By the 1880s, this large expanse of land south of Beijing – it was several times larger than the walled city – had been partly converted into farmland, but it was conveniently located near the railroad that connected Beijing to Tianjin.
截至1880年代，这片北京南的大片土地——它比墙内的城大数倍——已部分被改为农田，但便于在连接北京到天津的铁路附近驻扎。