My favorite Beijing streets

While great cities are often defined by their buildings and landmarks, streets play an equal, if not more important, role in the identity of a metropolise.

If one thinks of Los Angeles, Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards immediately come to mind, while the same goes for Broadway, Park Avenue and Wall Street in New York. Tokyo is famous for Ginza, Berlin boasts the Kurfuerstendamm, and Shanghai has the Bund and Nanjing Road.

As Beijing's old hutong disappear, the capital is increasingly defined by its wide boulevards and new shopping streets, particularly Chang'an Avenue and the Wangfujng and Qianmen pedestrian malls. This trend is in line with the modern and affluent image China wants to project to the rest of the world. However, neither Chang'an Avenue nor the Wangfujing and Qianmen pedestrian malls rank among the best streets in the capital.