The 4th Ring Road () is a controlled-access expressway

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

which runs around the city, with a radius of approximately from city centre. The total length of the road is . There are 147 bridges and viaducts that run the length of the Ring Road. The first section, the northern corridor, was completed in preparation for the

1990 Asian Games ) , Nations participating = 36 , Athletes participating = 6,122 , Events = 308 in 27 sports , Opening ceremony = 22 September 1990 , Closing ceremony = 7 October 1990 , Officially opened by = Yang Shangkun , O ...

. The Ring Road was 'enclosed' in a full circle in June 2001, with standard controlled-access expressway throughout.

Route

The 4th Ring Road runs within the confines of the city of

, more like a rectangle than a circle. The route travels past: Siyuan Bridge - Chaoyang Park Area -

Sihui Sihui (), formerly romanized as Szewui, is a county-level city in the west of the Pearl River Delta region in Guangdong province, China. It is administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Zhaoqing. Sihui's population is 542,873 in 201 ...

Sifang Bridge Sifang () is a former district at the core of Qingdao, People's Republic of China. In 2003, it had an area of and around 383,700 inhabitants. In December 2012, it was merged into Shibei District Shibei District () is an urban district of Qingdao ...

Shibalidian 220px, The Shibalidian transportational node. Shibalidian () is the name of a transportational node in Beijing, China. Flanked by several overpasses, it is where the southeastern 4th Ring Road (Beijing) links with the Jingjintang Expressway. The ...

- Dahongmen - Majialou - Yuegezhuang Bridge - Fengtai Area - Sijiqing Area -

Zhongguancun Zhongguancun () is a major technology hub in Haidian District, Beijing, China. Zhongguancun occupies a band between the northwestern Third Ring Road and the northwestern Fourth Ring Road, in the northwestern part of Beijing. Zhongguancun is ...

Area - Jianxiang - Asian Games Village Area - Wanghe Bridge - Siyuan Bridge The entire express road is complete and open to traffic.

History

Already in the early 1990s, the northern stretch of the 4th Ring Road from

to Siyuan Bridge existed as a ring road, albeit with far narrower road conditions and with traffic lights. Only three flyover viaducts—those at Jianxiang Bridge,

Anhui Bridge Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

and Siyuan Bridge—existed. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, the eastern stretch of the 4th Ring Road was opened from Siyuan Bridge to

around October 1, 1999. This was the first part of the ring road to be opened as an 8-lane expressway (4 lanes per direction, not including an emergency belt). The northern part of the 4th Ring Road from Jianxiang Bridge to Siyuan Bridge was converted to an 8-lane expressway in late September 2000. Later that year, the southern part from

through to Fengtai opened to traffic, as was the case with the northwestern part. By June 2001, the entire 4th Ring Road had been converted into an expressway-standard thoroughfare. In early 2004, the speed limit was reduced to a unified 80 km/h (minimum speed limit: 50 km/h). In September 2004, the 4th Ring Road underwent a massive sign change. Exit numberings were unified at last—bidirectionally (this was previously not the case). A new overpass in the northern stretch was put into operation in October 2004, near the

Beichen Beichen District () is a district of the municipality of Tianjin, People's Republic of China. Before June 1992, the district was named ''Beijiao District'' (), reflectings its position in the northern suburbs of Tianjin. As the city expanded, it g ...

area.

Road conditions

Speed limit

Previously: first lane, min. 80 km/h, max. 100 km/h; second lane, min. 70 km/h, max. 90 km/h; third lane, min. 60 km/h, max. 80 km/h; fourth lane, min. 50 km/h, max. 80 km/h; auxiliary road, uniform max. speed limit of 70 km/h. Readjusted in 2004 so that all lanes have a uniform min. speed limit of 50 km/h and a max. speed limit of 80 km/h; aux. road max. speed limit of 70 km/h remains unchanged.

Tolls

This express road does not charge tolls.

Lanes

8 lanes (4 in each direction) throughout.

Traffic conditions

The portion from Jianxiang to Siyuan Bridge, in both directions, is especially vulnerable to horrible traffic jams. The remainder of the northern and eastern portions are also vulnerable. Apart from the Fengtai area, the remainder of the 4th Ring Road has a lesser risk of being clogged up by traffic jams.

Major exits

Siyuan Bridge,

, Majialou, Fengtai, Yuegezhuang,

, Jianxiang Bridge, Wanghe Bridge.

