Xidan

Xidan (Chinese: 西单; Pinyin: Xīdān) is a major traditional commercial area in Beijing, China.

[4] In this context, the name "Xidan" refers to the single (单) paifang that existed on the west side (西) of the city.

[5] Xidan began to develop in the Ming Dynasty as an area alongside the passage for traders from Southwestern China to enter Beijing.

The location of several government agencies when Beijing was under the administration of the Republic of China also helped Xidan's economic growth.

[16] Even an award-winning Canadian journalist John Fraser put up his own "dazibao," whose notice about a lost gold signet ring that concluded in vague political sentiment bizarrely resulted in his addressing the 1979 summer masses in Tiananmen Square.

[15] The municipal government instead allowed allow posters on a site within Yuetan Park,[16] a small park located in Beijing, but required registration with the city and an agreement to be "held responsible for political and legal implications of their messages.

"[15] Eventually, the most widely regarded poster writer for Xidan Wall, Wei Jingsheng, was sent to prison.