Editing 2nd Ring Road (section)

==History and geography==
[[File:Beijing city wall map vectorized.svg|thumb|Beijing City Walls]]
[[File:Dongzhimen Bridge from northwest (20200813172034).jpg|thumb|Dongzhimen Bridge on the 2nd Ring Road in 2020]]

The 2nd Ring Road runs close to where [[Beijing city fortifications|Beijing's city walls]] once stood; numerous junctions bear the old city gate's name. A small number of these city gates themselves still stand: [[Ming City Wall Relics Park|Southeast corner tower]], [[Deshengmen]] and [[Yongdingmen]] (which has been rebuilt). Most of the old city walls were pulled down shortly after the [[People's Republic of China]] was established in 1949.

Although it was suggested that the 2nd Ring Road was built over the old city walls, by comparing current city maps with old maps of Beijing, it has been found this is not exactly true. The road instead mostly follows the former moat that surrounded the city wall; in places, the moat survives as a canal. The 2nd ring road was completed in the 1980s.

All traffic lights were removed in the 1990s, and several new overpasses were built.

In 2001, the 2nd Ring Road was overhauled. It was fully re-surfaced, and greenery substantially increased.

Much of [[Line 2 (Beijing Subway)|Line 2]] of the [[Beijing Subway]] runs underneath the Second Ring Road. Many stations have exits on both sides of the road, with the exception of [[Andingmen Station|Andingmen]].

===The Old 2nd Ring Road===
The former "old 2nd Ring Road" has an elliptical shape. Its northwest corner is at [[Xizhimen]], the northeast corner is at [[Dongzhimen]], and southern corners are at [[Dongbianmen]] and [[Xibianmen]]. The southern side is the so-called "Metro Road" which goes through [[Qianmen]], at the southern end of [[Tian'anmen Square]].

===The New 2nd Ring Road===
The new road is simply an extension of the western and eastern parts of the original 2nd Ring Road. It extends beyond Dongbianmen and Xibianmen, thus reaching Zuo'anmen to the southeast and the Caihuying overpass complex in the southwest. The extensions were known for a while as the ''external 2nd Ring Road'', though this term is becoming more and more unpopular.

===Gates and the 2nd Ring Road===
The 2nd Ring Road passes the sites of many of the old city gates around Beijing. These include:

* [[Deshengmen]]
* [[Andingmen]]
* [[Dongzhimen]]
* [[Chaoyangmen]]
* [[Guangqumen]]
* [[Zuo'anmen]]
* [[Yongdingmen]]
* [[You'anmen]]
* [[Guang'anmen]]
* [[Fuchengmen]]
* [[Xizhimen]]

Only Deshengmen and Yongdingmen (rebuilt 2005) still stand; the others were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s.

Gates through which the former Inner 2nd Ring Road ("Metro Road") passes are:

* [[Chongwenmen]]
* [[Zhengyangmen]]
* [[:zh:宣武门|Xuanwumen]]

Only [[Zhengyangmen]] is still standing today.