In the winter of 1948, the War of Liberation was coming to an end, and the fate of Beijing hung in the balance. Although the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and Fu Zuoyi had not yet reached an agreement on the peaceful liberation of Beiping, in order to protect the cultural heritage of the capital Beijing, the PLA did not attack rashly for the time being, and instead asked Liang Sicheng to help protect those cultural relics that must be avoided from destruction. Liang Sicheng and his wife, Lin Huiyin, a couple with a profound influence in the field of architectural and cultural heritage preservation, began to mark the monuments on the map to be protected, in an effort to preserve Beijing's historical identity.

However, within a few years, the ancient city walls, which had been vigorously protected, were included in the demolition plan. Faced with this sudden fate, Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin began to run around, calling for the protection of these precious monuments, but they have never been able to change the trajectory of history. Beijing, the thousand-year-old capital, was once the capital of many dynasties, and most of its ancient city walls have disappeared after hundreds of years of wind and rain, leaving only a few ruins to tell the glory of the past in the long river of history.

If you look far ahead, it is not difficult to see that the fates of Beijing and Xi'an are clearly different in this regard. As the ancient capital of the Thirteen Dynasties, Xi'an became the first batch of cultural relics protection units in the country in the fifties of the last century with its long history and cultural value, and its ancient city wall is still intact, becoming a major tourist highlight. The fate of Beijing's ancient city wall is very different, although Beijing's history is equally thick, but the ancient city wall began to undergo rounds of demolition in the fifties of the last century.

Behind this period of history, complex social backgrounds and economic considerations have become important factors in the demolition of Beijing's ancient city walls. Compared with Xi'an, the area of Beijing's ancient city wall is huge, with a circumference of 24 kilometers. Even after many dynasties, the ancient city wall still carries important cultural value. But at the time, Beijing was under tremendous pressure for economic development. In order to promote the modernization of the city and the smooth flow of traffic, Beijing's ancient city walls were considered "obstacles to urban development", thus sparking discussions about the demolition of the walls.

1951年6月，中央財政撥款15億元人民幣用於搶修北京城牆，但這筆錢的使用卻引來了不少爭議。許多人認為，修繕古城牆的費用巨大，且修復後的效果並不理想，反而不如直接拆除。北京都市計劃委員會的總工程師華南圭便提出了拆除古城牆的建議。他認為，這些古城牆的存在不僅嚴重阻礙了交通，還妨礙了城市的發展。因此，拆除城牆成為一種“務實”的選擇。

Hua Nangui is not the only one who supports the demolition of the wall, and the famous writer Guo Moruo also said that although the ancient city wall has historical value, the existence of the city wall has become a "burden" in the construction of modern cities. Considering transportation, land use, and urban development, the demolition of the city wall seems to be the only "reasonable" option.

However, this view is not the consensus of the whole society. Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin, as leading figures in the architectural world, expressed strong opposition to the plan to demolish the wall. Liang Sicheng is well aware that the ancient city wall is not only a historical heritage, but also an important symbol of cultural identity. When he participated in the survey of the protection of cultural relics on the eve of liberation, he witnessed the unique value of these ancient buildings. He and his wife, together with other cultural figures, appealed to the government through various channels, hoping to preserve these ancient city ruins so that this precious historical memory can be preserved for future generations.

In 1952, although the calls of Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin were not effectively answered, the city walls of the outer city of Beijing began to be slowly demolished. Due to limited technology and manpower at the time, the demolition project progressed slowly, and citizens were often organized to participate in the demolition work during the construction process. After several years of wall demolition work, the ancient city wall that originally stretched for dozens of kilometers gradually disappeared, and many city towers with strong historical charm were also gradually dismantled in the demolition.

In 1969, with the advancement of subway construction, almost all the ruins of Beijing's ancient city walls were demolished, and the original preserved interior walls were not spared. Nowadays, people can trace this history, only the ruins of Chongwen Gate to the southeast corner tower.

Looking back at the historical changes of Beijing and Xi'an, we can see the huge difference between the two cities in the protection of the ancient city walls. Although Xi'an has gone through the baptism of many dynasties, it has never faced the fate of large-scale demolition because it is no longer the capital. Today, the ancient city wall of Xi'an is an important cultural heritage, showing the city's history and culture intact. The ancient city wall of Beijing, although it was once regarded as a "historical burden" under the economic pressure and urban construction needs of the time, was not spared the fate of demolition in the end.

Some people say that the demolition of the wall in Beijing is a pity, and the ancient cultural heritage has disappeared in the process of modernization; But on the other hand, it is this process of modernization that has led to Beijing's rapid development today. Today's Beijing, although it has lost some of its historical sites, has become a metropolis that attracts the attention of the world by virtue of its huge economic development potential and international status. Compared with ancient times, although it has lost its former glory, Beijing still finds a new light in its development.

We may not be able to turn back history, but we can still learn from past decisions. How to protect cultural heritage in the course of modernization has become an important topic that needs to be constantly considered by the current society. In the future of urban development, will it be possible to achieve "inheritance and innovation in parallel"? This remains a question worth pondering.