Front Gate

Front Gate actually consists of two gates. The northernmost of the two gates is the 40m-high Zhengyang Gate ( 正阳门城楼; Zhèngyáng Mén Chénglóu), which dates from the Ming dynasty and was the largest of the nine gates of the Inner City Wall separating the inner, or Tartar (Manchu), city from the outer, or Chinese, city. Partially destroyed in the Boxer Rebellion around 1900, the gate was once flanked by two temples that have since vanished. With the disappearance of the city walls, the gate sits out of context, but it can be climbed for views of the square. Similarly torched during the Boxer Rebellion, the Zhengyang Gate Arrow Tower ( 正阳门箭楼; Zhèngyángmén Jiànlóu) to the south also dates from the Ming dynasty and was originally connected to Zhengyang Gate by a semicircular enceinte (demolished last century). To the east is the old British-built Qian Men Railway Station ( 老车站; Lǎo Chēzhàn), until recently taken over by shops and restaurants but at the time of writing it was set to become the Beijing Railway Museum.