Beijing Underground City

Those who come to China looking for Mao Zedong and Communist culture are often surprised that little of it remains. Yes, Mao still looks down from Tiananmen, but much of what was Red China has disappeared. That is what makes this little gem worth the trip. It will take you longer to find the place than to visit the tunnel and it is not near any other sites, but this is one place worth the visit - just for the atmosphere.

Getting There

First to find the "Underground City" you are going to have to do a bit of digging, whoops - sorry, couldn't resist. If you are near Tiananmen or taking the subway, go to Qianmen. Find the old train station on the corner and walk east. You will pass the Beijing Urban Planning Museum. Just keep going until you reach an intersection. If you look to your left you will see an esplanade that looks gorgeous. To the right it looks like a war zone. The hutongs are being razed and last time we visited there were far fewer buildings than ruble. Guess what, that's where your headed. You will see signs (in graffiti on the wreckage) for the Li Qun Duck Restaurant. It is the best Duck in the city, so you might want to try it - if you have time. Take you first left onto xidamo hutong. Its is on your right after about 3-5 minute walk.

DIG DEEP, PREPARE PROVISIONS, AND DON'T SEEK HEGEMONY - Mao Zedong

The Underground City has also been called the Underground Great Wall, since they had the same purpose: military defense. The complex is a relic of the Sino-Soviet border conflict in 1969, a time when chairman Mao ordered the construction of subterranean bomb shelters in case of nuclear attack. The tunnels, built from 1969 to 1979 by more than 300,000 local citizens and even school children, stretches for over 30 kilometers and cover an area of 85 square kilometers eight to eighteen meters under the surface.

To supply construction materials for the complex, centuries-old city walls and towers that once circled ancient Beijing were destroyed. These ancient defenses became part of a 20th century nuclear defense. In the event of attack, the plan was to house forty percent of the capital’s population underground and for the remainder to move to neighboring hills, and it is said that every residence once had a secret trapdoor nearby leading to the nearby tunnels.

We don't know how far the mostly hand-dug tunnels stretch, but they supposedly link all areas of central Beijing, from Xidan and Xuanwumen to Qianmen and Chongwen districts, to as far as the Western Hills. They were equipped with facilities such as stores, restaurants, clinics, schools, theaters, reading rooms, factories, a roller skating rink, a grain and oil warehouse as well as barber shops and a mushroom cultivation farm, for growing foods that require little light. Over 2,300 elaborate ventilation shafts were installed, and gas and waterproof hatches constructed to protect insiders from chemical attack and radioactive fallout. There are also more than 70 sites inside the tunnels to dig wells.

The guided walk through the tunnel is short and there really isn't that much to see. The guides in military outfits are nice and they will answer any questions that you have, but what is really needed to enjoy the tunnels is your imagination. Imagine these places being dug out by local communities, using the most basic of tools. The labor of the people must have been a way to curb the fire of the Cultural Revolution that Mao now firmly back in power needed to quell. One other thing to ponder, especially for American tourists, is that this bomb shelter was built in response to fears of a Soviet not American attack. This tunnel is hard evidence that the Communist Block was not as unified as we had been taught at the time.