Changmen Gate, was connected to Changmen Street (today’s Xizhongshi), and is shown in the picture, Bustling Suzhou drawn during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. There was a tower over the gate, resembling that of Panmen Gate. The outer gate of Changmen Gate was near to the suspension bridge. A rectangular enclosure for defense outside the gate kept another enclosure with a southern catalpa gate and a northern catalpa gate. The southern gate is joined to Nanxin Road, and the northern gate leads to the north wharf. During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851-1864) period, the enclosure of Changmen Gate was destroyed and only the inner city gate and supporting gate remained. In 1927, the municipal government dismantled the supporting gate and the narrow old city gate and reconstructed a Roman style gate in 1934. The reconstructed Changmen Gate has three gateways with a central one for vehicles and the other two for sidewalks. The Changmen water gate, to the north of the inner city gate, is along the Xiatangjie River. It had wooden fences in 1949 but was dismantled in the 1950s. Nowadays, only the base of the water gate remains. The stone bridge Julong Bridge outside the water gate was transformed into a mild dam in the 1970s.