The Drum Tower stands in front, with red walls and yellow tiles; the Bell Tower behind, with gray walls and green tiles. The Drum Tower is stout, the Bell Tower slender. This is a vivid description of the two landmark buildings at the northernmost end of Beijing's central axis. The reporter paused beneath the Drum Tower, gazing up at the towering structure in a trance. The winter wind blew, making the Drum Tower appear even more solemn, as if silently recounting its past vicissitudes and today's splendor.

"The 'Yi Tong Zhi' records: 'In the second month of the ninth year of the Yuan Dynasty (year), the city was renamed Dadu, the residents were relocated to populate it, and the bell and drum towers were constructed in the city center.' Calculating from this, the construction of the bell and drum towers is now over seven hundred and fifty years old. The timekeeping, starting with the evening drum and ending with the morning bell, conveyed the signals of the end of the day's activities and the beginning of the night's curfew, regulating the schedules of both officials and commoners. As a tangible witness to traditional urban management methods, the bell and drum towers carry a profound historical heritage and rich cultural connotations."

"Historical culture is the soul of a city, and we should protect the historical and cultural heritage of cities with the same care as our own lives. Beijing, as a world-renowned ancient capital, boasts a rich historical and cultural heritage, which is a golden business card. Safeguarding and passing on this precious historical and cultural heritage is the duty of the capital," President Xi Jinping's remarks carry profound implications.

As one of the heritage components along the Beijing Central Axis, the Bell and Drum Towers initiated the renovation and exhibition enhancement project in the year, which was included in the "Three-Year Action Plan for the Inscription and Protection of the Beijing Central Axis." Upon entering the first floor of the Drum Tower, the interconnected and brightly lit arched spaces welcomed the reporter. Wandering through, the exhibition "The Story of Time" recounted the stories of the Bell and Drum Towers and the protection and inheritance of the Beijing Central Axis. Suddenly, the blackout curtains descended, and the light and shadow show began. The audience, drawn by the music, gathered in the center of the exhibition hall, some raising their cameras, others quietly appreciating. Projectors suspended from the white arched steel structures on both sides cast myriad rays of light, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the historical memory of the "evening drum and morning bell."

As the first permanent exhibition on the central axis of Beijing housed within an ancient building itself, the exhibition delves deeply into historical and cultural exploration, restoring the original appearance of the first-floor vaults of the Drum Tower, and repairing and reconstructing the walls, floors, and windows to present historical information and patterns to the greatest extent. Without interfering with the cultural heritage architecture, the exhibition integrates digital technology into the display content, effectively connecting the Drum Tower as both an immovable cultural relic and a museum, creating an open, inclusive, and diverse ancient building and museum, and completing the upgrade from "cultural relic building - cultural space - cultural scene."

The entire renovation and transformation process did not drive a single nail into the body of the cultural heritage building, fully embodying the protection concept of "minimal intervention." These white arched steel structures were all prefabricated and assembled off-site, minimizing on-site construction, ensuring safety and reversibility," said Zhang Jipu, deputy director of the Bell and Drum Tower Cultural Relics Preservation Institute.

As they were about to ascend to the second floor, the reporter was filled with excitement, having read in the article "Our Capital" by architect Lin Huiyin before the trip, "In the entire city, the area from Di'anmen to the Bell and Drum Towers and Shichahai forms the best scenic base in the northern part of the city... This beautiful environment is even more captivating when viewed from afar atop the Bell and Drum Towers."

Ascending the steps and reaching the outer corridor, leaning on the railing against the wind, gazing into the distance, a gently sloping and expansive skyline comes into view. Looking south, one sees the Wan Chun Pavilion of Jingshan Park and the White Pagoda of Beihai Park; closer to the Drum Tower, there are the dark gray residential houses hidden among the green trees. Despite the vicissitudes of history, this scene of "blue skies, white clouds, and the sound of pigeon whistles" and "blue bricks, gray tiles, and siheyuan courtyards" remains unchanged, and the vibrant vitality of Beijing's central axis is truly admirable.

Do you remember, during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, the Bell and Drum Towers were repeatedly destroyed by fire and rebuilt. However, the towering pavilions and grand bases of the Bell and Drum Towers have continued to complement and enhance the surrounding environment to this day. "When things are vast, their knowledge becomes confused; without instruments to unify them, there is no way to indicate the divisions of dawn and dusk. When instruments are large, their uses are extensive; without towers to symbolize them, there is no way to impress distant and nearby views." This is how Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty commented in his handwritten "Imperial Record of the Reconstruction of the Bell Tower." A colleague from the National Cultural Heritage Administration explained: "The spatial order on Beijing's central axis reflects the ritual order of Chinese civilization, which upholds justice and maintains order. The Bell and Drum Towers area is an important part of this sense of order."

To preserve this spatial order, it is essential to protect the overall spatial form of the surrounding environment, and the renovation of the "fifth facade" is a crucial step. The so-called "fifth facade" refers to the top surface of a building, namely the roof, in relation to the building's four facades: east, west, south, and north. The regulation of its shape, layout, materials, and colors is key to optimizing the landscape view corridor. To continuously advance the renovation of the "fifth facade" and other protection and renewal work in the Bell and Drum Tower街区, relevant departments in the Dongcheng District and members of the design team have long been rooted here, conducting in-depth field surveys and developing detailed plans.

"Restore the old as it was," President Xi Jinping has emphasized on multiple occasions. Adhering to this principle, the design team has worked to preserve the original appearance of the buildings as much as possible while restoring traditional roof styles. Through methods such as repairing ridge tiles and adding cheek tile wings, they have renovated a number of roofs in the "linked and overlapping" style, replaced a batch of tile roofs, and demolished excessively tall and large buildings within the area that disrupted the texture, as well as illegal second-floor constructions on roofs. They have also removed a number of simple and colorfully abrupt steel plate roofs and red cement tiles, further enhancing the transparency of the landscape corridors.

During the renovation process, the transformation of pigeon cages also became an important issue. The pigeon whistle is a nostalgic sound for many people, reminiscent of old Beijing, but the disorderly pigeon cages severely affect the landscape. What should be done? The goal is to "let the city retain memories and let people remember their nostalgia." Through door-to-door consultations, the newly designed pigeon cages feature a rooftop style reminiscent of old houses, painted in a deep gray color, blending seamlessly with the "fifth facade" style of the surrounding Bell and Drum Towers, becoming a part of the Beijing central axis landscape.

As the sun set, the drum performance began on the second floor of the Drum Tower behind the reporter. Amidst the melodious and deep sound of the evening drum, the rhythmic and magnificent order of the symmetrical landscape of the Beijing Central Axis, with its undulations and balance, became even more vivid. Reflecting on the past, with the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty leaving the Forbidden City, the timekeeping function of the Bell and Drum Towers was completely abolished. Through the vicissitudes of the world, they stand tall; through the long passage of time, they remain silently together. Today, their ancient forms have once again become part of people's lives, shining with new brilliance under the meticulous care of the people.