Ping 'an Street starts from Dongsishi Bridge in the east and ends at Guanyuan Bridge in the west, with a total length of 7 kilometers and a width of 40 meters, of which the carriageway is 30-33 meters and the sidewalk is 3.5-4 meters, with 6 lanes in both directions. Motor vehicles can pass 2000 vehicles per hour in one direction, which is five times higher than that before widening and reconstruction.
Ping 'an Street consists of five streets: Dongsishitiao, Zhang Zizhong Road, Di 'anmen East Street, Di 'anmen West Street and Ping 'anli West Street. Because it passes through Ping 'anli and Di 'anmen, it is called "Ping 'an Street" for convenience of expression. After opening to traffic, all sections still use the original street names.
The construction of Ping 'an Street not only widened the road surface, connected and buried various municipal pipelines, but also turned the houses on both sides of the street into gates with blue bricks and gray tiles and red paint and gray walls and red cornices. From east to west, the traditional buildings with large eaves, spires and antique features make people feel as if they had returned to the old Beijing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
According to the introduction of the city planning department, the ancient buildings on both sides of Ping 'an Avenue are prepared to make the following arrangements: First, a number of temporary buildings will be built, valid for 20 years, mainly for commercial investment; The second is to renovate a number of original individual gables and shops and repair the ruins; The third is to protect some palaces, celebrities' former residences and historical buildings with preservation value and keep their original appearance; Fourth, in addition to commercial investment buildings, there are also some commercial relocation buildings.
Ping 'an Street is a historical corridor looking for hundreds of years of cultural accumulation in Beijing, and it is a street with strong historical and cultural charm. The original palaces, former residences of celebrities and historical buildings in this street are now well preserved, and the appearance of each building has undergone new decoration and repair. Now we can see many national and municipal key cultural relics protection units, such as Beihai, the memorial site of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's death, Princess Hejing's mansion, the former site of Duan's administrative office, and district-level cultural relics protection units, such as former residence and Sengqin Temple. In addition, there are rich cultural relics underground, the most important of which are two ancient bridges buried underground: Xia Bridge and Dongba Bridge. They are the physical materials for studying Beijing's urban development and water system changes, and the precious wealth left by history.
Go straight west from Dongsishi Bridge, and the restaurants on both sides of the road are also next to each other, which is also very lively. Because it is close to the lotus market, many people like to have a nice dinner on Ping 'an Avenue every night, and then turn into Houhai to enjoy a kind of comfort in those gentle bars.
Because many restaurants are built on the old sites of some palaces and houses, the dining on Ping 'an Street also has some historical charm. Gegewu is one of them. Because it is the wedding residence given to Princess Rongshou Gulun by Empress Dowager Cixi in Qing Dynasty, it has a strong historical color and cultural background, and specializes in making various court stews, which is very distinctive. Beipinglou, near Li Pingan, is an old Beijing-style restaurant. If you want to eat fried tripe, bean juice, and dregs of river noodles, you can eat them here.