Service areas

No full-scale service areas exist; however, filling stations (gas stations) are plentiful in number.

Connections

Badaling Expressway: Connects to the Badaling Expressway at Jianxiang Bridge. Jingcheng Expressway: Connects to the Jingcheng Expressway at Wanghe Bridge (for the time being, only heading for

Laiguangying Laiguangying Area () is an area and township on the northern part of Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. It borders Tiantong Yuannan, Tiantong Yuanbei Subdistricts and Beijia Town to the north, Sunhe and Cuigezhuang Townships to the east, Donghu ...

and

Chengde Chengde, formerly known as Jehol and Rehe, is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, situated about 225 km northeast of Beijing. It is best known as the site of the Mountain Resort, a vast imperial garden and palace formerly used by ...

). Airport Expressway: Connects to the Airport Expressway at Siyuan Bridge (only heading for the airport). Projected Jingping Expressway: Would most likely connect at Dongfeng North Bridge. Jingtong Expressway: Connects to the Jingtong Expressway at

. Jingshen Expressway: Connects to the Jingshen Expressway at

(only heading for

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provi ...

Jingjintang Expressway Jingjintang Expressway (), also known as the Jingtang Expressway, links Beijing via central Tianjin to the Tanggu District in eastern Tianjin. 143 kilometres in length, it crosses the jurisdictions of Beijing and Tianjin municipalities and Hebei ...

: Connects to the Jingjintang Expressway at

. Jingkai Expressway: Connects to the Jingkai Expressway at Majialou. Jingshi Expressway: Connects to the Jingshi Expressway at Yuegezhuang.

Signs

When it was opened by 2001, the 4th Ring Road's signs were plagued by inconsistency. Mixing of

Hanyu Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

on the signs confused drivers, but what was most confusing was the exit numbering. It so happened that the ''same exit'' had ''two different exit numbers''—one for each direction of the ring road. Beijing authorities had three years' lapse before they dealt with the problem. Old signs were progressively replaced by newer signs which had standardised English and, finally, a new exit numbering system was in place. A sketch map of each exit, formerly only for expressways and isolated spots, was also introduced along with the new sign numbering. Another change was the use of traffic sign language to signal traffic regulations instead of relying completely on Chinese

Hanzi Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

. Some bridge names (e.g. Sihe Bridge) are also getting a name change at the same time. The project was somewhat Herculean since 441 signs were to be replaced. Of those, exit and entrance signs formed 202 signs; other, mainly larger-sized signs, formed the remaining 239 signs. Earlier in the summer of 2004, similar measures for the 5th Ring Road (which had an absent-to-chaotic exit numbering system) were announced. In a show of speed, within the first 100 hours, new exit numberings were put up for almost all of the western stretch of the 4th Ring Road (despite new/old signs being alternated on a different stretch of the ring road). Reaction to the new signs are mixed. There is a definitive plus side: the exits are now matched with their equivalent exit/bridge names on the

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * H ...

and

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

ring roads. Unfortunately, many complain of an information overkill. Signs are now complex enough to hold five ''different'' directions (on some bridges). Meanwhile, the mixing of lowercase and uppercase English in small font sizes is another concern. On both the 4th Ring Road and the 5th Ring Road, some speed cameras were put into place, along with the general sign changes.

List of exits

[Heading in a clockwise direction as of the Northern 4th Ring Road—please note, Exit No. 1 begins at Wanghe Bridge] Notes: * Exits present only in a clockwise direction are indicated by the symbol ↩; anticlockwise only, ↪; not yet open, ✕ * Exit sign symbols: ↗ = exit, ⇆ = interchange with an expressway or

China National Highway The China National Highways (CNH/Guodao) () is a network of trunk roads across mainland China. Apart from the expressways of China that are planned and constructed later, most of the CNH are not controlled-access highways. History The bu ...

;

North 4th Ring Road

* ↗ 43:

Summer Palace The Summer Palace () is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quarte ...

