Qianmen

The Qianmen is the common name for the gateway known formally as Zhengyangmen . It is a gate in Beijing, China. It stands at the south end of the Tiananmen Square precinct, and was formerly the front gate of the , a part of the ancient city of Beijing.


First built in 1419, the gateway consisted of a gatehouse proper and an archery tower, which forms a large barbican. Today the archery tower and the gatehouse survive - though not in the form originally built. The present gates date from 1914 and incorporate modern design elements suggested by German advisors. At 42 metres high, the gatehouse was, and is, the tallest among all of the gates of Beijing. There is also a Qianmen ''hutong''.

After the Communist victory in 1949, the gate complex was occupied by the Beijing garrison of the People's Liberation Army. The military vacated the gate in 1980.

Behind the Qianmen once stood the , followed by the present Tiananmen, and the Meridian Gate, which is the front entrance to the Forbidden City.

Because of its grandeur and unique design, the Qianmen was long seen as the symbol of old Beijing.

Listening

* from ''The World'' program, July 8, 2008