Tian'anmen Beijing's Architectural, Historical and Cultural Interface

Old Beijing consisted of walled cities within walled cities. The closer one got to the centre the more 'forbidden' to ordinary people the city became. It was built around an 8 kilometre long axis stretching from Gulou in the north to Yongdingmen in the south. Much of Beijing at that time was not a 'people's city', instead its function was to serve and protect the emperors and the imperial court. That situation started to change af-