, Landianchang North Road ( Huoqiying Bridge) * ↗ 44: Wanquanhe Road, Suzhou Bridge * ↗ 45: Haidian Bridge * ↗ 46:

, Sitong Bridge * ↗ 47: Xueyuan Road, Jimen Bridge (Xueyuan Bridge) * ↗ 48: Zhixin East Street, Beitaiping Bridge (Zhixin Bridge) * ⇆ 49: ''(Interchange with Badaling Expressway)'' Badaling Expressway (Jianxiang Bridge) ** ⇆ 49A: Madian Bridge ** ⇆ 49B: Badaling Expressway ( Changping) ** ↗ 49C: Beichen West Road (''max. height 3.5 m'') * ↗ 50: Beichen Road, Beichen East Road, Beichen West Road (Beichen Bridge) * ↗ 51: Anzhen Bridge, Anli Road (

) * ↗ 52: Beiyuan Road, Lishuiqiao * ↗ 53:

Heping Heping () may refer to: * Heping, Taichung (和平區), a district in Taichung, Taiwan Places in Mainland China * Heping District, Tianjin (和平区) * Heping District, Shenyang (和平区), Liaoning * Heping County (和平县), of Heyuan, Gu ...

East Bridge, Xiaoying Road ( Huixin East Bridge) * ↗ (↩) Yuhui South Street * ⇆ 1: ''(Interchange with Jingcheng Expressway'') Jingcheng Expressway ( Wanghe Bridge) ** ⇆ 1A: 3rd Ring Road ✕ ** ⇆ 1B: N. 5th Ring Road,

Shunyi Shunyi District () is an administrative district of Beijing, located to the northeast of the city's urban core. As of 2014, the population of the district is around 983,000, of which approximately 601,000 have local residency permits. The Beiji ...

* ↗ (↪) Jiangzhuanghu * ↗ 2: Wangjing West Road * ↗ 3: ✕ * ⇆ 4: ''(Interchange with the Airport Expressway and

China National Highway 101 China National Highway 101 is a major trunk route connecting Beijing to Shenyang, Liaoning. In Beijing it is known as Jingshun Road () or Jingmi Road () for connecting central Beijing to Shunyi District and Miyun District, although the actual roa ...

)'' ( Siyuan Bridge) ** ⇆ 4A:

Sanyuan Bridge Sanyuanqiao, or Sanyuan Bridge () is a major overpass on the northeastern stretch of Beijing's 3rd Ring Road. It was opened in 1984. The overpass links three major passageways in Beijing and the complex structure made it a speciality on its own ...

, (↩) Xiaoyun Road ** ⇆ 4B: Jingshun Road (

) ** ⇆ 4C: Airport Expressway

East 4th Ring Road

* ↗ 5: (↪) Sanyuan East Bridge,

Dashanzi Dashanzi (大山子, Hanyu Pinyin: Dàshānzi) is a 1 square kilometer area in the Chaoyang district of Beijing, northeast of the city center. It lies along the Airport Expressway between the 4th and 5th Ring Roads, south of the Dashanzi Qiao ...

(Xiaoyun Bridge) * ↗ 6: Yansha Bridge, Jiuxianqiao (Dongfeng North Bridge) * ↗ 7: Yaojiayuan Road, Changhong Bridge (Chaoyuangongyuan Bridge) * ↗ 8: Changhong Bridge, Chaoyang Park, Yaojiayuan Road,

Chaoyang North Road Chaoyang () may refer to the following: * Chaoyang, Cili (), Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province * Chaoyang, Fujian (), Zhangzhou, Fujian *Chaoyang, Liaoning Chaoyang () is a prefecture-level city in western Liaoning province, People's Republic of Chi ...

( Honglingjin Bridge) * ↗ 9: ✕ * ⇆ 10: ''(Interchange with Jingtong Expressway)'' Guomao Bridge, Jingtong Expressway (

Bridge) * ↗ 11: Shuangjing Bridge, Guangqu Road ( Dajiaoting Bridge) * ↗ 12: Jinsong Bridge, Huagong Road ( Yaowahu Bridge) * ↗ 13: Gongda Bridge * ⇆ 14: ''(Interchange with Jingshen Expressway)'' Jingshen Expressway (bound for 5th Ring Road and Beidaihe) * ↗ 15: Hongyan Road, Fatou (

Hongyan Bridge Hongyan may refer to: *'' Red Crag'', 1961 Chinese novel by Luo Guangbin and Yang Yiyan *''Dam Street'', 2005 Chinese film by Li Yu * Red Rock Village Museum, or Hongyan Village * Hongyan River ( 红岩河), a tributary of Liuchong River *Hongya ...

