Chinese Clock on Bucareli

The Chinese Clock is a beloved monument on the only remaining traffic circle on Bucareli. Once the most prominent street in Mexico City, that history is almost lost, but for the clock.

An original fountain, by Manuel Tolsá, was moved from Bucareli to the Plaza de Loreto in 1925. Another fountain, by the architect Joaquín Heredia was entirely lost.

The Chinese Clock had been a gift from the Government of China, although fundraising to construct it was carried out by Chinese immigrants in Mexico. The clock commemorated the Centennial of Mexican Independence in 1910.

• The clock was a gift from the last imperial government of China, that of Puyi. He’d assumed the throne in 1908 at the age of two.

Originally placed in the Plaza de la Ciudadela, unfortunately, that clock was entirely destroyed during the Ten Tragic Days of 1913. Again, the Chinese-Mexican community took up the task for raising funds to restore and rebuild the clock. It took nine years for a restored version of the timepiece to reappear here in 1921.

In 2010, for the bicentennial celebration, the clock was again renovated as a perennial symbol of Chinese Mexican friendship.