Foreign Legation Quarter

Lonely Planet review

The former Foreign Legation Quarter - where the 19th century foreign powers flung up their embassies, schools, post offices and banks - lay east of Tiananmen Square. Stroll around Taijichang Dajie and Zhengyi Lu, which still suggest its former European flavour. On the northern corner of Taijichang Toutiao's intersection with Taijichang Dajie survives a brick in the wall engraved with the road's former foreign name: Rue Hart.

The entire district was transformed into a war zone during the famous siege of the legations during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901). Probably the greatest cultural loss was the torching of the Hanlin Academy, the centre of Chinese learning and literature. The library was burnt down by Muslim Huí troops in a disastrous bid to flush out Westerners besieged within the legations.

At the junction of Taijichang Dajie and Dongjiaomin Xiang stands the gaunt twin-spired St Michael's Church, facing the buildings of the former Belgian Embassy. Along the western reaches of Dongjiaomin Xiang you'll pass the former French Legation (behind bright red doors), the former French post office (now the Jingyuan Sichuan Restaurant) and the fascinating Beijing Police Museum.