The world-renowned Beijing Ancient Observatory is the Royal Observatory of the Ming and Qing dynasties, which belongs to the Beijing Planetarium. The eight large-scale astronomical instruments of the Qing Dynasty displayed on the top of the observatory are national first-class cultural relics and can be regarded as Chinese astronomical national treasures.

Stepping into the small courtyard under the Observatory, it is like walking into a historical scroll that the ancient locust trees with hundreds of years are vigorous, and the ridge beast on the top of the Ziwei Palace is looking up at the sky. What’s more, the replicas of ancient astronomical measuring instruments such as the Armillary Sphere (hunyi), the Abridged Armilla (jianyi), and the Square Table (zhengfang’an) were displayed, recording the changes of the stars, the rising of the sun and the setting of the moon.

There are three exhibitions on display in the Ziwei Palace and the East and West Wing rooms of the Observatory: “Chinese sky”, “European Astronomy Spreading to China” and the“History of the Observatory”. These three exhibitions respectively show the brilliant achievements of ancient Chinese astronomy and the introduction of Western astronomy since the end of Ming Dynasty along with its fusion as well as collision with the Chinese one. In addition, they demonstrate the history of this observatory and the experience of its astronomical instruments being looted, returned and transferred in the 20th century.

The ancient observatory not only accumulated a large amount of astronomical scientific data, but also preserved the meteorological data for nearly 180 years from the second year of Emperor Yongzheng’s reign (1724) to the 28th year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign (1902), which is the earliest and most complete meteorological observation record in the world.

In 1982, the Beijing Ancient Observatory was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit, and it reopened to the public in 1983, attracting tourists from all over the world.

Address: No.2 Dongbiaobei Hutong, Jianguomen crossroad, Dongcheng District, Beijing

Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 16:30 (admission closes at 16:00)

Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (except legal holidays, summer and winter vacations) 

Reservation: WeChat official account of Beijing Planetarium

Translator: Chen Nuoqi