The Beijing Legation Quarter, located immediately to the east ofTiananmen Square, was the area where foreign diplomatic missionaries resided between 1861 and 1959. In Chinese, the area is known as Dongjiaominxiang, also the name of a “hutong,” which is an alleyway inBeijing. During the Yuan Dynasty, thishutongwas called “Dong-jiang-mi-xiang,” or "East-River-Rice-Lane," because of its proximity to the river port by which rice and grain shipped intoBeijingfrom the south.

During the Ming Dynasty, several hostels were built by the government for tributary missions fromVietnam,Mongolia,Korea, andBurma. FollowingChina's defeat in the Second Opium War in 1856-1860, the area around Dongjiangmixiang was opened to a number of foreign diplomatic missions.

After the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, foreign powers obtained the right to station troops to protect their legations under the terms of the Boxer Protocol, according to which the street's name was changed to "

Legation Street

The Legation Quarter had western churches, hotels, banks and restaurants and was encircled by a wall. Sealed off from its immediate environment, the Legation Quarter became a city within the city ofBeijingexclusively for foreigners.

After the founding of the People's Republic ofChina(1949), a new district near Dongzhimen was designated for foreign embassies and the Legation Quarter's foreign missions finally came to an end.

Today the Legation Quarter has been restored and houses a range of restaurants, bars, and an art gallery. As the only hutong with a collection of Western-style buildings inBeijing, the area has become a tourist destination and is protected by municipal artifact preservation orders.

These well-preserved, century-old buildings not only reflect the essence of Western architecture but also bare witness to the unforgettable history ofChina's humiliation.

Bus Routes: Bus 9, 673 to

Zhengyi Road