Qianmen (simplified Chinese: 前门; traditional Chinese: 前門; pinyin: Qiánmén; Wade–Giles: Ch'ien-men; lit. 'Front Gate') is the colloquial name for Zhengyangmen (simplified Chinese: 正阳门; traditional Chinese: 正陽門; pinyin: Zhèngyángmén; Wade–Giles: Cheng-yang-men; Manchu:ᡨᠣᠪ
ᡧᡠᠨ ᡳ
ᡩᡠᡴᠠ; Möllendorff:tob šun-i duka, lit. 'Gate of the Zenith Sun'), a gate in Beijing's historic city wall. The gate is situated to the south of Tiananmen Square and once guarded the southern entry into the Inner City. Although much of Beijing's city walls were demolished, Zhengyangmen remains an important geographical marker of the city. The city's central north–south axis passes through Zhengyangmen's main gate. It was formerly named Lizhengmen (simplified Chinese: 丽正门; traditional Chinese: 麗正門; pinyin: Lìzhèngmén; lit. 'beautiful portal').