2nd Ring Road (Beijing)
Encyclopedia
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, the 2nd Ring Road (二环路, èr huán lù) is just a few kilometres away from the city centre and is a convenient alternative road to avoid congestion there. One can divide the road into two parts: the original ring road (the southern part of the original ring road is now excluded from the current ring road), and the newly extended ring road. This article only covers the current (new) 2nd Ring Road.
History and Geography
The 2nd Ring Road runs close to where Beijing's city walls once stood; numerous junctions bear the old city gate's name. A small number of these city gates themselves still stand: Xibianmen, Dongbianmen, DeshengmenDeshengmen
Deshengmen is the name of a city gate that was once part of Beijing's northern city wall. It is one of Beijing's few preserved city gates and now stands as a landmark on the northern 2nd Ring Road....
and Yongdingmen
Yongdingmen
Yongdingmen was the former front gate of the outer section of Beijing's old city wall. Originally built in 1553, it was torn down in the 1950s to make way for the new road system in Beijing. In 2005, the Yongdingmen was reconstructed at the site of the old city gate...
(which has been rebuilt). Most of the old city walls were pulled down shortly after the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
was established in 1949.
All traffic lights were removed in the 1990s, and several new overpasses were built.
In 2001, the 2nd Ring Road was overhauled. It was fully re-surfaced, and greenery substantially increased.
Much of Line 2 of the Beijing Subway
Beijing Subway
The Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail network that serves the urban and suburban districts of Beijing municipality. It is owned by the city of Beijing and has two operators, the wholly state owned Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp., which operates 12 lines, and the Beijing MTR...
runs underneath the Second Ring Road. Many stations have exits on both sides of the road, with the exception of Andingmen.
The Old 2nd Ring Road
The former "old 2nd Ring Road" has an elliptical shape. Its northwest corner is at XizhimenXizhimen
Xizhimen was formerly a gate in the Beijing city wall and is now the name of a transportation node in Beijing. The gate formerly was the entrance of drinking water for the Emperor, coming from the Jade Spring Hills to the west of Beijing...
, the northeast corner is at Dongzhimen
Dongzhimen
Dongzhimen is the name of one of the gates in the old city walls of Beijing, it is now a transportation node in Beijing.The 2nd Ring Road currently links, albeit somewhat indirectly, with two roads which eventually become the Airport Expressway and China National Highway 101...
, and southern corners are at Dongbianmen and Xibianmen. The southern side is the so-called "Metro Road" which goes through Qianmen
Qianmen
Qianmen is the colloquial name for Zhengyangmen , a gate in Beijing's historic city wall. The gate is situated to the south of Tiananmen Square and once guarded the southern entry into the Inner City. Although much of Beijing's city walls were demolished, Qianmen remains an important...
, at the southern end of Tian'anmen Square.
The New 2nd Ring Road
The new road is simply an extension of the western and eastern parts of the original 2nd Ring Road. It extends beyond Dongbianmen and Xibianmen, thus reaching Zuo'anmen to the southeast and the Caihuying overpass complex in the southwest. The extensions were known for a while as the external 2nd Ring Road, though this term is becoming more and more unpopular.
Gates and the 2nd Ring Road
The 2nd Ring Road passes the sites of many of the old city gates around Beijing. These include:- XizhimenXizhimenXizhimen was formerly a gate in the Beijing city wall and is now the name of a transportation node in Beijing. The gate formerly was the entrance of drinking water for the Emperor, coming from the Jade Spring Hills to the west of Beijing...
- DeshengmenDeshengmenDeshengmen is the name of a city gate that was once part of Beijing's northern city wall. It is one of Beijing's few preserved city gates and now stands as a landmark on the northern 2nd Ring Road....
- AndingmenAndingmenAndingmen is the name of a gate in the former city wall of Beijing. It is currently a transportation node in northern urban Beijing and the old gate has been replaced by Andingmen Bridge, an overpass taking the form of a suspended roundabout...
- DongzhimenDongzhimenDongzhimen is the name of one of the gates in the old city walls of Beijing, it is now a transportation node in Beijing.The 2nd Ring Road currently links, albeit somewhat indirectly, with two roads which eventually become the Airport Expressway and China National Highway 101...
- ChaoyangmenChaoyangmenChaoyangmen is the name of a gate in the former city wall of Beijing. It is now a transportation node and a district border in Beijing. It is located in the Dongcheng District of northeastern central Beijing....
- Dongbianmen
- YongdingmenYongdingmenYongdingmen was the former front gate of the outer section of Beijing's old city wall. Originally built in 1553, it was torn down in the 1950s to make way for the new road system in Beijing. In 2005, the Yongdingmen was reconstructed at the site of the old city gate...
