Opening the Gates to Beijing's history

　　The Old City of Beijing, dating from the early Ming Dynasty, was divided into the Inner City (roughly including today's Xicheng and Dongcheng districts) and the Outer City (roughly including today's Chongwen and Xuanwu districts). During the Qing Dynasty, royal family members and high officials, most of who were Manchurians, lived in the Inner City, while lower-ranking Han Chinese lived in the Outer City, where the streets were narrow and the houses poorly built.

　　Qianmen is the most important of the Inner City's nine gates. Located along the Old City's central axis, it was the considered the first south gate to the imperial city as well as the one that linked the Inner and Outer Cities. During the Qing Dynasty, outsiders were not allowed to stay the night in the Inner City; thus they frequently stayed in the Qianmen area. In addition, many popular and vulgar entertainments which were banned from the Inner City could be found in outside Qianmen. Gradually, the Qianmen area turned into a flourishing commercial scene featuring inns, Chinese opera houses, shops selling everything from jewels to shoes, and even red-light districts.

　　A defensive arrow tower was stationed before every main tower along the city walls. Beside the Qianmen Arrow Tower, the Deshengmen Arrow Tower is the only one that still stands today. Deshengmen was so known as the "army gate," for only successful troops could return to the city through its doors. (In Chinese desheng means "success.") A subsequent Qing Dynasty tradition called for the army to leave the Inner City through Deshengmen when heading to an important battle, thus ensuring a decisive victory. With a lucky history, the Deshengmen Arrow Tower avoided disaster in 1978, surviving the construction of the second ring road, a 32.7 kilometer loop that is also cnsidered the boundary between the Old City and the New City.

　　The Yongdingmen Main Tower is the south end of the Old City's central axis and was the most significant of the Outer City's seven towers. Its rebirth, costing the capital 19 million yuan and five years of labor, is thanks to rebuilding efforts preceding the 2008 Olympic Games.

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