Aug 04 2008
Qianmen Street, Beijing
Qianmen Street is located at the southern section of the Central Axis Line of Beijing. Since Ming Dynasty，the Qianmen Street was served as one of the main commercial street of Beijing. Qianmen Street reached its peak flourishing time at the 20s of 20 century. The reconstruction of Qianmen Street started 15 months ago, and will officially complete on Tuesday, August 7th right before the opening of Beijing Olympic Games. A trolley car will return to the street and become the only transportation vehicle and a very special moving decoration on the pedestrian street. With a maximum capacity of 84 passengers, the trolley takes a 10-minute tour through the 846-meter street.
The redeveloped Qianmen Street stretches from the southern end of Tian’anmen Square to the Zhushikou Street. It runs a length of 840 meters, and will restore Qianmen Street’s streetscape to that of the early 20th century. It’s also the second pedestrian street in downtown Beijing, after the famous Wangfujing Street. There are 200 new shops on both sides of the street, covering nearly 70,000 sq m, including restaurants, retailers and shops providing other services. 41 time-honored shops, such as the Quanjude roasted duck restaurant, the Zhangyiyuan tea house and the Duyichu Shaomai Restaurant, will return to their original places. Many international businesses such as Starbucks, Rolex, Nike and Apple will be integrated with customized local Chinese style front faces.
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Game torch relay will pass through the brand new Qianmen Street. Marathon athletes will run through the Qianmen Street during the 2008 Beijing Olympic.
