A city pack for the Moonlit Atlas book

Beijing

You enter this set on foot. A white stone bridge climbs out of the lake at the front and sets you down in a hutong lane, with the palace's red wall and golden roofs stacked behind it and the Great Wall on the ridge above. Put it in your Moonlit Atlas, press the brass button, and Beijing stands up as night falls.

The Moonlit Atlas book, closed: 8.1 × 6.7 × 2.5 in. With this pack, Beijing is what folds flat inside it. Scroll to open it before dark.

Press the brass button. Two torsion springs lift the lid, a gear damper keeps it slow, and three rows of the city stand up with it, upright at 90°.

Beijing starts at the water. A lake fills the tray, with a red dragon boat, lily pads and a pink lotus on it, and a white stone bridge rises from its front edge on one round arch.

The bridge steps down into a hutong lane: a painted archway on red posts with two stone lions under it, grey-brick houses with red doors and lanterns, a bicycle, a rickshaw, a plum tree in blossom, and a panda with its bamboo.

Behind the lane stands the palace wall, red under a golden coping, with arched gates set with gold studs and a tower at each end. Over it, the great hall's double golden roof on a white marble terrace.

At the back, the hills. The Great Wall climbs the ridge with its two watchtowers, the Temple of Heaven stands under three blue roofs, and the Bird's Nest sits silver beside it.

Lights out. Windows glow in the hutong houses, along the great hall, in the corner towers and up in the watchtowers on the Great Wall. They glow in the dark: no batteries, no wires.

You come in over the bridge

To reach the Forbidden City you cross water first: marble bridges stand in front of its gates. This set keeps that order. The bridge belongs to the water plate, so it rises out of the tray on one tall arch and lands on the street, and everything behind it is stacked the way you would see it from the top of the arch: the lane's grey roofs, the red wall, the golden hall, and the Great Wall on the hills at the back.

The lakeA dragon boat, lily pads and a lotus on the water, and the white bridge.
The streetThe archway and its lions, two hutong houses, a panda, a rickshaw, a bicycle and a plum tree.
The palaceThe red wall and its studded gates, a tower at each end, and the hall under its double golden roof.
The ridgeThe Great Wall on green hills, the Temple of Heaven and the Bird's Nest.

The four pieces of the Beijing set out of the book, seen from the front right and a little above: in front, the blue water plate with a red dragon boat, lily pads, a pink lotus and a white stone bridge with one round arch whose stair climbs to the street; behind it the white walkway of the front row with a painted archway on red posts over two pale stone lions, two grey-brick houses with dark roofs, red doors and red lanterns, a black bicycle, a black-and-white panda, a red rickshaw and a tree in pink blossom; then the long red palace wall with a golden coping, arched gates with gold studs, a hall with a double golden roof on a white stepped terrace and a red tower with golden roofs at each end; at the back green hills with a tan crenellated wall and two watchtowers, a round hall with three blue roofs on a white base, and a silver-grey oval stadium — The four pieces of the set out of the book, in the order they stand: the lake and its bridge nearest you, the ridge at the back.

Up close

Red walls and golden roofs, on your shelf

The front of the open book: a blue water plate in the cream tray with a red dragon boat with gold details, lily pads and a pink lotus, and a white stone bridge with one round arch whose stair climbs to the street; on the street behind it a painted archway on red posts over two pale stone lions, a grey-brick house with red lanterns and a black bicycle, a black-and-white panda at the top of the stair, a second house with a red rickshaw and a tree in pink blossom, and the red palace wall with its white terrace behind — The way in: the dragon boat and the lotus on the lake, and the white bridge climbing from the water to the lane, where the panda waits at the top of the stair.

Close-up of the front row: a three-bay archway on red posts with blue and green beams and golden roofs over two pale stone lions, a grey-brick house with a dark ribbed roof, red window frames, a red door with two gold rings and a red lantern at each side, a black bicycle leaning on it, and a black-and-white panda holding a green stalk, with the red panelled palace wall and the foot of the white terrace behind — The lane up close: the archway and its lions, a hutong house with its lanterns and bicycle, and the panda at the head of the bridge stair.

The middle row: a long red panelled wall with a golden coping and two arched gates with gold studs, a white three-tier terrace carrying a hall with red columns and a double golden roof, and a red tower with stacked golden roofs at each end; behind it green hills with a tan crenellated wall and watchtowers, a round hall with three blue roofs and a silver-grey oval stadium against the dark sky panel and its stars — The palace: the red wall and its studded gates, the great hall on its terrace, and a corner tower at each end.

The back row against the dark indigo sky panel and cream moon: a tan crenellated wall with two watchtowers climbing green hills, a round hall with three blue roofs, a red drum and a gold tip on a white stepped base, and a silver-grey oval stadium with an open roof; in front of them the double golden roof of the palace hall and the golden roofs of the two corner towers — The ridge under the moon: the Great Wall and its watchtowers, the Temple of Heaven and the Bird's Nest, seen over the palace roofs.

Drag to turn the book. Tap a number for its story.

16 landmarks, from the lotus to the Great Wall

Walk the set the way the film did, over the bridge and up. Pick a landmark to see where it stands and what the model shows.

Already have the book?

New York off, Beijing on

Say your book holds New York. Each row clicks onto its frame with two magnets and two V-keys. Lift it straight up and it comes free.

Once New York's three rows are off, lift its harbor plate out of the tray.

Drop in the Beijing plate: the lake, with its dragon boat, a lotus and the white bridge.

Set the Beijing rows on, back to front. The magnets pull each row home. New York goes back on the same way whenever you want it.

What's in the Beijing pack

The set

Three building rows and a lake plate that drop into your book and click onto its frames with magnets. No batteries: after a lamp has charged them, the windows glow brightest for 30 to 60 minutes.

Weight: about 5.2 oz 146 g
Made from: PLA
Building depth: up to 0.47 in, so the rows fold flat 12 mm

The closed Moonlit Atlas book: navy cover, cream page block and a brass button

Add-on: needs the Moonlit Atlas book

Beijing needs a book to stand in

This pack is the city only. It stands up inside the Moonlit Atlas book, which is sold separately. The rows click onto the book's frames, so Beijing swaps with New York or any other city set in seconds.

See the Moonlit Atlas book