In today’s #AtoZChallenge in China, we visit a historic railway station in Beijing that’s soon to be torn down… It’s quite sad because Qinghuayuan Railway Station (清华园火车站) is one of the few stations built in the Qing Dynasty (in the 1910s) that remains standing despite the sweeping changes in Beijing’s landscape.
Actually, my entry for today was originally “Qí zìxíngchē” (骑自行车) or Go Biking, wherein I was supposed to discuss the rapid development of bike sharing apps in China. But I decided to scrap it when I saw on the Beijinger an article about the impending demolition of Qinghuayuan Railway Station. It’s a century-old structure that had been part of the first railway system “engineered, built and operated completely by the Chinese.” The station is located in Wudaokou, a neighborhood close to Tsinghua University and Peking University.
Qinghuayuan Station, said to be the one that welcomed Chairman Mao Zedong when he first visited Beijing, is due to be demolished to give way to a new apartment block. So before it’s gone, I went to the station and “traveled back in time.”
For however much time it has left, Qinghuayuan Station remains a testament to China’s early success towards modernization in a dynastic era commonly associated with corruption and ineptitude.
– The Beijinger
Q is for Qinghuayuan Railway Station
The station is hidden in an alley, and at first sight one might think it’s just part of old residential buildings. I must say the station now looks very underwhelming for a municipal cultural relic certified in 2012. The Beijinger, citing a report by The People’s Daily, said the station’s owner, the Beijing Railroad Company, “is presently negotiating with local authorities over [the fate of the cultural relic].”
Just minutes after I arrived at Qinghuayuan Station, I spotted a guy who was taking photos. I greeted him and said that I was feeling sad after knowing what would happen to the station. The guy asked me if I went there because of the Beijinger’s article, and just as I was about to respond yes, he sneaked a look at my phone, “Oh, the same article brought us here.”
The guy was Professor Thomas Coomans, a Belgian historian who’s teaching at Peking University.
*The following is an abridgment and paraphrasing of our on-the-spot conversation … and I wasn’t that prepared to take down notes so I would just rely on my memory haha*
“Look at those red bricks,” he told me. “They’re being used as a decoration in this station. The blue bricks [the dark ones] are Chinese made. The red bricks are definitely from the West,” Coomans explained. I couldn’t actually remember the exact difference between the two (as what Coomans explained) but I observed the near-perfect construction of the brick wall. “They were put on top of each other using limestone and [I forgot the other material], which make them strong.”
Coomans asked me why I visited the station; I told him I wanted to write something about what other travel bloggers and tourists wouldn’t probably cover. The historian said that writing is one thing, but getting the story behind the structure and what makes it significant are all that matters.
“This station used to be the among the greatest architectural masterpieces in China when it was erected in the 1900s,” Coomans said, explaining that the bad condition, not only of Qinghuayuan Station itself but also its surroundings, makes it difficult for a local or even residents to appreciate its greatness and cultural significance.
“People here might don’t know the history of this station. Of course, the residents [the ones who live inside the station] feel bad not because it will be torn down but because they will lose their home,” the historian said.
I told him my hopes that the Beijing authorities would salvage the signage and take them to a museum. “It wouldn’t work,” Coomans said, “because the preservation of a cultural relic doesn’t always mean it should be brought to a museum.”
We walked around the area and climbed up a nearby residential apartment to see the other features of the station.
Coomans shared his recent trip to Harbin, where the authorities are also demolishing historic structures and replacing them with similar buildings. “It’s confusing,” he said, “You don’t actually know if they [the authorities] want to preserve the area. Mixing the old and the new removes the context and the historical significance of a place.”
In the case of Qinghuayuan, it might have been a casualty of the Chinese drive to economic greatness. A recent survey by the Global Times suggested that over 75 percent of historic places in Beijing failed to meet preservation standards due to lax enforcement of a 1982 law. Meanwhile, officials in Changping District finally admitted that artifacts (and they’re huge and heavy) from the Ming Tombs had been stolen. And a 1.2km stretch of the Great Wall in Liaoning Province had been “restored,” drawing ire from many Chinese.
Thanks for reading. Next on #AtoZChallenge in China — the people’s currency, the Renminbi.
All photos are taken by me.
See more of my #AtoZChallenge: Chinese Adventure
What a great post. My daughter is in taking a course in Chinese Architecture at the University. She will find this fascinating, so I am sharing it with her. Best wishes!
Thanks for dropping by. She might know Professor Coomans! He’s so brilliant, I wish I brought my recorder and did an interview with him.
This is so upsetting!
But I’m happy you were there to take these pictures. I’d loved to have visited before the demolition. And what luck – your bumping into Professor Coomans! 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to share this with us.
I know. It’s really sad to see the dilapidated station. I might go back when the demolition begins. And yes, I’m indeed lucky to have met him. He’s also an architecture professor.
It is always sad to lose cultural and historical landmarks. In the US sometimes foundations or even entrepreneurs will swoop in to rescue and restore a site the government doesn’t deem worthy to save.
Perspectives at Life & Faith in Caneyhead
Yes it is… especially for the sake of “development.” The professor whom I bumped into told me that development in the area might not be the primary reason for demolishing the station. Good thing in the US because there are entities ready to fight for the restoration and protection of historic places. In other countries, it’s an “added task” or just people simply don’t care.
Thank you for dropping by!
What a great post! But what a sad subject matter. As an historian myself, I hate to see things of such historical and cultural importance removed and lost for all time simply for modern dwellings. So disappointing. But thank you for showcasing its story before it’s too late.
It really is. Many of Chinese millennials
Many Chinese millennials however seem to just don’t care because they find the place so ugly and barren. Of course who would like to visit such a place? The locals there too seem to just disregard the station. I understand that it has become a part of their daily living… and probably it serves no purpose than just being an “eyesore” in a place where rising apartments are built. But again, just as Professor Coomans said, we need to understand the context of this structure so that we can appreciate how culturally significant it is.
Exactly. And a lot of the locals attitude could be changed by restoring the station from its derelict state to something they can visually enjoy and be proud of.
But first they need to be educated about why the station is culturally and industrially significant… but by the looks of it, they care more about where they will live…
An interesting post. It’s cool you met the historian and was able to a little background on the station.
Yes I was also surprised to know he’s a historian!
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