Qianmen Street and Zhengyangmen: Arrow Tower and Time-Honoured Shops

Running straight south for 845 metres from the southern tip of Tiananmen Square along the Beijing Central Axis, Qianmen Street (Qianmen Dajie) was the grand imperial ceremonial thoroughfare that Ming and Qing emperors followed in palanquins from the palace to the Temple of Heaven. Reached directly at Qianmen Station on Subway Lines 2 and 8, the broad flagstone avenue begins beneath two monumental fifteenth-century fortifications that survived the twentieth-century removal of the city wall.

Zhengyangmen Gate and the Arrow Tower (Jianlou)

What locals call Qianmen (Front Gate) is the popular name for Zhengyangmen, the towering southern main gate of the Inner City built in 1419. Unlike other city gates, Zhengyangmen preserves both its northern timber-and-brick Gate Tower and its massive southern brick Arrow Tower (Jianlou), which once connected via a semicircular defensive barbican wall (wengcheng). Rising thirty-eight metres with four tiers of ninety-four white-framed archery embrasures facing south, east and west, the Arrow Tower looks especially striking after dusk when architectural floodlights turn its eaves gold and crimson.

Walking the central Imperial Way and Wupailou

Stepping onto the pedestrian avenue just south of the Arrow Tower, you pass beneath the Zhengyang Bridge Five-Archway (Wupailou), a richly painted wooden gateway decorated with gilded dragons. Notice the white marble strip running down the very middle of the street: this marks the historic Imperial Way (Yudao), flanked by iron tracks where a vintage wooden Dangdang Tram clangs its brass bell along the boulevard, recreating the electric streetcar line that first opened here in 1924.

Xianyukou Food Street and time-honoured brands

While the main avenue mixes international flagship stores with historic Beijing brands (laozihao) such as the original Quanjude and Bianyifang Peking duck halls and the Liubiju pickle shop (founded in the Ming Jiajing era), the most interesting exploration happens in the side lanes branching east and west. Turn east into Xianyukou (Fresh Fish Mouth) to see the cast-iron facade of the historic Tianxingju steamed-bun and liver shop and refurbished guild theaters, or turn west into Dashilar and Yangmeizhu Byway. Because Qianmen sits halfway between the Forbidden City and Tiantan, it is one of the smartest spots on the axis to pause for a midday noodle or roast-duck lunch.