Beijing Zhengyangmen Management Office

Time: 9:00--17:00 (closed on Mondays) Address: No. 2 Qianmen Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing Theme: The only remaining city tower and arrow tower in Beijing, the well-preserved gate of the imperial capital Tickets: Free, by reservation 🤳Explanation: 4 public lectures/day, 9:30, 11:30, 13:30, 15:30, gather on the first floor of the exhibition hall🎧 - Zhengyang Gate was originally named Lizheng Gate. It was built in the fourth year of Zhiyuan (1267) during the reign of Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty and was the main gate of the southern city wall of the Yuan capital. ❣️In the 17th year of Ming Yongle (1419), Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di built Beijing City🌇 and expanded the southern city wall of Dadu City to the south. Lizheng Gate was moved to the current location of Zhengyang Gate. At first, only the city tower was built✨. - From the first to the fourth year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming Dynasty (1436-1439), military defense facilities such as the urn city, arrow tower, east and west gate towers were added, and the Lizheng Gate was renamed the Zhengyang Gate. Zhengyangmen is an ancient Chinese city defensive building and the only city gate in Beijing with its towers and arrow towers well preserved. In the 26th year of Emperor Guangxu's reign (1900), the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing and Zhengyang Gate was destroyed. In the 32nd year of Emperor Guangxu's reign (1906), it was rebuilt with reference to Chongwen Gate and Xuanwu Gate. - In 1915, the German architect Rosskegel was hired to renovate Zhengyangmen. The barbican and the east and west gate towers were demolished. While demolishing the barbican, the arrow tower was also rebuilt. Four new arrow windows were added on the east and west sides of the Arrow Tower. At the same time, each arrow window is decorated with a 🕊️Western-style cement arc-shaped canopy, and white marble columns and white marble railings🚧 are added under the arrow tower windows to form a suspended platform. 🙋A horizontal plaque with the words "Zhengyang Gate" was added above the arrow tower gate, railings were added on the east and west sides, and a zigzag horse path was built🏇. - Zhengyangmen is a combination of city towers, arrow towers, gatehouses, urn cities, moon walls, and temples. It is connected to the southern city wall of the inner city and surrounded by a moat, forming a complete ancient defensive architectural system. Old Beijingers often say "🌟Four gates, three bridges, and five archways", which refers to a circle of city walls connecting the four city gates, namely the Arrow Tower, the City Tower, and the East and West Gate Towers. 🔍In front of the Arrow Tower is the "Zhengyang Bridge🐉" consisting of three stone arch bridges, and to the south is the "Wupailou" leading to Qianmen Street. Wupailou is the "six-column, five-bay" archway across the street in front of Zhengyangmen. In the Ming Dynasty, all nine gates of the capital had archways. The Zhengyangmen archway had the highest specifications, with five bays. Today, only the Zhengyangmen archway has been rebuilt.