"Mentougou-zhaitang Railway Boundary Stone" Discovered by Beijing Citizen Selected as a New Discovery in the Fourth National Cultural Relic Census

Jul 9

Written By 嵬王

Mentougou - Zhaitang Railway Boundary Stone

July 9, 2026 Beijing Youth Daily

Recently, Mentougou District announced 129 newly discovered immovable cultural relics from the Fourth National Cultural Relic Census (referred to as the "Fourth Census"), which include the modern and contemporary important historical site "Menzhai Railway Boundary Stone." The fact that this weathered stone monument was able to obtain cultural relic status is inseparable from the relay search conducted by civilian cultural relic protection volunteers five years ago.

The State Council officially launched the Fourth National Cultural Relic Census in November 2023. The Fourth Census requires not only re-inspecting registered immovable cultural relics, but also simultaneously advancing the investigation, recognition, and registration of newly discovered cultural relics. Recently, multiple districts in Beijing have successively announced their lists of new discoveries from the Fourth Census. A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily consulted the List of Newly Discovered Unrated Immovable Cultural Relics in Mentougou District's Fourth National Cultural Relic Census and found that the "Menzhai Railway Boundary Stone" was included, with its management and use unit explicitly designated as the Beijing West Train Operation Section of the China Railway Beijing Group Co., Ltd.

Civilian cultural relic protection volunteers deserve great credit for the inclusion of the "Menzhai Railway Boundary Stone" among the new discoveries of the Fourth Census. Tracing back five years ago, railway enthusiast Huang Haoyuan was still a high school student. When visiting Datai Railway Station in Mentougou District, he heard that there was a stone monument inscribed with the words "Menzhai Boundary" (門齋界) in the mountainous terrain. He immediately realized that this might be an extremely rare historical relic of the Menzhai Railway and began searching for it on the spot, but failed to find it due to the complex mountainous terrain. Afterward, he shared this clue with railway cultural scholar Wang Wei. Relying on his rich field exploration experience in mountains and wild areas, and following the orientation described in the clue, Wang Wei spent over three hours of field reconnaissance and finally found the legendary boundary stone on a terrace near Datai Railway Station.

This boundary stone is dark gray in color, standing about 0.35 meters above the ground and about 0.13 meters wide, with rough axe-chiseling marks remaining on its surface. The side facing the railway is engraved with the traditional Chinese characters "Menzhai Boundary" (門齋界), where the two characters "Menzhai" (門齋) are arranged horizontally on top, and the character "Boundary" (界) is centered below in an inverted triangle layout, with clear and sharp character edges. On December 26, 2021, Beijing Youth Daily published a report titled "High School Freshman Provides Clues to Discover Menzhai Railway Boundary Stone," which drew the attention of the Mentougou District cultural relics department. This attention played a positive role in the subsequent inclusion of this boundary stone in the new discoveries of the Fourth Census.

Speaking of the Menzhai Railway, many Beijing residents may find it unfamiliar. The Beijing Youth Daily reporter consulted historical materials such as The Complete History of the Menzhai Railway and Chronicles of the Beijing Railway Bureau, briefly outlining the history of the Menzhai Railway: In the seventh year of the Republic of China (1918), the Zaitang Coal Mining Company was established, but Zaitang was located in the deep mountainous region of western Beijing with closed transportation. In 1924, construction of the Menzhai Railway officially began. In 1927, the first section of the trunk line (from Mentougou to Qingshuijiankou, with a total length of 25 kilometers) was completed and opened to traffic; in the same year, the branch line (from Qingshuijiankou to Banqiao, with a total length of 8 kilometers) was completed. The "Menzhai Railway Boundary Stone" listed as a new discovery in the Fourth Census this time is located precisely along this branch line section. In recent years, with Mentougou District implementing air pollution control and ecological restoration projects, the coal mines along the Menzhai Railway have been successively closed down, and the Menzhai Railway, which prospered because of coal, has basically ended its coal transportation history of more than ninety years.

It is worth mentioning that in order to protect the architectural relics of the Menzhai Railway, on February 1, 2019, Wang Wei submitted an Application Form for the Recognition of Immovable Cultural Relics to the local cultural relics department through the Mentougou District Government Service Center, hoping to promote the full-line protection of the Menzhai Railway. Although he did not receive the recognition result for a long time, in the recently published List of Newly Discovered Unrated Immovable Cultural Relics in Mentougou District's Fourth National Cultural Relic Census, the "Former Site of Yexi Station," "Former Site of Seshufen Station," "Former Site of Datai Station," and "Qingshuijian Water Tower and Auxiliary Buildings," along with the "Menzhai Railway Boundary Stone," were publicly announced as immovable cultural relics. Thus, in the Fourth National Cultural Relic Census, five Menzhai Railway relics have obtained statutory cultural relic status.

By: Cui Yifei (Beijing Youth Daily)

Editor: He Mengyu

Executive Editor: Ni Jianing