Beijing Underground City

A network of tunnels and chambers dug beneath the southern old city during the Cold War as a civil-defense shelter against possible attack. Excavated largely by hand in the late 1960s and 1970s, the labyrinth once contained shops, clinics, and ventilation systems intended to house residents underground. Portions have been opened to visitors as a curiosity capturing the anxieties of the era, though access has varied over the years. The bare passages offer an unusual counterpoint to the imperial monuments above.