- Xibianmen
- FuxingmenFuxingmenFuxingmen is a road situated in central Beijing and on the northwestern stretch of the 2nd Ring Road.Fuxingmen means "Gate of Revival". An overpass over the ring road exists with the same name....
- FuchengmenFuchengmenFuchengmen is the name of a gate on the western side of Beijing's city wall. The gate was torn down in the 1960s, and has been replaced by the Fuchengmen overpass on the 2nd Ring Road. Fuchengmen Station is now known as a transportation node, where a number of public buses and Line 2 of the...
Only Deshengmen, Dongbianmen, Yongdingmen (rebuilt 2005), and Xibianmen still stand; the others were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s.
Gates through which the former Inner 2nd Ring Road ("Metro Road") passes are:
- ChongwenmenChongwenmenChongwenmen is the name of a gate that was once part of Beijing's city wall. The gate stood in the southeastern part of Beijing's inner city, immediately south of the old Beijing Legation Quarter. In the 1960s, the gate was torn down to make room for Beijing's second ring road. It has given its...
- Zhengyangmen
- Xuanwumen
Only Zhengyangmen is still standing today.
Surface conditions
After completion in the 1980s, the design of the 2nd Ring Road was sufficient for its traffic load. However, as utilization increased in the late 20th century, the road surface rapidly deteriorated. Prior to 2001, the road gave motorists an uncomfortable bumpy ride. Since the total resurfacing, driving on the road has been much more pleasant. Partial resurfacing work is ongoing.Central location
Located in the heart of the city, the 2nd Ring Road is also a transportation bottleneck. Traffic jams are common, and it is hard to find immediate alternative routes as the 2nd Ring has few direct links to expressways. For cars and larger vehicles, there is no way to cross the 2nd Ring Road except at full junctions, or by making a U-turn under an overpass; pedestrians, cycles and motorcycles can make use of pedestrian overpasses. The speed limit is 80 km/hHour
The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds...
except for sharply turning sections such as between Xiaojie Bridge and Dongzhimen, and between . Speed checks are very frequent and cameras are often operating, some of the locations of these are known, while some are hidden beneath bridges or behind screens.
Traffic jams
Traffic jams on the 2nd Ring Road have become a part of daily life. Nevertheless, their intensity varies.The northern stretch between Andingmen
Andingmen
Andingmen is the name of a gate in the former city wall of Beijing. It is currently a transportation node in northern urban Beijing and the old gate has been replaced by Andingmen Bridge, an overpass taking the form of a suspended roundabout...
and Xiaojie Bridge is often jammed, particularly in the lead to the turn-off for the Airport Expressway. The same goes for part of the road around Deshengmen
Deshengmen
Deshengmen is the name of a city gate that was once part of Beijing's northern city wall. It is one of Beijing's few preserved city gates and now stands as a landmark on the northern 2nd Ring Road....
and all of the western side.
Less frequently jammed traffic can be found on the southern stretch of the 2nd Ring Road from Caihuying
Caihuying
Caihuying is an overpass complex in southwestern urban Beijing.The main feature is Caihuying Bridge . It links the 2nd Ring Road, which does a turn from south to east, with a connection road to the Jingkai Expressway and another route to the western 3rd Ring Road.It is one of the few...
through Zuo'anmen.
While the 2nd Ring Road is often congested, unlike the 3rd Ring Road, it is never gridlocked. The 3rd Ring Road uses diamond interchange
Diamond interchange
A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a freeway crosses a minor road. The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge...
s, which includes traffic lights. These interchanges back up traffic and causes gridlock. The 2nd Ring Road instead employs mostly cloverleaf interchange
Cloverleaf interchange
A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which left turns, reverse direction in left-driving regions, are handled by ramp roads...
s, which allows traffic to flow freely and without traffic lights, therefore eliminating traffic back up.
Road condition monitors
The western part of the 2nd Ring Road has "smart" electronic screens, automatically updated every five minutes. Traffic conditions are continuously monitored. Maps are also shown on them to notify drivers of road conditions at various parts of the road, including Jishuitan
Jishuitan Station
Jishuitan Station is a station on Line 2 of the Beijing Subway. Outside this station is located Deshengmen terminal....
, Xizhimen
Xizhimen
Xizhimen was formerly a gate in the Beijing city wall and is now the name of a transportation node in Beijing. The gate formerly was the entrance of drinking water for the Emperor, coming from the Jade Spring Hills to the west of Beijing...
