Underground City (Beijing) - As A Tourist Attraction

As A Tourist Attraction

The complex was officially opened in 2000, but has been closed for renovation since at least February 2008. While it was open, visitors were allowed to tour portions of the complex; the Underground City was popular with foreign tourists but remained virtually forgotten by local citizens. Despite having many entrances, foreign visitors entered approved sections accessed via a small shop front in Qianmen, south of Tiananmen Square, at 62 West Damochang Street. Tour groups could enter free of charge and without prior permission while individual tourists not part of a group were charged 20 yuan (US$2.40) each.

The official tour took visitors only on a small circular stretch of the Underground City. Inside the complex, visitors could see signposts to major landmarks accessible by the tunnels, such as Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and could see chambers labeled with their original functions, such as cinemas, hospitals, or arsenals. A portrait of Mao Zedong could be seen amidst murals of locals volunteering to dig the tunnels and fading slogans such as "Accumulate Grain", and "For the People: Prepare for War, Prepare for Famine". Rooms with bunk beds and decayed cardboard boxes of water purifiers could be seen in areas not open to tourists. Visitors on the official tour would also pass by a functioning silk factory operations in one of the underground staff meeting rooms of the complex, and be given a demonstration of the process of obtaining silk from silkworm cocoons, and a chance to buy souvenirs at a tourists' shop operated by the state-owned Qianmen Arts and Crafts Center and the China Kai Tian Silk Company.