Visiting Beijing one will find that many lanes, streets, and avenues are straight and it is easy to find the right direction in the city. The reason lies in the layout of the old city of Beijing.

After touring around the city, one will be surpprised to find that the construction of the city was done under a rational conception. The layout illustrates the guideline of centring around the Royal Structures. The backbone of the city is a central line of 7.5 kilometres, which runs from south to north. The line starts from Yongdingmen (Forever Peace) Gate and passes Zhengyangmen(Right South) Gate and stops at Tian’anmen (Heavenly Peace) Gate, which is the front gate of the Forbidden City. Walking from the gate to the north, one enters the Forbidden City, then Duanmen (Sedateness Gate), Wumen (Noon Gate), Taihemen (Gate of Supreme Harmony), Taihedian (Palace of Supreme Harmony), Zhonghedian (Palace of Medium Harmony), Baohedian (Harmony Preserving Palace), and Qianqinggong(Palace of Heavenly Purity). Exiting the Shengwumen (Gate of Divine Prowess), one will be at the royal garden—Jingshan (Coal Hill) Park. Behind the park the Di’anmen (Earthly Peace Gate)appears. Finally, the line terminates at the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. At both sides of the central line in the downtown area juxtapose the Temple of Heaven and the Altar for the God of Agriculture. On the sides in the mid-area of the central line the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Shejitan (Altar of the God of Land and Grain)show up. The Ritan (Temple of Sun) and the Yuetan (Temple of Moon) locate in the further end. The Temple of Heaven in the south parallels with the Temple of Earth in the north. Almost all streets in Beijing were built along the central line.

The old city of Beijing divided itself from the inner city to the outer city. The outer one locates in south of the inner one. Both cities were once surrounded by huge city walls and there were entrances in the east, west, south and north. The inner city had nine gates and the outer one had seven outlets. They were named by the names of their locations, but the city walls were mostly demolished. The only remnants are Zhengyangmen and its arrow tower, and the arrow tower and watchtower of Deshengmen (Gate of Victory), which have been transformed into museums,openning to tourists.