, and Fuxingmen
Fuxingmen
Fuxingmen is a road situated in central Beijing and on the northwestern stretch of the 2nd Ring Road.Fuxingmen means "Gate of Revival". An overpass over the ring road exists with the same name....
on the Chang'an Avenue
Chang'an Avenue
Chang'an Avenue , literally "Eternal Peace Street", is a major thoroughfare in Beijing, China.Chang'an is the old name for Xi'an which was the capital of China during the Tang Dynasty and other periods....
.
Although only Chinese characters are used, the characters themselves are coloured red, yellow or green according to the type of message. This and the map displays make it somewhat easier for foreigners to understand.
Links to Expressways
The Badaling ExpresswayBadaling Expressway
The Badaling Expressway is an expressway in the People's Republic of China which links urban Beijing to the Badaling stretch of the Great Wall of China...
is linked to (from the side road) at Deshengmen
Deshengmen
Deshengmen is the name of a city gate that was once part of Beijing's northern city wall. It is one of Beijing's few preserved city gates and now stands as a landmark on the northern 2nd Ring Road....
. A direct ramp connection from both directions to the Airport Expressway
Airport Expressway (Beijing)
The Airport Expressway is an expressway in Beijing, China, which links central Beijing to the Beijing Capital International Airport...
was finished in 2006. There are no direct connections from the 2nd Ring Road to the Jingshen Expressway
Jingshen Expressway
The Jingshen Expressway is an expressway in China which links Beijing to Shenyang. It is 658 km in length.It leaves Beijing heading east and is numbered G025...
, Jingjintang Expressway
Jingjintang Expressway
Opened in September 1993, the Jingjintang Expressway , also known as the Jingtang Expressway, links Beijing via central Tianjin to the Tanggu District in eastern Tianjin...
, or Jingcheng Expressway
Jingcheng Expressway
The Jingcheng Motorway is a motorway in China which links Beijing to Chengde in Hebei province. The total length is 210 kilometres.It is a new motorway linking the northeastern portion of the 3rd Ring Road with the north and northeastern outlying regions of Beijing municipality...
.
It is possible to get to the Jingshi Expressway
Jingshi Expressway
The Jingshi Expressway is an expressway in China which links Beijing to the Shijiazhuang. It is c. 270 km in length. Its road numbering is G030...
by heading southwest at Guang'anmen. The Jingkai Expressway
Jingkai Expressway
The Jingkai Expressway is an expressway in China which links Beijing to Kaifeng. At present, it is approximately 40 km in length in the Beijing section....
is easily accessible by proceeding south to the complex-and-impressive Caihuying
Caihuying
Caihuying is an overpass complex in southwestern urban Beijing.The main feature is Caihuying Bridge . It links the 2nd Ring Road, which does a turn from south to east, with a connection road to the Jingkai Expressway and another route to the western 3rd Ring Road.It is one of the few...
overpass. Jianguomen
Jianguomen
Jianguomen is a major transportation hub in Beijing.Flanked by Jianguomen Inner Street to the west, Jianguomen Outer Street to the east, the Eastern 2nd Ring Road runs through it in a north-south direction....
links via Jianguomenwai Dajie to the Jingtong Expressway
Jingtong Expressway
The Jingtong Expressway is an expressway with express road characteristics in Beijing, China which links central Beijing to Tongzhou District...
and ultimately the Jingha Expressway
Jingha Expressway
The Beijing–Harbin Expressway , designated as G1 and commonly abbreviated as Jingha Expressway is an expressway in North and Northeast China linking Beijing to Harbin....
.
List of Exits
[Heading in a clockwise direction as of the Northern 2nd Ring Road]Notes:
- Exits present only in a clockwise direction are indicated by the symbol ↩; anticlockwise only, ↪; not yet open, ✕
- Exit sign symbols: ↗ = exit (✕ = unopened)
North 2nd Ring Road
- ↗ Beitaipingzhuang, Xinjiekou (Jishuitan Bridge)
- ↗ Madian -- connects to direct road to Badaling ExpresswayBadaling ExpresswayThe Badaling Expressway is an expressway in the People's Republic of China which links urban Beijing to the Badaling stretch of the Great Wall of China...
(DeshengmenDeshengmenDeshengmen is the name of a city gate that was once part of Beijing's northern city wall. It is one of Beijing's few preserved city gates and now stands as a landmark on the northern 2nd Ring Road....
Bridge) - ↗ Anhua Bridge (GulouGulouGulou may refer to any of the Drum Towers, traditionally located in the center of Chinese cities. Central districts of several Chinese cities are named after the drum towers:*Gulou District, Fuzhou, Fujian*Gulou District, Kaifeng, Henan...
