北京地下城 Beijing Underground City

北京地下城 Beijing Underground City
导游网 www.daoyou.org
　
近日，位于北京崇文区西大么胡同的"北京地下城"正式对市民开放。至此，这个隐藏在地下10米的长城，终于在25年后成为崇文区一个新的"红色"教育基地。

"北京地下城"从1980年开始成为涉外旅游景点，由前门街道劳动服务管理中心负责经营。据总经理王俊亮介绍，北京地下城是1969年开始由当地居民、社会团体义务劳动修建的地下防御工事，大多数40岁以上的北京人都参加过修建工作。地下长城，占地1000多平方米，直接与后来建设的地铁相连。

北京地下城属于北京市对外重点参观单位。北京地下城的前身是人防工事，始建于一九六九年。它可容纳该地区的全部人口，分为三个防御工事小区，并通往市区的四面八方，形成了初具规模的人民防空地道网。

北京地下城可以看电影

北京地下城工程，历时十年，于1979年完工。地下城距地面八米，最深处可达十几米，宽两米，全长三十余公里，可容纳三十余万人。因工程量巨大，设施齐全，被称为"北京地下城"。

北京地下城有近七十处被鉴定拥有丰富的地下水，在需要时，只要往下挖数米，便可取得源源不绝的地下水。城内2300个特别设计的通风孔，可以源源不绝把新鲜的空气输入地下城。北京地下城中，也设有电影院、理发室等等，每座电影院每次可以容纳300人。四通八达的地下通道，可以直通行政中心、紫禁城、天安门和火车站。

最早的"北京地下城"，实际上是北京的防空洞。从1969年起，总共动员30万群众，历时10年广挖防空洞。北京地下城距地面八米，最深处可达十几米，宽两米，全长30余公里，可容纳30余万人，地下城有近70处被鉴定拥有丰富的地下水。在需要时，只要往下挖数米，便可取得源源不断的地下水。城内2300个特别设计的通风孔，可以源源不断地把新鲜的空气输入地下城。城内的医院，一座可以同时容纳500人，地下城中每座电影院每次可以容纳300人，城内的许多空间，在需要时，都可以充作地下医院用。四通八达的地下通道，可以直通紫禁城和火车站。通道上设有双重的防毒门，防备毒气攻击。地下城的各项设施，是要确保需要时，进入地下城的人可以长时间生活。防空洞完全是用人力挖掘，是目前世界上最大的防空工事。由于工程浩大，拥有设立各项地面设施的空间，与一座城市一样，因此在建成后就被称为"北京地下城"。迄今所知地下城的用处共有三个：旅游景点、爱国主义教育基地、地下商场。

北京地下城参观注意事项

根据有关外事部门的规定，进入北京地下城必须凭票参观进入并清点人数，严格跟随导游参观。

北京地下城的入口在胡同内，因此您需要将车停在台基厂附近，随导游步行300米左右至入口处。

北京地下城票。成人20元，学生10元。开放时间为早9:00-晚4:30分。

北京地下城管理处电话: 67022657

BEIJING UNDERGROUND CITY (DiXiaCheng)
It is surprisingly that some foreigners to Beijing seem to know more about the Underground City than the local Beijing citizens. This subterranean complex is a relic of the Sino-Soviet conflict in 1969 over the Zhenbao Island in the Amur River (Heilongjiang), a time when Mao Zedong ordered the construction of the underground bomb shelters complex in the event of a Soviet attack. The designers apparently installed special ventilation systems with hatches against chemical attack and it is claimed that the tunnels and rooms ten meters underground were constructed by 70,000 workers in the early 1970s. The paranoia of that period called for forty percent of the population in Beijing to stay in the underground city and the remainder to be moved to neighboring hills.

