Tuan Cheng Drill Yard

Tuan Cheng Drill Yard

The Tuan Cheng Drill Yard is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Jianrui Camp Drill Yard, located at the eastern foot of Fragrant Hills in Haidian District, Beijing, is commonly known as the Tuan Cheng Drill Yard. It is an ancient military architectural structure from the Qing Dynasty. With an appearance resembling a castle, it was first built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. To strengthen control over ethnic minority regions in the southwest, the Qing court implemented the "replace native chieftains with imperial officials" policy. Local forces resisted using stone watchtowers, and after prolonged unsuccessful attacks, the Qing army constructed this drill yard to train soldiers in storming such fortifications—the Jianrui Cloud Ladder Camp—eventually quelling the uprisings in the Greater and Lesser Jinchuan regions. To celebrate the victory, the Shisheng Temple (now in ruins) was built here.

The Jianrui Camp, also known as the Jianrui Cloud Ladder Camp, the Flying Tiger Jianrui Cloud Ladder Camp, or the Fragrant Mountain Jianrui Camp, was a unit within the Qing Eight Banners’ imperial guard with characteristics of a special forces force. Established during the Qianlong era, the Jianrui Camp played a crucial role in battles such as the Jinchuan Campaigns (Greater and Lesser), the Dzungar Campaigns, the Hui and Muslim Rebellions led by Dawachi and Xiaoheihezhuo, the suppression of the Lin Shuangwen and Zhuang Datian Uprisings in Taiwan, and the Battle of Kulun. The camp was disbanded in 1911 following the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the Eight Banners system. Its garrison was situated at the foot of Fragrant Hills in northwest Beijing, with a regular force of about 2,000 troops, divided into left and right wings by banner affiliation. Most soldiers were of Manchu origin, and the camp also included a special unit known as the Miaozhi Camp, composed of Tibetan soldiers who had surrendered during the Jinchuan Campaigns along with their descendants.

The Drill Yard was built in the 14th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1749) and is the only remaining military complex in Beijing that integrates city walls, halls, pavilions, and a training ground. The circular Tuan Cheng fortress has a diameter of 50 meters from east to west and 40 meters from north to south, with walls 11 meters high and 5 meters wide, and a perimeter of just 190 meters, making it the smallest city in the world. There is one gate tower on both the northern and southern sides. The walls are made of blue bricks, with arched gateways; the northern and southern jade gate lintels are inscribed with Emperor Qianlong’s calligraphy: “Might Proclaims the Rampart” and “Resolve Matches the Impregnable.”

A moat and stone bridge encircle the outer perimeter, and there are two towers on the city wall. Inside the northern gate tower stands a horizontal stone stele inscribed with Emperor Qianlong’s “Postscript to the Shisheng Temple,” commemorating the Jianrui Camp’s military achievements in quelling the Dzungar Rebellion. To the south of the city are three halls covered with yellow glazed tile and a hip-and-gable roof. The Drill Yard itself has five bays with a front terrace, where Emperor Qianlong and other emperors personally reviewed troops more than twenty times. A fire occurred in 1934. The large training ground, covering 300 acres, is now an orchard. Southwest of the Drill Yard is the Shisheng Temple Stele Pavilion, built in the 14th year of Qianlong’s reign. It houses a square stele over ten feet tall, inscribed in Manchu, Chinese, Mongolian, and Tibetan scripts, recording the process of pacifying Jinchuan and the history of the Shisheng Temple. The temple no longer exists, leaving only the stele pavilion. The surviving ancient structures, from north to south, are the Tuan Cheng, the Drill Yard, the West Gate Tower, the Shisheng Temple Stele Pavilion, and the Song Hall.

In May 2006, the Jianrui Camp Drill Yard, as an ancient architectural site from the Qing Dynasty, was approved by the State Council to be included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Suggested Duration

1 hour

Transportation

By Bus: Get off at Hongqi Village Station via bus routes 318, 360, 505, 698, 714, or Yuntong 112, then walk 400 meters north to reach the site.

Admission

Free entry

Opening Hours

Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00–16:00; closed on Mondays

Location

No. 1 Hongqi Village, South Fragrant Hill Road, Haidian District, Beijing

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Municipal-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units in Beijing

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units