) * ↗ 16: (↪)

North Bridge * ⇆ 17: ''(Interchange with

)''

(bound for 5th Ring Road,

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

) (

Bridge)

South 4th Ring Road

* ↗ 18:

Fenzhongsi Fenzhongsi () in Beijing. It is the starting point of the Jingjintang Expressway to Langfang, Tianjin and Tanggu, and has been served by Fenzhongsi station of the Beijing Subway The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing ...

Bridge, Boda Rd,

(

South Bridge) * ↗ 19: (↩) Longzhuashu (Xiaohongmen Bridge) * ↗ 20: Chengshousi, Yizhuang (Xiaocun Bridge) * ↗ 21: (↩) Dahongmen / (↪)

Xiaohongmen Xiaohongmen Area () is an area and township on the southern part of Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. It borders Shibalidian Township to the northeast, Yizhuang Township to the southeast, Jiugong Township to the southwest, Dahongmen, Dongtiejian ...

(Liuxiang Bridge) * ↗ 22: (↪) Dahongmen,

Jiugong Jiugong () is an area in northern Daxing District, Beijing, located just inside the 5th Ring Road. It borders Huaxiang and Nanyuan Subdistircts to its north and west, Xiaohongmen and Yizhuang Towns to its east, as well as Yinghai and Xihongmen Tow ...

( Dahongmen East Bridge) * ⇆ 23: ''(Interchange with

China National Highway 104 China National Highway 104 (G104) runs from Beijing to Pingtan via Jinan, Xuzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Taizhou and Fuzhou. It runs to approximately 2606 km, and, on a map, runs southeast towards Nanjing and Hangzhou before turning south-sout ...

)'' Nanyuan Road (G104), Muxiyuan Bridge,

Nanyuan Airport Beijing Nanyuan Airport was a military airbase and a secondary commercial airport of Beijing. Located in Fengtai District, south of the 4th Ring Road and from Tiananmen Square, Nanyuan Airport was first opened in 1910, making it the oldest ...

( Dahongmen Bridge) * ↗ 24: Wanfang Bridge, Majiapu Road (Gongyi Bridge) * ↗ 25: Caoqiao * ⇆ 26: ''(Interchange with Jingkai Expressway)'' Jingkai Expressway ( Majialou Bridge) * ↗ 27: Xinfadi * ↗ 28: Huaxiang ( Sihe Bridge)

West 4th Ring Road

* ↗ 29: Baiqiang Ave,

Beijing World Park Beijing World Park () is a theme park that attempts to give visitors the chance to see the world without having to leave Beijing. The park covers 46.7 hectares and is located in the southwestern Fengtai District of Beijing. It is about 17 k ...

, Sci-Tech Park ( Kandan Bridge) * ↗ 30: Fengtai S Rd, Fufeng Rd, Kexing Rd ( Kefeng Bridge) * ↗ 31: Fengtai Town * ↗ 32: ''(Interchange with Jingshi Expressway)'' Jingshi Expressway (headed for Fangshan) (road link under construction) ( Fengbei Bridge) * ⇆ 33: ''(Interchange with Jingshi Expressway)'' Jingshi Expressway (headed for Fangshan) ( Yuegezhuang Bridge) * ↗ 34: Liuli Bridge, Zhengchangzhuang * ↗ 35: (Wukesong Bridge) * ↗ 36: (↩) Yongding Rd, Xicui Rd * ↗ 37: Fushi Road, Hangtian Bridge ( Dinghui Bridge) * ↗ 38: Wuluju * ↗ 39: Xingshikou Bridge,

Eight Great Sites 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art * The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the ...

, Zizhu Bridge ( Sijiqing Bridge) * ↗ 40: (↩) Yuanda Road * ↗ 41: Xijiao Airport, Landianchang (Nanwu Bridge) * ↗ 42:

Fragrant Hills Fragrant Hills or Xiangshan Park is a public park and former imperial garden at the foot of the Western Hills in the Haidian District, Beijing, China. It was also formerly known as Jingyi Garden or "Jingyiyuan" (靜宜園). It covers and cons ...

, Jade Spring Hills (

Sihai Bridge Sihai may refer to: * Four Seas, the four bodies of water that metaphorically made up the boundaries of ancient China * Sihai, Beijing, a town in Beijing * Sihai, Manipur, a village in Ukhrul district of India * ''Only Fools Rush In ''Only Fools ...

)

References

{{Reflist Road transport in Beijing Ring roads in China Zhongguancun