Dianmen (Di’anmen)

Dianmen, the north gate of the Imperial City in the Ming (1368 - 1644 AD) and Qing (1644 - 1911 AD) dynasties, was one of the landmark buildings on the central axis of old Beijing. However, unlike the south gate, Tiananmen, which is well preserved, Dian gate has totally disappeared as the time has passed. Dianmen nowdays refers to the surrounding areas of where the gate stood, especially Dianmen Outer Street, Inner Street, West Street and East Street, located to the north, south, west and east directions of the previous gate.
 Dianmen is a traditional commercial district, especially Outer Street, which has been a famous commercial street since the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368 AD). So far, there are Makai Restaurant, Di'anmen Department Store, Di'anmen Electric Shopping Mall, Di'anmen Pharmacy, Xinhua Book Store, Di'anmen Non-staple Food Mall and more.

Recommendated Special Shops:

Products	Shops	Location
Clothing, Shoes and Bags	1964’s	No. 30, Di'anmen Outer Street
No. 30, Di'anmen Outer Street	Ruifuxiang	No. 50, Outer Street
Kites	Sanshizhai	No. 25, West Street
Silver Ornaments	Choujiang	No. 19, Outer Street
Skin Care Products, Cosmetics	Watsons	No. 178, Outer Street

 There are plenty of delicious and special snacks in the area. A lage number of restaurants are concentrated in Di’anmen Outer Street and East Street.

Recommendations:

Food and Snacks	Restaurant	Location
Fried Rice Cake	Jinsanjue	No. 52, Dianmen Outer Street
Fried Wheaten Pancake with Meat and Sea Cucumber Fillings (Da Lian Huo Shao)	Beijing Imperial Root Da Lian Huo Shao	No. 46, East Street
Casserole Porridge	Chongsuozhouzhi Chaoshan Casserole Porridge	No. 101, Outer Street
Bean Paste Buns	Liuquanju	No. 155, Outer Street
Dandan Noodle (thin and smooth noodles with tender meat powder)	Huatianxinchuan Noodles Shops	No. 141, Outer Street (Opposite KFC)
Hot Pot	Donglaishun	No. 56, Outer Street
Beijing style desserts	Daoxiangcun	No. 50, Outer Street

 There are also many places of interest in the vicinity of these four streets. To the north of Dianmen Outer Street is the Bell and Drum Towers, and to the south of Di'anmen Inner Street is Jingshan Park. The streets of Dianmen Outer Street and East Street are hutongs on both sides; the famous ones include Nanluoguxiang (South Gong and Drum Lane) and Skewed Tobacco Pouch Street (Yandai Xiejie). The famous Shichahai and Beihai Park are also located around Di'anmen West Street. In addition, you can appreciate cultural relics such as Huodezhenjun Temple, old-style shops, Houmen Stone Bridge, and Guangfu Temple (Shanmen).
 1. Take subway line 6 or line 8 to Nanluoguxiang Station, exit and you are on Di'anmen East Street.
2. Take subway line 8 , get off at Shichahai Station, exit and you are on Di'anmen Outer Street.
3. Take bus line 60, 107, 124 and get off at Dianmen Outer Station.
4. Take bus line 3, 4, 13, 42, 118 or 612 and get off at Dianmen East Station.