Fengshan Gate

Fengshan Gate

The so-called city gates were the essential passageways from ancient Hangzhou to the outside world. Once you passed through a gate, you were in the countryside. In ancient times, ten city gates defined the boundaries of Hangzhou: on the east were Qingchun Gate, Qingtai Gate, and Wangjiang Gate; on the south were Houchao Gate and Fengshan Gate; on the west were Qiantang Gate, Qingbo Gate, and Yongjin Gate; and on the north were Wulin Gate and Genshan Gate.

Today, most of these ancient gates have long since disappeared, and the city’s boundaries have expanded many times over. Research shows that all of Hangzhou’s land-based city gates have now vanished. The current Fengshan Gate, located south of Liubu Bridge, was built in the late Yuan Dynasty by Zhang Shicheng and is the only remaining ancient water gate in Hangzhou. The evolution of the old city gates reflects, from one perspective, the development of Hangzhou as a city and the changes in the living environment of its residents.

Fengshan Gate is located in the central urban area of Jianggan District in downtown Hangzhou and lends its name to the surrounding area, including Zhongshan South Road, Wansongling Road, Fengshan Road, and Zhonghe Road. The original site of the gate lies to the west of Liubu Bridge—it was the northern gate of the Southern Song imperial palace known as He’ning Gate, and called Fengshan Gate (also referred to as Zhengyang Gate) during the Yuan Dynasty. During the Southern Song period, it marked the southern end of the Imperial Street, where the offices of the Three Departments and Six Ministries, along with the Academy of Scholarly Officials, were all situated. It remains an important transportation and tourist hub in southern Hangzhou today, home to the Fengshan Water Gate ruins and a memorial monument commemorating the governance project of Zhonghe Road.