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Beijing Roads Map - Roads in Beijing are basically in one of four compass directions, which might be due to the traditional culture of Chinese people which prefer buildings and constructions to be in an axis way. Owing to the status of Beijing as an ancient city, the elaborated Six Ring Roads which appeared more likely to be rectangular shape rather than ring-shaped were developed in Beijing City. The ring roads have successively surrounded the city with the Forbidden City at the geographical centre. All these roads have made up the Beijing major urban transportation, and the calculation of ring roads is generally begun with the 2nd ring road which surrounds the heart area of Beijing City. Early, there are four districts in the inner Beijing City, namely, Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen and Xuanwu, which are located in the loop of the second ring road and considered as the traditional old Beijing. Later, the Beijing authority categorized the area within five ring roads as the inner city of Beijing. Therefore, four districts formed by expansion of city from traditional Beijing city wall which are Chaoyang District, Haidian District, Fengtai District and Shijingshan District were categorized as a part of the inner city of Beijing.

The first ring road theoretically goes around the Forbidden City, which is the middle of the city, but in reality, it doesn't exist. So the ring roads start with the second ring road.

The 2nd Ring Road, built in the 1980s and expanded in the 1990s, passes through very central parts of Beijing, including the four districts: Dongcheng District, Xicheng District, Xuanwu District and Chongwen District.

The 3rd Ring Road, built in the 1980s and completed in the 1990s, passes through Beijing's CBD and diplomatic communities.

The 4th Ring Road, completed in 2001, around 8km from the center of Beijing, connects the less central parts of Beijing and navigates through Zhongguancun technology hub.

The 5th Ring Road is further distant (around 10 km) from central Beijing, and links the suburban areas of Beijing. It navigates through very barren land in the south before heading west toward the Fragrant Hills.

Beijing Street Maps