Yongdingmen
Yongdingmen is normally translated as ” Yongding Gate” or “Yongdingmen Gate Tower”. Here “Yongding” means “Lasting Peace” and “men” literally means “Gate” or “Gate Tower”. It was the former front gate as well as one of the seven gates of Beijing’s outer city wall in Ming and Qing dynasties. Beijing old city wall was mainly composed of four layers – Forbidden City wall, Imperial City Wall, Inner City Wall and Outer City Wall.
Yongdingmen Gate Tower was originally built 1553 in Ming Dynasty. Yongding Gate is the south starting point of the Central Axis of Beijing which ends at the Drum Tower and Bell Tower in the north. So, the Central Axis of Beijing extends 7.8km from Yongdingmen Gate, passing through Zhengyang Gate, Tian’anmen Square; further from Forbidden City, Jingshan Hill through the Drum Tower and Bell Tower.