Chang'an Avenue (Chinese:长安街;pinyin:Cháng'ān Jiē;lit. 'Eternal Peace Street') is a majorthoroughfare inBeijing, China.
Chang'an (Chinese:长安;pinyin:Cháng'ān) is also the old name forXi'an which was the capital of China during theWestern Han dynasty, theTang dynasty and other periods. The Avenue has also been referred to as theShili Changjie (Chinese:十里长街;pinyin:Shílǐ Chǎngjiē), meaning the TenLi Long Street,China's No. 1 Avenue andNo. 1 Avenue of the Divine Land.[1][2] "Chang'an Avenue" is often used as asynecdoche for the government in Beijing, akin to using "the Beltway" to refer to the American federal government.[3]
Chang'an Avenue starts fromDongdan in the east and ends atXidan in the west.Tiananmen andTiananmen Square are located at the north and south of the center of the Avenue, respectively. The Avenue consists of two parts, West Chang'an Avenue and East Chang'an Avenue. The extension line extends east–west with Tiananmen Square as the center, extends westward to Shougang area,Yongding River andWestern Hills, and extends eastward toBeijing City Sub-center,Grand Canal andChaobai River.[4] The core area of Chang'an Avenue and its extension is betweenGuomao Bridge ofEast Third Ring Road andXinxing Bridge ofWest Third Ring Road (including Tiananmen area).[4]
The East and West Chang'an Streets were built as part of theImperial City of Beijing. East Chang'an Street originally ran from the Left Chang'an Gate (on the east side of the square beforeTian'anmen gate) to the Dongdan gate, and West Chang'an Street originally ran from the Right Chang'an Gate (on the west side of the same square) to the Xidan gate. The north side of the square, between the two Chang'an Gates, became a road after 1912 and was named "Zhongshan Road", afterSun Yat-sen. In 1940, the Inner City wall was breached at Jianguomen and Fuxingmen respectively, due east and west of the ends of the East and West Chang'an Street. Streets extending from the ends of the two Chang'an Streets were widened to become Jianguomen Inner and Outer Streets and Fuxingmen Inner and Outer Streets. The two Chang'an Streets thus became part of a major thoroughfare into and out of the Inner City, now considered the "extended" Chang'an Avenue. The two Chang'an Gates were demolished in 1952 to expand Tiananmen Square, after which the two Chang'an Streets and Zhongshan Road were merged, becoming a singular "Chang'an Avenue".
In 2009 the road was widened to 10 lanes, as part of the60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.[5]
Chang'an Avenue is the road directly beforeTian'anmen gate and to the north ofTian'anmen Square. Because of its location, Chang'an Avenue has been associated with a number of important events in Chinese history, such as the1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre (including the famous confrontation of theTank Man), theMay 4th Movement and the funeral procession ofZhou Enlai. During important celebrations in thePeople's Republic of China, military parades are conducted on Chang'an Avenue, with the procession travelling from East to West along the avenue, passing beforeTiananmen gate. For this reason, the avenue is surfaced with reinforced concrete, to prevent tanks and other heavy vehicles from damaging the surface.
Located along Chang'an Avenue and nearTian'anmen Square are theGreat Hall of the People,Zhongnanhai, and central government buildings. TheNational Museum of China,National Centre for the Performing Arts,Wangfujing,Beijing Concert Hall and the headquarters of the central bank of China, thePeople's Bank of China, and theCultural Palace of Nationalities are also on Chang'an Avenue. Both theBeijing railway station andBeijing west railway station are located near Chang'an Avenue.Line 1 of the Beijing Subway runs under Chang'an Avenue.[6]
Because of its sensitive location, special regulations apply to Chang'an Avenue. For example, trucks and freight vehicles are banned day and night,[7] and no commercial advertising is allowed on the street.[8]
Note: This article considers Chang'an Avenue as the major through road from the W.5th Ring Road through to the E.5th Ring Road, which defines larger urban Beijing.
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