Changmen, City gate in Suzhou, China

Changmen is a historic city gate in Suzhou featuring three separate passages: a central roadway for vehicles and two side paths for pedestrians. The structure connects the old town with surrounding areas and shows the gateway design typical of Suzhou's traditional layout.

Changmen was first built in the Spring and Autumn period as one of the eight gates of King Helü's great city, named after the legendary Changhe gate of heaven. In 506 BC, Sun Wu and Wu Zixu led the Wu army through it to attack Chu, earning it the name Pochu Gate. In 1934 it was rebuilt in Roman style with three arches, and in 1958 it was demolished; the city government reconstructed it in 2006.

The name comes from Changhe, a legendary gate in heaven, not from "long gate". In 506 BC the Wu army under Sun Wu and Wu Zixu set out from here to attack Chu and returned victorious, earning the gate the name Pochu Gate. In the Ming and Qing dynasties the area was China's busiest commercial district; Tang Yin's poem and Sun Jiagan's travelogue describe the crowds and shops.

Access is easy via several bus lines including routes 31, 54, and 501 that serve the Changmenhengjie station. The gate is within walking distance of the old town area and can be visited as part of a route exploring historic neighborhoods.

In 1958, during the Great Leap Forward, the gate was demolished and its bricks were used to build earthen furnaces for backyard steelmaking. The structure seen today was rebuilt by the Suzhou municipal government in 2006 to restore its former appearance.