Steeped in history, Beijing East and West Roads have since 1949 been home to the city’s most important government bodies and military bases. Considered to be the centre of Nanjing, sits the splendid Nanjing City People’s Municipal Government, located off Beijing East Road.
北京东路和西路历史悠久，自 1949 年以来一直是该市最重要的政府机构和军事基地的所在地。宏伟的南京市人民政府坐落在北京东路附近，被认为是南京的中心。
Walking past the Municipal Government gates, one could be forgiven for mistaking it as an ancient palace of sorts, as the structure of the buildings beyond depict a somewhat Ming or Qing dynasty style; sweeping Chinese pointed roof tops sit adjacent to hundred year old trees.
走过市政府大门，让人误以为是一座古代宫殿也情有可原，因为外面的建筑结构有点明清风格；宽阔的中式尖顶屋顶毗邻百年古树。
From here, head west onto Beijing West Road and you will discover possibly one of the most pleasant places to take a stroll in the city of Nanjing; the old consulate district. Behind the French Planer trees flanking the road and cooling the area from the city’s long and sweaty summers, sit some of Nanjing’s most interesting buildings; the once the majestic homes of diplomats and officials or the villas of foreign visitors.
从这里向西进入北京西路，您会发现这可能是南京市最宜人的散步地点之一；老领事馆区。路两侧的法国刨花树为该地区带来凉爽，让该地区免受城市漫长多汗的夏季影响，后面坐落着一些南京最有趣的建筑；这里曾经是外交官和官员的宏伟住宅或外国游客的别墅。
Before these homes were built, the area used to be a deserted ravine of cultivated land. During the early years of the Republic of China, Jinling University (now Nanjing Normal University) was built on the southwestern side of the Drum Tower, while sections of the road began to form one after another from 1933 on.
在建造这些房屋之前，该地区曾经是一片荒芜的耕地峡谷。民国初年，鼓楼西南侧建有金陵大学（现南京师范大学），1933年起，路段陆续建成。
When the “Western styled garden houses” were built, circa 1933-34, the road was known as Beiping Road. After the war against the Japanese ended in 1947, it was extended to accommodate the US Advisory Group Apartment Building (now the Huadong Hotel) on its southern side. Interestingly, it wasn’t until 1958 when construction of the Ninghai eastern section and Gulou square began, adding an asphalt pavement by 1959.
大约 1933-34 年，当“西式花园洋房”建成时，这条路被称为北平路。 1947年抗日战争结束后，扩建为南侧美军顾问团公寓楼（现华东饭店）。有趣的是，直到1958年，宁海东段和鼓楼广场才开始建设，并于1959年铺设了沥青路面。
Impressively, Beijing West Road is home to the Nanjing Public Security Fire Station (the former Japanese Embassy), Purple Mountain Observatory, the former Indian embassy, Department of Justice, the former site of the Chinese-English Association, Jiangsu Provincial Government, Sicheng Modern Art and Creative Park, Nanjing Institute of Technology and the Jiangsu Institute of Education, to name a few.
令人印象深刻的是，北京西路上有南京公安消防局（原日本大使馆）、紫金山天文台、原印度大使馆、司法部、中英协会旧址、江苏省政府、思城现代艺术创意园、南京工程学院、江苏教育学院等。
Take a stroll down Beijing West Road in a westerly direction from its intersection with Ninghai Road and delight in the yesteryear that was China pre Mao. Colonial homes of English, French and German architecture still stand tall, telling us stories of the Republican Era, of the glitz and glamour enjoyed by military officers and cigar-smoking diplomats.
沿着北京西路与宁海路交汇处向西漫步，感受毛泽东时代之前的中国。英国、法国和德国建筑的殖民时期住宅仍然高高矗立，向我们讲述着共和时代的故事，讲述着军官和抽雪茄外交官所享受的浮华和魅力。
The street stretches on, flanked by vast walls that enclose these very European structures. No doubt, at some point, there will be a gate left open, offering a peek beyond that reveals, in most cases, life for their occupants these days is not so glamorous. Little reconstruction has been done on the majority of homes; cold, dark concrete steps lead to doorless openings that shield nothing inside from out. With no mod cons for the majority of properties, we are forced to ponder whether people really live within.
街道一直延伸，两侧是巨大的墙壁，包围着这些非常欧洲的建筑。毫无疑问，在某些时候，将会有一扇敞开的大门，让人们一睹其风采，在大多数情况下，这些日子的居住者的生活并不那么迷人。大多数房屋几乎没有进行重建；冰冷、黑暗的混凝土台阶通向没有门的开口，里面和外面都没有任何遮挡。由于大多数房产都没有现代化设施，我们被迫思考人们是否真的住在里面。
It is common knowledge that much of this area is now owned by the military and that each property is so expensive, only billionaires can entertain thoughts of a purchase. To be sat on such a gold mine, the fact that they have been left as cold empty shells speaks to a secret agenda as well as a reminder of Nanjing’s distant past.
众所周知，该地区的大部分地区现在归军方所有，而且每处房产都非常昂贵，只有亿万富翁才有购买的想法。坐在这样一个金矿上，它们只剩下冰冷的空壳，这一事实说明了一个秘密议程，也让人想起南京遥远的过去。
Recently, I found myself wandering down Shanghai’s Fuxing Middle Road; not only has it very similar colonial buildings to Nanjing’s Beijing West Rd, but all of them have been gloriously restored, each one spick and span, shiny and new. Vines creep up the sides of one of the buildings that at one stage in its life was home to none other than Mr. Chiang Kai Shek himself.
最近，我在上海复兴中路闲逛；它不仅与南京北京西路的殖民时期建筑非常相似，而且全部都经过精心修复，每一栋都整洁、闪亮、崭新。藤蔓爬上了其中一栋建筑的侧面，这座建筑在其生命的某个阶段曾是蒋介石先生本人的住所。
Back here in Nanjing, it now being Autumn is the most splendid time to catch the leaves beneath your feet as they fall one by one from the trees beside the homes along Beijing West Road.
回到南京，现在正值秋天，正是捕捉脚下树叶一片片落下的最美时节，北京西路沿线民居旁的树叶纷纷落下。
Located in Gulou District, Beijing West Road runs east to west and totals 3,412 metres in length.
北京西路位于鼓楼区，东西走向，全长3412米。
