The old Qianmen railway station

In front of you is Zhengyangmen East station, which for half a century was the real front door to Beijing. Look at the clock tower and the great arch: it could be a station in an English town, and that is no coincidence.

1A railway that came with war

The capital's first railway line ended far away, at Majiapu, south of the outer wall. In June 1900 the Boxers burned that station down. When foreign troops occupied the city, the British extended the track inside, and by 1901 trains were pulling in right beside the Qianmen gate, a short walk from the Legation Quarter. The building in front of you went up between 1903 and 1906 to a British design, and for years it was the largest station in China.

2Half a century of arrivals

Diplomats, traders and travellers from all over the country came through here. Traffic grew so heavy that in 1915 the walls of the Zhengyangmen barbican were pulled down to let it pass. In 1949 it was renamed Beijing Station, and in December that year Mao Zedong left from here by train for Moscow.

In 1959 the new Beijing Station opened and this one closed its platforms after serving the city for 53 years.

It then became a railway workers' club, a shopping centre and an electronics market. Much of what you see was rebuilt in the 1990s to match the original look. Since 2010 it has housed the China Railway Museum.

3What to look for

• The clock tower, with its dome, rebuilt in 1994.
• The great arch of the old waiting hall.
• The bands of grey and white brick across the façade.