Dongan Men Remains

In an excavated pit on Beiheyan Dajie sits a pitiful stump, all that remains of the magnificent Dōngān Mén, the east gate of the Imperial City. Before being razed, the gate was a single-eaved, seven-bay-wide building with a hip-and-gable roof capped with yellow tiles. The remnants of the gate – just two layers of 18 bricks – may make for dull viewing but of more interest are the accompanying bricks of the excavated Ming-dynasty road that used to run near Dōngān Mén. The road is around 2m lower than the current road level, its expertly made bricks typical of precisely engineered Ming-dynasty brickwork. The remains are located in the Imperial Wall Foundation Ruins Park ( 皇城根遗址公园; Huángchéng Gēn Yízhǐ Gōngyuán), a thin strip of park that follows much of the course of the eastern side of the Imperial City Wall.