When it comes to China's ancient city walls, many tourists will have a common desire when they go to Xi'an, Nanjing, and Beijing for the first time - to climb the ancient city walls, as if traveling through time and space, and feel the pulse of the ancient city. However, the truth is a little disappointing, especially in Beijing, the once glorious ancient capital, and now there is almost no trace of the Ming Dynasty city wall, and all that remains is some broken walls, which makes people regret.

我們先說說西安。作為中國最古老的首都之一，西安自西周時期以來，歷經十三朝，是名副其實的“古都”。這座城市曾是中國的政治、文化中心，歷史積澱深厚。每次去西安旅遊，我總是毫不猶豫地花54塊錢登上城牆。西安的明城牆自1370年開始修建，到1378年竣工，是中國現存最完好、最具代表性的古代城牆之一。你可以在這裡騎自行車環城一圈，13.7公里的周長帶你穿越時空，感受歷史的深遠。而每逢節日，城牆上燈火輝煌，仿佛置身於一場時光隧道。

Let's take a look at Nanjing. Nanjing's ancient city walls are equally breathtaking. Nanjing's Ming Dynasty city wall is very well preserved, 1.0 kilometers long, and is known as "the longest in the world and the best-preserved Ming Dynasty city wall in China". Standing on this section of the city wall, you can not only touch hundreds of years of history, but also have a panoramic view of famous attractions such as Xuanwu Lake and Purple Mountain. Every brick and wall here seems to tell the glory and vicissitudes of this ancient city.

Compared with the walls of these two ancient capitals, the Ming Dynasty city walls in Beijing are a bit "ashamed". Historically, Beijing's Ming City Wall used to be 500 to 0 kilometers long, surrounding the entire capital, forming a "convex" shaped loop. However, in today's Beijing, the remains of the Ming city wall have almost disappeared. If you take a train to Beijing Railway Station and walk around Dongbianmen, you may stumble upon a section of the Ming Dynasty city wall ruins about 0 meters long - this is one of the few relics of the Ming Dynasty city wall in Beijing today, and it is still free to open. In addition, there is also a 0-meter-long city wall ruins in the area of Xibianmen, and the surrounding environment also makes this ancient wall seem particularly lonely.

When you stand in front of these Ming city wall ruins and see the broken city body and the bare heart of the wall, you can't help but feel sad for the loss of this ancient city. As an ordinary tourist, walking in the park of the Xibianmen ruins, looking around, it seems that you can hear the echoes of history. Although these walls are covered by "creepers", they still cannot hide their mottled appearance. This section of the Ming Dynasty city wall was only more than 500 meters long after being demolished, and it was not until 0 years that it was professionally restored to the current 0 meters.

西便門城牆的歷史可追溯到五百多年前。根據史料記載，這段城牆的建設始於明永樂年間，完工時間大約在1439年，距今已有584年。當時，它是北京外城的一部分，並非正門，而是一個“偏門”。站在遺址前仰望，這段城牆依舊高大，約有12到14米高，仿佛在訴說著昔日的輝煌。如今，遊客不再能登上城牆，原先可以從城樓上俯瞰周圍的美景，也因為種種原因封閉了。

The arrow tower building of Xibianmen is not as grand as the other city gates, but it has a stronger sense of history. Standing below, looking at the wall that could not be repaired further, you can see the plants growing in the cracks in the wall. Through the gaps in the iron fence, the internal structure of the wall is also clearly visible, with masonry on the outside and ash on the middle. It is said that when craftsmen built the city wall, they mixed glutinous rice, yellow rice and other highly viscous grains into the mud to increase the solidity of the city wall, I don't know if this statement is true or not, but in any case, this city wall has carried the vicissitudes of wind and rain for 600 years.

What is embarrassing is that the Beijing city wall has experienced a long period of "demolition". In the sixties and seventies of the last century, a debate about "whether to keep the Beijing city wall" finally made this ancient city wall a "victim". A large number of bricks were demolished and used for other construction, with only two sections remaining, the East Gate and the West Gate. It wasn't until the late 1980s that the Beijing Municipal Government and the Bureau of Cultural Relics began to restore these walls and give them a second life. Today, the site of Xibianmen has become an open park, which has become a leisure place for citizens and tourists, and is free for everyone to visit.

Still, when you stand under these ruins, there is an indescribable sense of sadness. If the ancient city wall of Beijing had not been damaged by that period of history, today's Beijing might be more complete and thicker. It is not only the defense line of a city, but also a symbol of culture, and an important part of ancient Chinese city wall culture. If the city walls of Xi'an and Nanjing let people see the continuation and inheritance of history, then the city walls of Beijing give people more of a sense of regret and helplessness.

Beijing was once the political center of China and a symbol of the imperial city. And today, walking on the streets of Beijing, the ancient city wall seems to have long been a footnote to history. In the process of modernization, the once glorious city walls are gradually disappearing, and each of us can only remember that history through the remnants of the ruins.

With the passage of time, can we feel the glory of the past in front of these ruins, and can we understand how the ancients relied on the city walls to protect the peace of the city? In the heritage park of Xibianmen, day after day, the hustle and bustle of the city and the silence of history are intertwined, as if it is a dialogue through time and space.

Does Beijing's ancient city wall still deserve more attention and protection? Perhaps, only if each of us respects and cherishes these historical sites from the bottom of our hearts, can we keep their place in the wave of modernization.