Beijing on a Picture Postcard

Avisit to the bustling Qianmen Street in downtownBeijing might lead you to a quaint small shop inthe Yangmeizhu Byway in the Dashilar area， afamous ancient commercial zone that is a primetourist attraction today. Unlike other modern cafes， res-taurants， and cultural shops in the street， the shop， BeijingPostcards， started by the Danish Lars Ulrik Thom， sells culturaland creative products with historical elements. As agallery on Beijing’s history， it has become a communicationspace connecting residents and tourists with the memoryof old Beijing.

A Guide to History

In 1996， Thom traveled by train from Mongolia to China.When he arrived in Beijing， he was struck by the vitality hesaw： “During the winter， not much was really happening inMongolia， but the moment you got to China， things werevery different. When you got off the train， there were peopleeverywhere， you could see buildings absolutely everywhere.What I saw was a thriving city，” the Danish visitor said.

Having a strong interest in Chinese history， Thom decidedto stay in Beijing and delve into its history and culture.“It’s not so easy to understand the history of Beijing as aforeigner， not if you compare it with that of Denmark. The"whole city of Beijing has been rebuilt throughout history. Tosome extent， you almost cannot imagine that it’s the samecity as it was 20 years ago. The place is undergoing a veryfast change and at the same time facing new challenges.”

Thom began to collect information from public spaces，such as scenic spots， museums， and archives. He also divedin the hutongs ， the old alleys with traditional one-storiedhouses with a courtyard， to obtain the oral history of localpeople. The residents recalled their daily lives from theirold photos， which helped Thom understand how historicalchanges affected people’s daily life.

To introduce the history of Beijing to more people in anew form， Thom and his friends founded Beijing Postcards，selling postcards， calendars， and puzzles from the old photosand maps they collected. In addition， based on his researchon Beijing’s history， he organizes theme activities toshare old anecdotes and his experience.

The logo of Beijing Postcards， created by Thom’s formerpartner， features a little boy writing diligently. “It is exactlywhat we are doing， diligently introducing the history ofBeijing to people from across the world，” Thom told ChinaToday .

Thom set up shop in Dashilar because he thinks it is thefirst stop to learn about Beijing. “In the past， this is wherepeople would settle after arriving in Beijing. And during theQing Dynasty （1644-1911）， it emerged as a commercial hub.Just outside the inner city wall， you would have all kinds ofbusinesses. All of it makes this place super fascinating，” heexplained.

The renovation of Dashilar is a typical case of protectingand revitalizing historical blocks in Beijing. Thom attributesthe success to not just the fact that the shopkeepersin the street can now earn more money but to the balancebetween the residents， shopkeepers， businessmen， andtourists to fit the environment and coexist.

At present， Thom and his team are working on a bookabout the history of Dashilar. He wants to tell more peopleabout the vitality of this area in different periods. In additionto learning about Chinese history from the famousPalace Museum， readers can also learn about Beijing’s commonculture from an area not far from the museum.

Maps as a Guide to History

Maps provide another way for Thom to understand Beijing.He has collected many maps created by artists fromdifferent countries. He was impressed by a reprint of thefamous painting Qianlong Emperor’s Southern Inspection"Tour . Emperor Qianlong， who ruled from 1736 to 1795， wenton six inspection tours of southern China during his longreign. The Qianlong Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tourwas a series of 12 oversized scroll paintings commissionedto document the first tour in 1751.

“The paintings are really long and I think it must havetaken years to paint them. There are many minute detailsabout the hutongs ，” Thom said. He was surprised to discoveron the map the names of famous cigarette brands of thattime. It is also a record of the street scenery in the past，showing the contrast with its current appearance.

Thom found another intricate detail. On a cartoon mapdrawn by an American in 1936， there was a cannon on a po-sition marked with the number 67. Thom’s colleague wentto the Beijing Municipal Archives to research it and foundthat such cannons were kept near Qianmen and Deshengmen，Beijing’s two city gates in the south and north， respectively，and fired at noon so that residents would knowwhat time it was.

The Bell and Drum Towers are two brick and wood ancientstructures located on the north endof Beijing’s central axis. The drums and bellwould be sounded to tell the time and wereregarded as the time announcement centerof the city. After Emperor Puyi， the last emperorin Chinese history， abdicated in 1912，the inner city of Beijing became a publicplace， and the Bell and Drum Towers announcedthe time only when the city gatesclosed at night. The noon cannons wereinstalled in 1924 and people could tally theirmechanical watches according to the gunshots.“A very small detail actually tells a very interestingstory about the evolution of modern Beijing，” Thom said.

He still gets old photos and maps from his friends. Recently，he obtained two old photos taken by Italian-Britishphotographer Felice Beato during the Second Opium War（1856-1860）. One is the picture of the Summer Palace， theQing imperial garden， before its destruction， the other isof the Temple of Heaven， a complex of religious buildingswhere the emperors prayed and offered sacrifices， before itopened to the public.

Through his interactions with many foreigners in Beijing，Thom found that many of them are keenly watchingthe development of Beijing. “Beijing is the capital of China.What happens here matters to the world. It is necessary tokeep paying attention to China，” he said.

He also found that many foreigners who come to Chinaare pleasantly surprised by the relaxed atmosphere in Beijing，which is a different impressionfrom that created by some foreign media.He thinks Westerners need to learnmore about Chinese history to betterunderstand China.

Due to his desire to understand Chineseculture from a historical perspective，Thom has chosen to stay in Chinafor nearly 30 years. Other historicalcities， such as Pingyao in Shanxi， whichused to be an economic hub， and Xi’anin Shaanxi， a former capital in ancientChina， have also left a deep impression on him. In thesecities， he enjoyed learning the local history from the preservedancient buildings.

Why is studying history so important？ Thom has hisexplanation： “Studying history is not so much about rememberingthat the last Chinese emperor abdicated in1912. It’s about behavioral patterns and all kinds of things.It’s important to look at something from another country’sperspective. We cannot do that without history， or understandwhy some countries reacted in a certain way.”