both literally and figuratively, of this Beijing mystery.  We found a nondescript door that once served as the tourist entrance to Beijing's underground maze in a quiet Beijing ally.  A spooky staircase was visible through a broken window leading to a cool, dark basement-like entryway, but other than this fleeting glimpse of Beijing's mythic underworld, we were unable to see anything else.

The larger bricks on top came
from the city wall

The history of the tunnels is quite interesting, but I spare you the details.  It's basically a giant bomb shelter.  You can find out more by just googling it.  Yes this is half-ass journalism, but I have places to be so there.  One of the coolest things though is that many bricks from the original Ming Dynasty city wall were used during the construction of the tunnels.  (see the top part of picture left)  

Knowing no good mystery is ever easy to solve, we asked some of the locals wondering around the area about the tunnels and the locked entrance.  We got a good number of conflicting and outlandish statements from the neighbors about the status of the tunnels, including they'd collapsed, been taken over by the government again, flooded, and closed because the tours didn't make enough money.  The truth is.....in true China fashion.....no one seems to know anything about why they really closed.  Officially they closed following a safety inspection, but if I had to guess, they closed for the extension of Line 8 through Wangfujing and the southern portion of Beijing.

So maybe I wouldn't hack it as an investigative journalist, but getting straight answers here is next to impossible.  I am going to do some long-term research and work on solving this mystery soon.


       

Beijing Mysteries: Ghost Skyscrapers of Dongzhimen

Ghost Towers seen from other building

China is renowned for its shadiness the world over.  From counterfeit nikes to expired meat, the middle kingdom's got it all folks.  My first entry in the Beijing Mysteries series seeks to highlight one of the city's more charming and mysterious shady wonders.  So if you're like my mother and still smarting about being ripped of by vendors while buying a mahjong set, sit back, relax, and learn that sometimes China's shadyiness isn't all bad and usually only mildly hazardous to your health.

Ghost Towers at the end of the airport
expressway 

Dongzhimen is one of Beijing's most important places and the largest transport hub in Asia (title disputed).  Across the Second Ring Road from the colossal China Petrol Headquerters stands a monumental mall and twin-tower complex.  Towering 35 stories in height, the buildings lords over almost every other structure in Beijing (Beijing isn't that tall on average.  Sort of a forest of 10-15 story structures).  Through some impressive detective work, I learned the complex has been vacant for seven years.  The structures stands topped out with the highest five floors completely open.  From ground level, it's easy to see the large number of missing windows that have either been broken or fallen out.

Ground level

Countless buses and the chaotic Beijing subway rumble underneath the unfinished structure, but few commuters seem to wonder about the giant white elephant at street level.  Occasionally I'll catch the curious foreigner snapping photos of the building, but on average almost know one seems to know any details about the structure.  This is insane considering the prominence of the thing.  The structure stands at the terminus of Beijing's airport expressway and is literally the first major thing that most visitors to the city see when they arrive in central Beijing.       

Built but never used

Beijing's largest movie set lets foreigners and native Beijingers get that oh-so-missing taste of North Korea-eque showmanship that China's economic modernization continues to stamp out.  With the ongoing political purge, it's little wonder most in Beijing don't stop to ask why a 600,000 square meter building that was supposed to be finished for the 2008 olympics still stands partially completed.  At least you can still shop at one of the intersections two completed mega-malls for all your needs.