Di'anmen plan back on table to boost status bid

Culture chiefs are weighing up plans to rebuild Di'anmen - the only historic gate missing from the iconic "central axis" - ahead of the capital's application for world heritage status.

The relic, which used to lie north of the line in Xicheng district, was built in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was demolished in the mid-1950s to make way for a road project, with the area now more famous for the Drum Tower and Shichahai.

"It was only a one-story building, which is unlike the other eight gates, such as Qianmen or Yongdingmen. It made up part of the city walls," Zhao Shu, a researcher at the Beijing Research Institute of Culture and History, told METRO.