Researchers unearth bridge to reveal past

In front of Zhengyangmen Gate, which rises at the southern end of Tian'anmen Square in the heart of Beijing, tourists hustling and bustling on Qianmen Street keep instilling vitality to this gateway dating back over 600 years.

With the gate tower in the north and the archery tower in the south, Zhengyangmen, a key marker on the Beijing Central Axis, is the largest among all the gates of the inner and outer cities of Beijing during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

The busy scene resonates with the previous era's prosperity, but the gate was subjected to the evolving times.