Bridge, Zhonglou North Bridge) - ↗ Jiangzhaikou (AndingmenAndingmenAndingmen is the name of a gate in the former city wall of Beijing. It is currently a transportation node in northern urban Beijing and the old gate has been replaced by Andingmen Bridge, an overpass taking the form of a suspended roundabout...
Bridge) - ↗ Yonghegong, Beixinqiao (Yonghegong Bridge)
- ↗ HepingliHepingliHepingli is a residential neighborhood in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China. It is situated in the northeastern part of the city between the northern 2nd Ring Road and the northern 3rd Ring Road. The neighborhood is bordered by Andingmen Waidajie to the west and Hepingli Dongjie to the east. ...
(Xiaojie Bridge) - ↗ Airport ExpresswayAirport Expressway (Beijing)The Airport Expressway is an expressway in Beijing, China, which links central Beijing to the Beijing Capital International Airport...
East 2nd Ring Road
- ↗ Nongzhan Bridge, Beixinqiao (DongzhimenDongzhimenDongzhimen is the name of one of the gates in the old city walls of Beijing, it is now a transportation node in Beijing.The 2nd Ring Road currently links, albeit somewhat indirectly, with two roads which eventually become the Airport Expressway and China National Highway 101...
Bridge) - ↗ Changhong Bridge, Kuanjie (Dongsishitiao Bridge)
- ↗ Dongdaqiao (ChaoyangmenChaoyangmenChaoyangmen is the name of a gate in the former city wall of Beijing. It is now a transportation node and a district border in Beijing. It is located in the Dongcheng District of northeastern central Beijing....
Bridge) - ↗ Dongdan, Guomao Bridge (JianguomenJianguomenJianguomen is a major transportation hub in Beijing.Flanked by Jianguomen Inner Street to the west, Jianguomen Outer Street to the east, the Eastern 2nd Ring Road runs through it in a north-south direction....
Bridge) - ↗ (Dongbianmen Bridge)
- ↗ (Guangqumen Bridge)
- ↗ Temple of HeavenTemple of HeavenThe Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest...
(Guangming Bridge)
South 2nd Ring Road
- ↗ (Zuo'anmen Bridge)
- ↗ ChongwenmenChongwenmenChongwenmen is the name of a gate that was once part of Beijing's city wall. The gate stood in the southeastern part of Beijing's inner city, immediately south of the old Beijing Legation Quarter. In the 1960s, the gate was torn down to make room for Beijing's second ring road. It has given its...
(Puhuangyu/YutingYutingYuting is a township-level division situated in Huangshan City, Anhui, China....
Bridge) - ↗ (Jingtai Bridge)
- ↗ (YongdingmenYongdingmenYongdingmen was the former front gate of the outer section of Beijing's old city wall. Originally built in 1553, it was torn down in the 1950s to make way for the new road system in Beijing. In 2005, the Yongdingmen was reconstructed at the site of the old city gate...
Bridge) - ↗ (Taoran Bridge)
- ↗ (Kaiyang Bridge)
- ↗ Jingkai ExpresswayJingkai ExpresswayThe Jingkai Expressway is an expressway in China which links Beijing to Kaifeng. At present, it is approximately 40 km in length in the Beijing section....
, Lize Bridge (CaihuyingCaihuyingCaihuying is an overpass complex in southwestern urban Beijing.The main feature is Caihuying Bridge . It links the 2nd Ring Road, which does a turn from south to east, with a connection road to the Jingkai Expressway and another route to the western 3rd Ring Road.It is one of the few...
Bridge)
West 2nd Ring Road
- ↗ (Baizhifang Bridge)
- ↗ (Guang'anmen Bridge)
- ↗ (Tianningsi Bridge, Xibianmen Bridge)
- ↗ (FuxingmenFuxingmenFuxingmen is a road situated in central Beijing and on the northwestern stretch of the 2nd Ring Road.Fuxingmen means "Gate of Revival". An overpass over the ring road exists with the same name....
Bridge) - ↗ (Yuetan South Bridge, Yuetan North Bridge)
- ↗ (FuchengmenFuchengmenFuchengmen is the name of a gate on the western side of Beijing's city wall. The gate was torn down in the 1960s, and has been replaced by the Fuchengmen overpass on the 2nd Ring Road. Fuchengmen Station is now known as a transportation node, where a number of public buses and Line 2 of the...
Bridge) - ↗ (Guanyuan Bridge)
- ↗ (XizhimenXizhimenXizhimen was formerly a gate in the Beijing city wall and is now the name of a transportation node in Beijing. The gate formerly was the entrance of drinking water for the Emperor, coming from the Jade Spring Hills to the west of Beijing...
Bridge)