Xi Zhi Men, which used to be the northwest city gate of Ming and Qing dynasties, has become an area name at present. It includes Xi Zhi Men Wai Street, Xi Zhi Men Nei Street, Xi Zhi Men North Steet and Xi Zhi Men South Street.

Xi Zhi Men is located beside the 2nd ring road, so transportation there is quite convenient. You can take subway line 2 and 13 at Xi Zhi Men subway station. Buses to various places of the city are easily taken from the four streets surrounding Xi Zhi Men, as well as in the Beijing Zoo Bus Centre, which is only about 2000 meters away from the subway station. Beijing North railway station is next to Xi Zhi Men subway station. You may find the right trains there if you want to go to some places in north Hebei Province or Inner Mongolia.

Xi Zhi Men is also a business and shopping centre. There are many shops, restaurants, office buildings. For example, Chengming Tower, Zhongyi Tower and Zhongtang Tower, etc.

A new shopping mall built by Capital Retail from Singapore (called Jia Mao, or Xi Huan Guang Cheng  in Chinese). This mall opened October 2007. A plenty of famous brands can be found in the mall. There are clothing shops like Nike, Jack & Jones, Azona, Vero Moda, restaurants and bread shops like Spicespirit (Sichuan food), Xingfu Sanqianli BBQ(Korean food), Babeila(Italian food) and Bread Talk.

If you want somewhere to stay, Xi Zhi Men is also an good choice. Along Xi Zhi Men Wai Street, hotels of different qualities may meet your requirements. Xiyuan Hotel and Shangri-La Hotel are five-star. Debao Hotel is four-star. Exhibition Centre Hotel is three-star.

Xi Zhi Men is a multi functional area of Beijing. I hope you enjoy your visit or stay there!

(Source: Li Jing)