History of Chaotianmen

Located at the junction of the Yangtze River and Jialing River, Chaotianmen is like a gate of Chongqng opening to the outside world. It is a vital commercial port for Chongqing with a long history, well known both at home and abroad.

History of Chaotianmen

In the year of 314 B.C of Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Chaotianmen was originally built. At that time, the senior general Zhang Yi of Qin conquered and occupied Ba. Later, he rebuilt the city of Ba and built Chaotianmen.

In the early years of Ming Dynasty, Dai Ding expanded the Chongqing city and built 17 gates among which Chaotianmen Gate was the largest one. Four Chinese characters, "Guyu Xiongguan (the strategic pass of ancient Chongqing)" were written on the gate. Due to the convenient transportation and strategic location of Chaotianmen, in the feudal society of China, Chaotianmen was the place where the officials received the imperial decrees of the emperor. Since the emperors in the feudal society were called "tianzi", "chao" represents to worship, so it was named "Chaotianmen" which meant the place for worshipping the decrees of the emperor.

In 1891, Chongqing was turned into a commercial port and Chaotianmen was set as the customs. More and more merchant ships passed here and Chaotianmen was more important.

In 1927, in order to build Chaotianmen dock, the old gate with a history of 550 years was demolished and removed.

In 1949, because of the big fire on September 2nd, Chaotianmen and the nearby areas were burnt into a ruin. From then on, there were only the broken walls foundations remaining in Chaotianmen.

After 1949, Chaotianmen has been expanded many times and stretches along the banks of the Yangtze River and Jialing River. Blocks of skyscrapers are springing up and cable cars for both people and goods can lead to the bank of the rivers. Chaotianmen goes on playing its important role in the development of Chongqing.