As part of the effort to protect Beijing 's historical relics, the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) City Wall Relics Park opened in 2002.

As the imperial capital, Beijing was surrounded by impressive defensive fortifications, and indeed the greatest fortification system in imperial China. Beijing was once surrounded by four rings of city walls: the Forbidden City wall, the Imperial City wall, the inner city wall and the outer city wall. While several parts of the inner city wall remain, the entirety of the outer city wall was destroyed.  Much of the walls were destroyed during the Boxer Uprising (1900), as well as by occupying foreign powers to make space for railways.  A few minor adjustments were made to the walls during the Republic of China period, while the greatest dismantlement took place during the 1950s by the communist government to make way for expansion of the road network and construction of the metro system.  By 1979, the government put in place orders preserving the remaining city walls.

The City Wall Relic Park follows the opening of the Huangchenggen Relics Park in September 2001, also known as the Imperial City Wall Relics Park , in downtown Beijing. The one-kilometer-long Ming Dynasty city wall is said to be the last existing part of the third ring of the ancient city wall, which stretches from Chongwenmen to Dongbianmen in eastern Beijing. To make way for the park encompassing 13 hectares (32.12 acres) of land, residents in 1,800 households had to leave. The park cost 850 million yuan (US$102 million) to build, a large portion of which was used to compensate residents who had to move. More than 120,000 ancient city wall bricks have been collected in the past three years to rebuild the section of the city wall, which dates back to the 14th century. 

Tour Including Ming City Wall Relic Park;
Flag Raising Ceremony- Tiananmen Square- Chairman Mao's Mausoleum- Ming City Wall Relic Park

For photos of the City Wall Relics Park, click here!