{{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Dongmen Road (東門路) is a road in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It extends in the west from the site of the old East Gate of Shanghai on

Zhonghua Road Zhōnghuá, Chung¹-hua² or Chunghwa is a term that means "''China''" or "''relating to China''" (), in a cultural, ethnic, or literary sense. It is used in the following terms: People's Republic of China * ', the Chinese name for the People' ...

, part of the ring road surrounding the

Old City of Shanghai The Old City of Shanghai (; Shanghainese: ''Zånhae Lo Zenshian''), also formerly known as the Chinese city, is the traditional urban core of Shanghai. Its boundary was formerly defined by a defensive wall. The Old City was the county seat for t ...

, to South Zhongshan Road and the

Huangpu River The Huangpu (), formerly romanized as Whangpoo, is a river flowing north through Shanghai. The Bund and Lujiazui are located along the Huangpu River. The Huangpu is the biggest river in central Shanghai, with the Suzhou Creek being its maj ...

in the east, an arterial road and part of the quasi-ring road Zhongshan Road. Administratively, it is in

Huangpu District Huangpu, also formerly romanized Whangpoo or Whang-Po, may refer to: * Huangpu District, Shanghai, China ** Huangpu River, in Shanghai, China * Huangpu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China ** Huangpu Military Academy, in Guangzhou, China * Pazhou ...

History

Dongmen Road is a street with a long history. “Dongmen” means “east gate”. In the end of the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, around 1700, when Shanghai became a small city for the first time, this street came to exist. The wall of the old city was built as a circle, totally on the west side of the Huangpu River. There are six gates to the outside—one north gate, one west gate, two south gates and two east gates. Among them, the east gate located on the west end of the Dongmen Street was the most important one in the old city. Furthermore, at that time, river transportation was served as the most regular way to make purchase with other cities. The biggest dock in Shanghai, called Shiliupu, is near this east gate. So, the Dongmen Road which connected the East Gate and the Shiliupu dock is surely to be the main street of old Shanghai, with shops alongside, goods in and out, and traffic across frequently. The wall and all the gates including the East Gate were destroyed around 1920 to make the traffic in and out more conveniently. And nowadays, The Shiliupu dock is no longer for transportation use but only for trip of the Huangu River instead. Dongmen Street, as a result, becomes a normal street of 20 meter wide, carrying four drives side by side. Shops are not as many as before. However, Dongmen Road is not far from

Yuyuan Garden Yu Garden or Yuyuan Garden (, Shanghainese ''Yuyoe'' , lit. ''Garden of Happiness'') is an extensive Chinese garden located beside the City God Temple in the northeast of the Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu District, Shanghai. It abuts the Yuyua ...

, an elaborate traditional garden in the

Jiangnan Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...

style, and one of the tourist sites of Shanghai. As a result, the north side of the street now serves as a parking center where many tourist buses park.

Recently

Recently, the government has realized the special means of the historic street, and they are trying to build a huge shopping mall with active surface to make the prosperity of the blocks alongside reappear after hundreds of years. Actually, now, a residential community has been already built on the south side with commercial on the first and second floor. Streets in Shanghai