Long Peace Street

Through the centre of Chinas historic capital, Long Peace Street cuts a long, arrow-straight line. It divides the Forbidden City, home to generations of Chinese emperors, from Tiananmen Square, the vast granite square constructed to glorify a New China under Communist rule. To walk the street is to travel through the story of Chinas recent past, wandering among its physical relics and hearing echoes of its dramas. Long Peace Street recounts a journey in modern China, a walk of twenty miles across Beijing offering a very personal encounter with the life of the capitals streets. At the same time, it takes the reader on a journey through the citys recent history, telling the story of how the present and future of the worlds rising superpower has been shaped by its tumultuous past, from the demise of the last imperial dynasty in 1912 through to the present day. -- .