Pictorial History of Urumqi’s South Gate 南门
It’s always amusing when city locations are named after landmarks that no longer exist. For many years Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, used to be a walled city, but this didn’t last too long after the regime change in 1949.
Like most cities in China now, the walls have been torn down and replaced with wide roads to facilitate the country’s growing urban population. The only part of the wall to remain is the name of its gates, most notably the north and south gates (北门 bĕimén and 南门 nánmén).
Watch as the southern gate of Urumqi’s old city, now practically in the middle of the large metropolis, changes from grand tower to humble glass pyramid.
1910
The south gate used to be a majestic passage into Dihua, the name this city had before Urumqi. According to an interview with one Urumqi veteran, passage through this gate cost 5 fen (a small fraction of a penny).
1960′s
The gate seems to have been demolished in the 1950′s and replaced with a large road and lots of trees. In the background you can see the theater, one of the largest buildings at the time.
1980′s
The large collection of trees in the middle of this shot was where the gate once stood. If you look closely you can see Urumqi’s most famous mosque minus a few modern additions.
Today
Now the trees have been replaced with a large, blue pyramid. Why, you ask? That is a darn good question and one that I cannot answer.
Does anybody know what this blue pyramid means and why it stands in the middle of Nan Men?
That’s cool! They should tear down the pyramid and rebuild the old city gate. That would look exotic. Traditional Chinese style city gate with minarets nearby.
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Josh says: April 30th, 2010 at 9:27 am
I agree! I think a majestic gate would make a much better sight than a tiny blue pyramid.
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Someone thinks this story is fantastic…
This story was submitted to Hao Hao Report – a collection of China’s best stories and blog posts. If you like this story, be sure to go vote for it….
Ah yes, the nan men pyramid…..I am well acquainted with this architectural gem. I did a bit of research and the best explanation I could find is that it is a replica of Chinese born architect I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris. However, the nan men version is not translucent. (at one point i thought it a skylight for the underground mall beneath said pyramid). In light of the egyptian pyramids, it also seems to carry an exotic/Islamic air as well. If Xinjiang ever gets internet again, I’m sure better rationale will emerge.
It seems denizens of Urumqi are quite fond of pyramids as the following story and photo attest:
http://www.sznews.com/news/content/2008-03/13/content_1899035.htm
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Josh says: April 30th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Hmm…interesting explanation. I guess it makes sense, although the one in Urumqi is MUCH smaller than the one in Paris. Like you, I always thought it might have been a skylight for the underground mall, but sadly it isn’t.
As a side note, that’s a great picture of a pyramid made out of beer! Would the city of Wusu even be printed on China maps if they didn’t produce that beer? :)
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kahraman says: April 30th, 2010 at 10:37 am
wow, you’re quick… I also recall that the entrance to the bazaar in erdaoqiao is also a pyramid shape as here:
http://www.yoyv.com/Blog/log/fzzye_18579_/
Given the campiness of the bazaar, this lends credence to the exotic/islamic symbolism.
But….. who could overlook the influence of the famous Uyghur delicacy shown here courtesy of True Xinjiang:
http://www.globaltimes.cn/www/english/truexinjiang/culture/food/2009-07/446544.html
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That’s interesting! To me, all the years i saw that pyramid (most of the time i call it the triangle to my friends…)just there without thinking what it stands for~ Now i know~ Thank you~
I found this page incidentally, but i really like it. It shows views to Xinjiang, expecially Urumqi from foreigners’ perspectives. That’s lovely~ O(∩_∩)O
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Josh says: May 1st, 2010 at 4:34 am
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
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South gate has nothing to do with Uyghur.
If China is rebuilding South Gate, all the white people will cry out for racing discrimination.
If not, some white guy will say a majestic gate would make a much better sight than a tiny blue pyramid.
Looks like regardless what China is doing, it is not going to be right.