The complex is said to cover an area of 85 sq km with a thousand anti-air raid structures. It is now claimed to have ninety entrances to modified shops, theaters, roller skating rinks, hotels, restaurants, schools reading rooms, factories, warehouse (even mushroom cultivation units and barber shops). The temperature is said to be at a constant 27 degree Celcius. It is mentioned that Mao and other leaders had a separate passage way to take them out of the city in the event of an attack on Beijing. Old Chinese documentary films made in the late 1970s do show Beijing dwellers growing mushrooms and raising chickens in the dimly lit tunnels.

At the famous shopping street of Wangfujing, the underground air raid shelters are now used for reasonably priced youth hostel, shopping and business centre, at Chongwen and Xuanwu for theaters, and at Qianmen for silk and carpet outlets. At the Xicheng area, the bomb shelter has been converted to a wholesale market of about a thousand stalls. Despite the so many entrances, foreign visitors to see the original underground structure are only shown a small approved section through a small shop front in Qianmen south of Tiananmen. Apparently, locals are discouraged from entering the tourist approved site.

Our tourist guide took us to Qianmen where we entered a relatively quiet street with an ordinary shop carrying the signs "Underground City" in both Chinese and English. Through the small shop we immediately descended into a subterranean entrance with different passage-ways capable of taking three to four people abreast. There were quarters for soldiers, hospital, store rooms, conference rooms and other rooms. The air shaft was opened to show how the ventilation could be shut to protect against water and chemicals. Various tunnels had directions pointing to Nanjing and Tianjin. Interestingly, though somewhat unbelievable, the guide mentioned that the underground passage from Beijing can run all the way to Tianjin. The end point of the tour was a silk factory making quilts and a commentary on the double cocoon silk.

For those interested to see part of the Underground City, the address is 62 West Damochang Street, Qianmen, Tel. 6702-2657, 6701-1389. Apparently, another site is at Beijing Qianmen Carpet Factory at 44 Xingfu Dajie, Chongwen District, Tel. 6701-5079. One can also try a lesser known site at 18 Dazhalan Jie at Qianmen.

Beijing's Underground City
For more than 20 years, Beijing's Underground City, a bomb shelter just beneath the ancient capital's downtown area, has been virtually forgotten by local citizens, despite being well-known amongst foreigners since it officially opened in 2000.
The Underground City has also been called the Underground Great Wall, since they had the same purpose: military defense.
This complex is a relic of the Sino-Soviet border conflict in 1969 over Zhenbao Island in northeast China's Heilongjiang River, a time when chairman Mao Zedong 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, wind for over 30 kilometers and cover an area of 85 square kilometers eight to eighteen meters under the surface. It includes around a thousand anti-air raid structures.
To supply construction materials for the complex, centuries-old city walls and towers that once circled ancient Beijing were destroyed. The old city gates of Xizhimen, Fuchengmen, Chongwenmen and others remain in name only - only two embrasured watchtowers from Zhengyangmen and Deshengmen survived.
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 tunnels.
There is no authoritative information on 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.
Mao's slogan calling for people to dig deep, prepare provisions and not to seek hegemony is printed on the wall.
Of course, the underground city was thankfully never needed for its intended purpose, but it has been maintained by city officials. Water conservancy authorities check it every year during rainy season, and it is included in anti-vermin sweeps.
The tunnels have since been used by young lovers, and by children daring each other to remain in the darkness longer than their friends. But they were largely shut off for safety reasons.
On busy streets, some shelters are now used as low priced hostels, while others have been transformed into shopping and business centers, or even theaters.
Despite having so many entrances, foreign visitors usually see a small approved section accessed via a small shop front in Qianmen, south of Tiananmen.

Travel tips:
Tour groups can enter free of charge without prior permission, whilst individual tourists are charged 20 yuan (US$2.4).
For those interested in seeing the Underground City, the address is 62 West Damochang Street, Qianmen, tel. 6702-2657. Apparently, there is another site in Beijing Qianmen Carpet Factory at 44 Xingfu Dajie, Chongwen District, tel. 6701-5079 and a lesser known one at 18 Dazhalan Jie in Qianmen.