Jianguomen was not one of the 16 original gates in Beijing's 15th century
Ming-era city wall. The gate was an opening on the east side of Beijing's inner city wall that was created in 1939 during the Japanese occupation of the city to enable access to the industrializing eastern suburbs of the city. The gate was formally named the
Jianguomen in November 1945. At that time Beiping, as the city was then known, returned to Chinese rule. The oldest landmark at Jianguomen is the famous
Beijing Ancient Observatory. In the 1970s, numerous embassies of Western countries opened in the area northwest of Jianguomen. In 1973, the Beijing Friendship Store was moved from
Wangfujing to Jianguomen Outer Street. The Jianguo Hotel, just east of Jianguomen, opened in 1982, was the first Sino-foreign hotel joint venture in Beijing. ==Local transit==