Road less traveled

Beijing

Beijing Art Museum of Stone Carvings

Tucked in a quiet alley and housed in an Indian-style Buddhist temple of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Beijing Art Museum of Stone Carvings is a little-known place in Beijing not to be missed by those interested in religious art and history.

On the site of the museum was originally the Temple of the Great Righteous Awakening, or more colloquially the Five Pagoda Temple, named so because of the five pagodas on the temple's square foundation that stands at 7.7 meters tall.

The architectural style is that of a "diamond throne pagoda", which is inspired by the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, India - the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. But the Diamond Throne Tower of Five Pagoda Temple has a more Chinese element with glazed-tile roofs.

Among the decorations of the Diamond Throne Tower is a pair of footprints that symbolizes the spread of Buddhism all over the world. Traces of red pigments remain from the previous painting of the pedestal.

It is unclear how the architectural style of the Mahabodhi Temple was introduced to China. According to one legend, the high-ranking Indian monk Pandida presented the design to the imperial court during the reign of Ming Emperor Yongle in the early 15th century.

But it wasn't until the reign of the Ming Emperor Chenghua in 1473 that the temple was constructed. Besides the marble construction of the diamond throne pagoda, the temple complex also contains a number of wooden buildings.

The temple complex was damaged by fire in 1860, during the Second Opium War and again in 1900 by the Eight-Nation Alliance. Only the stone structure of the five-pagoda building proper survived the destruction. The wooden halls perished, but the pedestal that once supported the Big Treasure Hall remains unharmed.

Location: 24 Wutasi village, Baishi-qiao, to the northwest of Beijing Zoo.

Tel: 010-6217-3543

Open: 9 am-4 pm (closed on Monday)

Dongjiao Minxiang

Located immediately to the east of Tian'anmen Square, the hutong named Dongjiao Minxiang seems worlds away from all the hustle and bustle of the square.

Formerly known as the Peking Legation Quarter, Dongjiao Minxiang was the area in Beijing where a number of foreign legations were located between 1861 and 1959.

During the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), it was called the "Rice Alley" because of its proximity to the river port by which rice and grains arrived in Beijing from the south. In the Ming Dynasty, a number of ministries moved into the area, including the Ministry of Rites, which was in charge of diplomatic matters.

Following China's defeat during the Second Opium War in 1856-60, the Zongli Yamen was established here as a foreign office of the Qing Dynasty and the area was opened for legations of a number of countries, including France, Japan and the United States. Foreign banks, hospitals and hotels also started mushrooming.

After the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, the Legation Quarter became a city within the city exclusively for foreigners. Many Chinese nationalists resented the quarter as a symbol of foreign aggression.

But the area is now home to high-end restaurants and luxury retailers as well as cheap eateries and common shops that are open to public.

You can also find St. Michael Catholic Church, which was built in 1902 on the site of a church destroyed during the Boxer Rebellion.

After the founding of New China in 1949, a number of foreign legations were still situated here, but after 1959, they were moved to the Sanlitun area.

It is a pity that several buildings, such as the former HSBC building, were demolished for road expansion, but the area is still Beijing's most significant collection of Western-style architecture, and is now protected by municipal artifact preservation orders.

With a total length of 1,552 meters, it is also the longest alley in Beijing.