
Xisi () literally, the "Western Four" or the "Western Quadrangle", is the name of an intersection and surrounding neighborhood in
Xicheng District
Xicheng District () is a district of Beijing. Xicheng District spans , covering the western half of the old city (largely inside the 2nd Ring Road - the eastern half is Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District), and has 706,691 inhabitant ...
,
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. Xisi, at the intersection of what is now Xisi Avenue and Fuchengmen Inner Avenue, dates to the
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongols, Mongol-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Division of the M ...
and was named after the four ''
paifang
A ''paifang'', also known as a ''pailou'', is a traditional style of Chinese architectural arch or gateway structure. Evolved from the Indian subcontinent's '' torana'' through the introduction of Buddhism to China, it has developed many styles ...
s'', Chinese sign gates, that marked the location. The intersection was known as the Western Four Sign Gates or "Western Four" for short. To the east, in
Dongcheng District, there was another intersection with four sign gates called ''Dongsi'' or the Eastern Four.
[(Chinese]
"“东单”“西单”“东四”“西四” 名称的来历"
2009-04-15 The sign gates at Xisi were removed in 1950s but the location name remains. Today, the
Xisi Station on
Line 4 of the
Beijing Subway
The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Municipality that consists of 25 lines including 20 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines, and 463 stations. The rail network extends ac ...
is located underneath the intersection.
See also
*
Dongsi Subdistrict, Beijing
Dongsi (,lit. "Eastern Four" or "Eastern Quadrangle") is the name of an intersection and surrounding neighborhood in Dongcheng District, Beijing. Dongsi, at the intersection of what is now Dongsi Avenues North, South and West and Chaoyangmen I ...
*
Xidan
*
Dongdan
References
{{coord, 39.9230, N, 116.3742, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Road transport in Beijing
Xicheng District