Railway Architecture in Late Qing China: The Stations of Imperial Railways of North China in Beijing (1890s-1911)

 Artículo

Autores: Wang, Q.; Cano Sanchiz, J. M.

Revista: Industrial Archaeology Review

Número: 48.1

Año: 2026

Páginas: 74-91

Zhengyangmen Terminal Station

 

ABSTRACT: Railway architecture often embodies the innovation and globalisation processes characteristic of industrialisation. In China, many early examples of railway architecture demonstrate these processes, as seen in the stations of Imperial Railways of North China (IRNC, later known as Peking-Mukden Railway). Built between 1881 and 1912 combining Chinese, British and other countries’ actants, this line brought to Beijing new building solutions, techniques and typologies. This article adopts an archaeological approach to analyse the physical and documentary evidence of 11 station sites. Using field recording and architectural analyses, it defines the original designs of these constructions and explains them within their cultural context. It is concluded that the railway architecture of IRNC in Beijing reflects the influence of the European engineers who came to China to work in the development of its early railway network, as well as the country’s timid process of globalisation and modernisation at the end of the imperial era. 

KEYWORDS: historical railway architecture; building archaeology; Chinese early railways; Peking-Mukden Railway; British engineers.

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