The Xidan area, which in local chinese pinyin is "Xīdān"  and in Chinese characters reads as: "西单"is a major traditional commercial area in Beijing, China. It is located in the Xicheng District.

The Xidan commercial district incorporates Xidan's Culture Square, North Xidan Street, and many supermarkets and department stores. It is here that you can find major brands such as Apple, Zara,  Guess, Diesel and many more. The Xidan Cultural Square is the largest venue for cultural events in downtown Beijing. TheXidan area occupies around 80 hectares (197.7 Acres) within the Xicheng District.

The name Xidan literally came from the paifang area that existed on one of the streets there. In this context, the name "Xidan" refers to the single charcter "单" or  paifang, which  existed on the west side (西) of the city.The paifang was recently rebuilt, and now stands at the Xidan Culture Square.

A Brief History

The area of Xidan began to develop during the Ming Dynasty. It emerged as an area alongside the passage for traders from Southwestern China toenter Beijing. Restaurants and shops were eventually built for these merchants. Eventually, as the Western part of the city became the residential area for officials, Xidan became a commercial area. The location of several government agencies when Beijing was under the administration of the Republic of China also helped Xidan's economic growth.

The area began to experience massive growth in the 1950s, as the population of Beijing began to move westwards. By the 1970s, Xidan, along with Qianmen and Wangfujing, became the three major commercial areas in Beijing.

Currently, the area is known throughout Beijing as a shopping area. Many malls and department stores have stores within the area, the oldest of which is the China branch of the Taiwanese department store Chungyo.

Xidan is also home to Lingjing Alley, which, at 32m (34 yards), is considered to be the broadest hutong in Beijing.

The Xidan Wall

The Xidan Wall, also called Democracy Wall, is a long brick wall on Xidan Street. Built in 1978,  the buliding of the Xidan Wall played a significant role in the democracy movement in Beijing during the summer of 1979. It was at that time when the wall received a significant number of posters that criticized China's leaders. Even an award-winning Canadian journalist John Fraser put up his own "dazibao," whose notice about a lost gold signet ring that concluded in vague political sentiment bizarrely resulted in his addressing the 1979 summer masses in Tiananmen Square. However, by December 1979, Beijing's municipal government banned the posting of wall posters on Xidan Wall in an attempt to curtail the democracy movement. The municipal government instead allowed posters on a site within Yuetan Park, a small park located in Beijing. The municipal government  required registration with the city and an agreement to be "held responsible for political and legal implications of their messages.Eventually, the most widely regarded poster writer for Xidan Wall was Wei Jingsheng, who was later sent to prison.

Getting There

The best way to get there is via the Xidan Subway Station, which is on Line 1 and Line 4 of the Beijing Subway system. In addition, many Beijing bus lines serve the area.

Expectations of Xidan

A Xidan Elementary School student read an open letter she wrote to the American Public Diplomat  Cal Ripken, Jr. during his October 28, 2007 to November 6, 2007 visit to China.The Chinese Government has targeted Xidan in its 11th Five Year Plan, which is scheduled to conclude by 2010, with a stated mission of improving the area's environment, as well as diversifying the genre of stores that open in the area. Portions of the plan were already completed in the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games.