Chang'an Avenue (), literally "Eternal Peace Street", is a major thoroughfare in Beijing, China. Chang'an () is also the old name for Xi'an which was the capital of China during the Western Han dynasty, the Tang dynasty and other periods. The Avenue has also been referred to as the Shili Changjie (), meaning the Ten Li Long Street, China's No. 1 Avenue and No. 1 Avenue of the Divine Land. Chang'an Avenue is often used as a synonym or shorthand for Beijing and Chinese politics because of its political importance. Chang'an Avenue starts from Dongdan in the east and ends at Xidan in the west. Tiananmen and Tiananmen Square are located at the north and south of the center of the Avenue, respectively. The Avenue consists of two parts, West Chang'an Avenue and East Chang'an Avenue. The extension line extends east-west with Tiananmen Square as the center, extends westward to Shougang area, Yongding River and Western Hills, and extends eastward to Beijing City Sub-center, Grand Canal and Chaobai River. The core area of Chang'an Avenue and its extension is between Guomao Bridge of East Third Ring Road and Xinxing Bridge of West Third Ring Road (including Tiananmen area). History The East and West Chang'an Streets were built as part of the Imperial City of Beijing. East Chang'an Street originally ran from the Left Chang'an Gate (on the east side of the square before Tian'anmen gate) to the Dongdan gate, and West Chang'an Street originally ran from the Right Chang'an Gate (on the west side of the same square) to the Xidan gate. The north side of the square, between the two Chang'an Gates, became a road after 1912 and was named "Zhongshan Road", after Sun Yat-sen. In 1940, the Inner City wall was breached at Jianguomen and Fuxingmen respectively, due east and west of the ends of the East and West Chang'an Street. Streets extending from the ends of the two Chang'an Streets were widened to become Jianguomen Inner and Outer Streets and Fuxingmen Inner and Outer Streets. The two Chang'an Streets thus became part of a major thoroughfare into and out of the Inner City, now considered the "extended" Chang'an Avenue. The two Chang'an Gates were demolished in 1952 to expand Tiananmen Square, after which the two Chang'an Streets and Zhongshan Road were joined together and became known as "Chang'an Avenue". In 2009 the road was widened to 10