Beijing West station unveils journey into ancient capital

On the underground second floor of Beijing West Railway Station, amid the summer rush of travelers dragging suitcases toward their trains, a different kind of journey is unfolding.

The Jinzhongdu — Origin of Beijing as Capital exhibition opened to the public on July 30, bringing together years of archaeological findings from the Jinzhongdu site. Co-hosted by the Beijing Archaeological Site Museum and the Beijing West Railway Station Area Management Office, the exhibition transforms the subway's east passageway into a time tunnel, transporting visitors back 873 years to the birth of Beijing as a national capital.

In 1153, Emperor Wanyan Liang of the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) moved the capital from Shangjing (in present-day Heilongjiang province) to Yanjing — present-day Beijing — and renamed it Zhongdu, meaning "central capital". Among the dynasty's five capitals, it occupied the central position.