The Chinese believe that, ideally, a city should be designed in such a way as to express the cooperation between the emperor and the universe, between heaven and earth. (CW) If Beijing ever did express this cooperation, it has long since been hidden under layers of heavy, gray concrete. The policies of the Maoist era resulted in Beijing's becoming an overwhelmingly massive and oppressive city filled with grim buildings and lacking in human scale.
Beijing consists of seven main districts. In central Beijing are: Dongcheng, which includes the ceremonial center of Beijing, the Forbidden City; Chongwen; and Xuanwu. In south Beijing is Fengtai, where many of the city's hotels and other tourist services are located. In the east is Chaoyang, in the west Xicheng, also home to a number of hotels, and in the northwest, Haidian. Green spaces of any significant size are mainly located in Chongwen, Xuanwu, and Xicheng.
The core of Beijing is laid out symmetrically on a north-south axis which runs through the Front Gate of the city. The city has been centered around this axis since ancient times. The city's center consists of the Forbidden City, which is surrounded by the only ancient wall still standing in Beijing, and Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen Square has the distinction of being the largest open city square in the world. Tiananmen was constructed to be used for political rallies, marches, and parades, and to generally glorify the Communist Party. Somewhat ironically, it has also served as the site of the infamous student uprising, which was mounted in protest against the oppressive regime of the Communists.
Since the earliest of times, Chinese cities have traditionally been protected by thick outer walls. In the early 1950's, Beijing's outer walls were torn down. To many Chinese citizens, this was a horrible offense. (CW) However, the ancient city gates and walls have left their legacy. Although they are no longer standing, they have to a large extent continued to dictate Beijing's layout. For instance, to facilitate smoother traffic flow, ring roads now follow the paths where the walls once stood. These roads will often change names several times along the way, generally in accordance with the past gate locations by which they pass.
Beijing formally has three ring roads, running concentrically to one another. The innermost road is not really a road; it is merely part of the design of the Forbidden City. The second and third roads, however, are quite real multilane highways. Currently, a fourth ring road is under construction. The major road running east-west is Chang'an, or the Avenue of Eternal Tranquillity.