Fuyou Street

Fuyou Street

Fuyou Street is located in the southeastern part of Xicheng District. It starts from West Chang’an Avenue in the south and extends to Xi’anmen Street in the north. It got its name because during the Republican era, it was situated to the right of the presidential residence.

On October 10, 1913, the second year of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai assumed the presidency. The presidential residence was located in Zhongnanhai. The alley west of the presidential residence, originally called Huichang Jiedao, was renamed Fuyou Street.

According to the Ming dynasty’s Lu Qian in his “Bingyi Manji”: “There was a sorceress nun in the capital. The emperor sent the eunuch Wang Zhi to take charge of the Hui Shi area. After interrogation, the Hui Factory was turned into the Western Depot.” The Wang Zhi mentioned here was a notorious eunuch of the Ming dynasty, infamous just like Wei Zhongxian, the powerful eunuch who oversaw the Eastern Depot. Both the Eastern and Western Depots were secret police agencies at the time, with the authority to secretly arrest and execute people. The “Hui Factory” referred to in the text is today’s Fuyou Street.

From its establishment to the present, Fuyou Street has a history of just over eighty years. In the past, the southern half of Fuyou Street was part of the Imperial City, and the northern half was part of Zhongnanhai, and the public could not access it. Today, it has become one of the main thoroughfares connecting the northern and southern parts of Beijing. The sidewalks on both sides of the street are lined with lush Chinese scholar trees, creating a beautiful and tranquil urban space. To the east of Fuyou Street lies the western wall of Zhongnanhai. The southern section of the northern wall is a red wall, which was part of the western wall of the Imperial City during the Ming and Qing dynasties. This red wall is eighteen Chinese feet high, topped with golden glazed tiles. The section of the wall north of the eastern entrance of Lingjing Hutong was rebuilt after the Republican era.

Address: Southeastern part of Xicheng District, Beijing