Chirping jays in angled rays

Spire shimmers in vesper

Silent gaze in endless days

Passes blessings to masses

Located in Fuchengmen Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, Baitasi was built in the Yuan Dynasty. The white pagoda is the oldest and largest lama tower among the remaining ones in China. It was built 100 years before the Forbidden Palace was constructed. Built on the site of a Liao and Yuan dynasties’ temples, the current pagoda dates to the Ming dynasty and is filled with religious artifacts from the Qing dynasty.

“You can’t see the shadow of Baitasi, because it is in Tibet”. According to folklores, the magnificent pagoda doesn’t have a shadow, no matter under sunlight or moonlit. This myth adds a mysterious veil to the religious atmosphere of the temple.

With the development of moderncity, the traditional Baitasi Hutong culture has lost the original carrier. Baitasi Remade attempts to repair the traditional courtyard, excavate andattract cultural catalyst to recover the alley culture. Finally, to re-acquirethe Eastern living envisions. The implementation of Baitasi regenerationprogram: the continue dispersal of population, the refresh of physical space,the enhancement of fundamental resources, the remade of public environment, thecultivation of cultural catalyst and the revival of overall region.

"Beijing Courtyards", is the composition basis of the old city of Beijing. “Courtyard Collection” is part of the BTS Remade, aiming to to find insightful and creative design work, to discover architectural wisdom of coexisting new and old buildings, bring in novel vitality to the small courtyards, and to provide sustainable development solutions for the Baitasi area.

Beijing Lu Sun Museum was the great author’s last residence in the city. During the time there, Mr. Lu wrote a total of more than 200 articles, which were later published in “Wild Grass” (Ye Cao), “Unlucky Stars”(Hua Gai Ji) and other collections. At present, the museum has kept more than 60k pieces of cultural relics, books, and other collections. Many among them manuscripts, books, stone tablet rubbings, letters from friends and other cultural relics. There are also relics of Xu Guangping, Qian Xuantong and other contemporaneous figures.

Gongmenkou (palace gate) market, an integral part of the memory of Baitasi, was originally a two-storey food store, which was converted into the Gongmenkou market in the mid-1980s. In 2015, Gongmenkou market was closed in order to improve to the order of the local area. During the Beijing International Design Week in 2016, the renovated market has become the main exhibition venue of the Baitasi ReMade project.

Throughout the world, many architectural monuments are located in residential areas, coexisting in harmony. Baitasi, as part of the Beijing culture, is closely linked with the daily lives of people, connecting the ancient civilization to the contemporary culture, which is the gift of cultural relics.

With the mission of "Capture the City", Fotomarathon marches to Baitasi, Beijing in 2017. The event will be held in Baitasi and its neighborhood. Let us walk through the old Beijing courtyards, listen to the tweets of birds, and catch the sunset; feel our lives, discover wonders, be inspired and capture the city. 8 hours, 8 topics, 8 photos, focus on the old Beijing Hutong culture, and Capture the City!