Huashi, Beijing

Huashi (Chinese: 花市; pinyin: huāshì), colloquially known as Huarshi and literally the "Flower Market", is a predominantly residential neighborhood to the south of Chongwenmen and Dongbianmen, in Dongcheng, Beijing.

Huashi was known during imperial times for its markets for fresh and handmade flowers and was for centuries, one of Beijing's notable Hui Muslim quarters.

[3] In 1422, an imperial lumber shop called the Sacred Wood Factory opened to process logs shipped from Sichuan to build palaces of the Ming dynasty.

The Huashi Church, built in 1905 by the American Methodist Episcopal Mission, which also opened the Tongren Hospital and Huiwen Middle School, was converted into a depot in the 1950s and then became a pool hall before it was demolished in November 2004.

[5] Baorunyuan (宝润苑), built on North Huashi Street in 1998, was one of the first luxury apartment high-rises in Beijing with duplex suites and underground parking.

[6] In 1999, Shantou-based developer Zhang Zhangsun built the upscale Fuguiyuan (富贵园) condominium complex in East Huashi, which became one of the top ten best-selling real estate projects in Beijing.

[7] Other high-rise residential complexes in Huashi include Flower Market Zaoyuan (花市枣苑) and Xinjing Homeland (新景花园).

By 2007 only a few historically significant traditional buildings remain standing amidst the forest of mid- and high-rise apartment towers in Huashi.

The Southeast Corner Tower and Beijing's inner city wall mark the northern boundary of the Huashi neighborhood.
The hutong neighborhoods south of Chongwenmen in the early 1900s. The Huashi neighborhood is to the far left, east of Chongwenmen Outer Street from the city gate. The Temple of Heaven is visible to the far right.
Apartment towers under construction in 2007 along Guangqumen Inner Street, which marks the southern boundary of Huashi.
Tomb of Ming general Yuan Chonghuan in East Huashi.