Just like hotels, shopping malls, and schools, railway stations are a kind of public architecture that contributes to shaping a modern city. However, railway stations are a unique type of public architecture in that they include the most cutting-edge technologies as well as personal values. Moreover, as the gateway to the modern city and the nation, railway stations also contain profound cultural implication. In the first section, this paper maps out the evolution of design methods of railway stations from the mid-nineteenth century to the first decades of the twentieth century, identifying a shift from exclusive emphasis on the headhouse itself to the close connection between the station and the urban fabric and development. On this basis, the paper explores the historical processes of programming, design, and construction of Beijing Railway Station, one of the Ten Grand Projects to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in 1959. It also examines how Beijing Railway Station was projected as the modern gateway of the socialist state, with all its flaws in planning and management (as demonstrated later), and argues that the design and construction of Beijing Railway Station epitomizes the accomplishments of the architectural industry development in modern China.