[2025 Beijing Attraction] Travel Guide for Watchtower of Dongbian Gate (Updated Oct)

With some time to spare before my scheduled entry, I wandered along the moat surrounding the Imperial Palace. Golden ginkgo trees shimmered in the sunlight, while the ancient turrets cast perfect reflections upon the rippling emerald waters - creating a breathtaking autumn tableau. As I strolled through this tranquil scene, soaking in every moment of serenity, my anticipation for the upcoming palace visit grew even deeper. The peaceful interlude outside the walls became a perfect prelude to the grandeur that awaited within. #chinatravel#travel #couplestrip #thingstodo #myitinerary #china

❤Recommendation reason: Recently, the 18th Plum Blossom Culture Festival of Beijing Ming City Wall 2025 opened. The theme of this year's Plum Blossom Festival is "Building a Garden City and Sharing a Good Life with Plum Blossoms". 🌟Highlights: Strolling through the park, you will see "Guyuan New Spring" located under the corner tower on the east side of the park, which is dominated by pink plum blossoms such as peach blossoms, green calyx, big feathers, and palace pink; "Plum Garden Splendor" located next to the corridor square in the middle of the park is dotted with red, white, and pink plum blossoms such as cinnabar, green calyx, and human-faced peach blossom; "Xiling Xiangyuan" located next to the Model Worker Square on the westernmost side of the park, plum blossoms of varieties such as jumping branches and powdered plums emit bursts of fragrance, and the ancient Ming city wall and the delicate plum blossoms complement each other. 📝Note tips: Location: Ming City Wall Ruins Park Transportation: [Bus] Bus or [Metro] Chongwenmen Station Tickets: Free for the park, but charged for climbing the corner tower

The Southeast Corner Tower of Beijing City is located at No. 9, Chongwenmen East Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing. It was built in the fourth year of the Zhengtong era of the Ming Dynasty (1439). In addition to the nine city gates, the city wall, and the arrow tower, the Ming and Qing Dynasties built an arrow tower at each corner of the city to strengthen the defense capabilities, which was called the corner tower, or the turret. The turret here is the only remaining southeast turret in Beijing, and it is also the largest and earliest existing corner tower in China. The Southeast Corner Tower of Beijing City was built on a square base of the city wall, with a base height of 12 meters, a bottom edge length of 39.45 meters, a top edge length of 15 meters, a building height of 17 meters, and a building area of 701.3 square meters. The tower is built along the corner of the city platform, with a curved ruler shape on the plane, brick walls on all sides, and a double-eave hip roof. The two ridges intersect at the corner to form a cross, with gray cylinder tiles and green glazed tiles on the edges, and green glazed ridge decorations with beast heads. There are arrow windows on the outside of the tower, with one row on the upper edge and three rows on the lower edge, totaling 144 holes. The inside of the tower follows the main tower and each has a veranda, which is also connected to the corner room, with two doors. One faces west and the other faces north, with windows above the doors. There are twenty golden pillars inside the tower, supporting the beams, with shooting holes and three floors of floor slabs. The tower in the southeast of Beijing City is a model of the corner tower in the city defense system of ancient Chinese cities. On February 23, 1982, the Southeast Corner Tower of Beijing City was announced by the State Council of the People's Republic of China as the second batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

#christmastrip Walking along the second ring in the Beijing, there are remains of the wall defending the city in the past. At the southeast corner of the wall stood the watchtower. It is well-persevered and maintained. Tourists can climb up to the tower and enjoy the gorgeous city view. It portrayed how Beijing has been developing while integrating its past as the capital for more than 500 years. The tower also has staff dressed up in costume to perform how soldiers defend the city in the past. This place is a good place to visit other than the most famous gate in the city. It is just next to the Beijing railway station. Convenient to reach here.