9 Imperial Gates, 9 Different Jobs | Beijing's City Tales II

This is part 2 of our mini-series on Imperial Beijing City Planning. Beijing's inner city had nine gates, and not one of them was just a door. One was for grain. One was for executions. One was for the emperor's personal drinking water. And one was for manure. This episode breaks down the system that made old Beijing run, gate by gate. A Day In Beijing is an English-language Beijing podcast inspired by the history, innovations, and people of Beijing; created and hosted by a born-and-raised Beijinger. It exists not only as your virtual travel guide, your dictionary to China, but also to challenge and break the colonial narratives that have been shaping Beijing and China. Part 1 covered where Beijing's name came from and the 2,000-year-old planning rulebook that told people exactly how to build a Chinese capital. What this episode covers: 🔹 四九城 — Sì Jiǔ Chéng. "Four-Nine City." Four walls, nine gates. The word old Beijingers use for the real, proper, inside-the-walls Beijing. Not a neighbourhood — a declaration. 🔹 The system. A walled city of roughly one million people during the Qing dynasty. Food, water, coal, building materials — everything had to come through somewhere. Waste and the dead had to go out. Each gate was assigned a function. Formally. 🔹 正阳门 (Zhèngyáng Mén) — the emperor's gate. Dead centre of the south wall, on the central axis. The emperor passed through twice a year — for the winter solstice ceremony and the spring ploughing ritual. That's it. Two days a year. Everyone else used a different door. Both the gate tower and arrow tower still stand — the only gate where that's true. 🔹 崇文门 (Chóngwén Mén) — the tax gate. All alcohol entering the city came through here. Highest tariffs of any gate. The 哈德门 cigarette brand took its name from an older version of this gate's name — the gate is gone, but it's on a packet of cigarettes. 🔹 宣武门 (Xuānwǔ Mén) — the death gate. Every morning, prisoners condemned to execution were marched out through this gate at dawn. They walked south to 菜市口 — a vegetable market that doubled as Beijing's primary execution ground for centuries. Where the gate stood, there's now one of the oldest Catholic churches in Beijing. 🔹 朝阳门 (Cháoyáng Mén) — the grain gate. All grain entered through here. Nine imperial granaries sat behind it. The gate was marked with a wheat ear pattern so there was no confusion about what this door was for. 🔹 东直门 (Dōngzhí Mén) — the building materials gate. Timber, bricks, tiles. Called the poorest gate — no officials, no merchants, just labourers hauling wood on their backs. 🔹 西直门 (Xīzhí Mén) — the water gate. The emperor's drinking water came from Jade Spring Mountain, carried through this gate every day. An entire city gate whose daily function was delivering one person's drinking water. 🔹 阜成门 (Fùchéng Mén) — the coal gate. Coal from the Mentougou mines entered here. This is how Beijing heated itself — coal through 阜成门 into kitchens and 炕 (kàng), the heated brick beds that kept families warm through winter. 🔹 德胜门 (Déshèng Mén) — the Victory Gate. When the army marched to war, they left through here. The arrow tower still stands — nearly 600 years old. 🔹 安定门 (Āndìng Mén) — the Peace Gate. When the army came home, they returned through here. It also handled the city's waste and manure. Triumph and rubbish through the same door. 🙏 I'm no historian; I research every episode the best I can. If anything sounds off, let me know. I'm always learning and this podcast gets better with your help. 🌏 Planning a trip to Beijing? I run small, responsible cultural experiences that support independent businesses and local communities. DM me. 🎧 Search "A Day In Beijing", it's also available on: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / YouTube Music / Goodpods / 小宇宙 / Substack 🌐 adayinbeijing.carrd.co 📸 Instagram: @a_day_in_beijing / @chen_backinbeijing ✉️ [email protected]