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Josh says: May 2nd, 2010 at 5:00 am
Slow down there, Frank. No mention of the word “Uyghur” has been made in this article and I think it’s fair to say that nobody here is talking about discrimination.
You’re trying creating a controversy where there is none and I’m not quite sure why. Is it wrong to question the significance of a blue pyramid in Urumqi’s prominent south gate? Even if I didn’t like the design, does a negative opinion automatically infer racial bias?
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joan says: May 10th, 2010 at 6:18 am
The original poster didn’t mention anything about Uighurs but I agree with this statement. Western Press would probably characterize rebuilding it as further imperialism.
Should have left the trees since they took down the gate.
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I could not figure out what that ugly thing is either. I’m interested to know why it is there – but then few things make sense in China.
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tina says: May 2nd, 2010 at 4:00 am
just not to you……
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Danny says: May 3rd, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Thanks for posting these pictures!
I have lived many years in Urumqi and have always loved the NanMen Pyrmaid. I never thought it was ugly at all but rather quite pretty and always a special landmark in Urumqi ^^ I can’t imagine how it would be without it.
And actually it is a skylight for the restaurant below(not as low as the market) but actually it looks much nicer from the top then from the bottom as it hasnt really been cared for and is pretty dirty.
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Josh says: May 3rd, 2010 at 10:51 pm
A restaurant? Thanks for letting me know, I had no clue! I’ve eaten all over the Nan Men area but I’ve never even heard of that restaurant. Crazy.
Aesthetically the pyramid doesn’t look bad there, but I’ve always been curious about the reason for that particular design. Seems like that space could have been used for so many other different things.
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You are right. Nobody is crying about discrimination because pyramid is not a Chinese thing.
The original South Gate has nothing to do with Uyghur. It was a Han Chinese traditional design.
If China were rebuilding South Gate, all the white people would cry out for discrimination.
Not everything racial biased? There were hundreds of articles written about last year’s riot in Xinjiang. There is not a single article written by white people telling about the horror stories of what Han Chinese experienced.
Why did not white people care about those Han families whose grandma, daughter, or wife killed by Uyghurs last year?
Would you care to interview a victim’s family?
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July 2009 Riot was really a very sad case.
After I saw an uncensored news media from the web about the Xinjiang July riot, showing all the Han Chinese dead bodies lying everywhere on the street… I really feel extremely sad, when some of the ladies victims were even nicely dressed and makeup when they died… maybe they were having a shopping trip in the city, but never they will expect such a disaster will happen to them that they won’t be able to see their love one forever anymore. It really hurt me a lot seeing this entire scene because I am a family man too with wife and kids…
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The unique thing that comes to my mind about this pyramid is a kind of gesture of good will to Europe the way the pyramid of Brussels is similar. It is only a guess hahahahahaha but has some support. Anyway, maybe this theory will make the Chinese government put this down and rebuild in the old fantastic way hahahaha
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Great post. Since I’ve read the DaVinci code I’m hip to the fact that Jesus’s ashes are buried down there. Well, it’s been a long time since I read the book but I’m pretty sure that’s it.
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stupid question
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July 2009 Riot was really a very sad case.
After I saw an uncensored news media from the web about the Xinjiang July riot, showing all the Han Chinese dead bodies lying everywhere on the street… I really feel extremely sad, when some of the ladies victims were even nicely dressed and makeup when they died… maybe they were having a shopping trip in the city, but never they will expect such a disaster will happen to them that they won’t be able to see their love one forever anymore. It really hurt me a lot seeing this entire scene because I am a family man too with wife and kids…
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FarWestChina is a website dedicated to opening the door to Xinjiang, China's most mysterious province.
My name is Josh Summers and I have an unexplained passion for this region. Although I now reside in the US, I spent almost 4 years living and traveling in the region and I continue to research the history and stories Xinjiang has to tell. If you're interested there's plenty to read about Xinjiang on this website, or learn about me on my about page.
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