The Ancient Observatory is situated at the south side of Jianguomen. It is one of the famous historic sites of astronomy and "An Exhibition Hall of Beijing Ancient Astronomical Instruments of Beijing Planetarium".


Beijing Ancient Observatory was first built in 1442 in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644),and was once named "Guanxiangtai". It is one of the oldest astronomical observatory in the world and was the national observatory at that time. It is well-known throughout the world for their magnificence, beautiful crafts and well-protection.

In 1279, the Chinese astronomers WangXun and Guo Shoujing built a small observatory in Jianguomen, which was the early form of the Beijing Ancient Observatory. During the Ming Dynasty, the "Guanxiangtai" was built here, equipped with Armillary Sphere, Abridged Armilla and Celestial Globe. Later the Purple Palace and "Gui Ying Tang" were also built near it.

After the Qing Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing in 1644, the name "Guanxiangtai" was changed to "Observatory". Following Johann Adam Schall von Bell's advice, the Chinese began to use western computation standard and measuring system. Then during 1669-1674, following the order of Emperor Kang Xi, Ferdinand Verbiest designed 6 new astronomical instruments: Equatorial Armilla, Ecliptic Armilla, Quadrant, Celestial Globe, etc. Later in 1715, Kilian Stumpf designed another instrument--- Azimuth Theodolite. In 1744, Emperor Qian Long ordered to build another instrument--- the New Armilla. Thus all the instruments came into being.

In 1900,the aggressors from the 8 countries came into Beijing. Germans and Frenchmen robbed the instruments of the Observatory. Frenchmen took the 5 instruments to their embassy and gave them back the next year, while Germans took the others to their country and showed them in the Potsdam Hall. After the World War I, Germans gave them back in 1921.

In 1911, the name Observatory was changed to "Central Observatory", and ended his observation life in 1921 because of the foundation of the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing. In 1929, the name "Central Observatory" was changed again and became an astronomical museum. In 1931, Japanese invaded the north of China. Several Chinese traditional astronomical instruments were moved to Nanjing for protection.

Beijing Ancient Observatory became the key national relics protection unit in 1982, and opened to the world in 1983. It enjoys high reputation from the foreign countries. Many foreign presidents, foreign key government officials and famous scientists have visited Beijing Ancient Observatory, such as Tony Blair (British Prime Minister), Guy Verhofstadt (Belgium Prime Minister), etc.