Deshengmen is the name of a city gate that was once part of Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

's northern city wall. It is one of Beijing's few preserved city gates and now stands as a landmark on the northern 2nd Ring Road.

The original gate complex, built in 1437, was composed of three structures—the gatehouse, archery tower, and barbican

Barbican

A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from...

. The gatehouse proper was demolished in 1921, and the city wall was torn down in 1969. Today only the archery tower and the barbican survives. They overlook the northern city moat

Moat

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...

, and house an ancient coin exhibition inside.

Deshengmen is now a major transportation node in northern Beijing. The gate complex is surrounded by the Deshengmen bridge, a rotary overpass

Overpass

An overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway...

 that channels traffic from the 2nd Ring Road to the Badaling Expressway

Badaling Expressway

The Badaling Expressway is an expressway in the People's Republic of China which links urban Beijing to the Badaling stretch of the Great Wall of China...

. The street that once passed through the gate is still named in relation to it. South of Deshengmen and inside the old city wall is Deshengmen Inner Street. To the north, it is called Deshengmen Outer Street.

Deshengmen means "Gate of Virtuous Triumph." In traditional times, the imperial military would march out of Beijing through Deshengmen, and return through Andingmen

Andingmen

Andingmen is the name of a gate in the former city wall of Beijing. It is currently a transportation node in northern urban Beijing and the old gate has been replaced by Andingmen Bridge, an overpass taking the form of a suspended roundabout...

, the Gate of Peace and Stability.

Public transportation

Line 2

Line 2, Beijing Subway

Line 2 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line that runs in a rectangular loop around the city centre. It traces the Ming Dynasty inner city wall, which was demolished and paved over by the 2nd Ring Road and Qianmen Avenue. It is second oldest and busiest of Beijing's subway lines and...

 of the Beijing Subway

Beijing Subway

The Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail network that serves the urban and suburban districts of Beijing municipality. It is owned by the city of Beijing and has two operators, the wholly state owned Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp., which operates 12 lines, and the Beijing MTR...

 stops near Deshengmen at Jishuitan Station

Jishuitan Station

Jishuitan Station is a station on Line 2 of the Beijing Subway. Outside this station is located Deshengmen terminal....

. Deshengmen is the terminus for Public Bus 5, 305, 315, 344, 345, 380, 670, 914, and 919. In addition, Bus 27, 44, 55, 409, 815, and 819 stop nearby. Bus 919 is going to tourist spot. One of 919 bus is going to Badaling

Badaling

Badaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military...

 Great Wall.