But the days of anonymous excellence are a thing of the past as well. The secrets of Qianmen that lies behind a rusty wrought iron gate across its main thoroughfare leading to the Forbidden City has been unveiled by a multimillion-yuan facelift as part of the capital's overall renovation project to welcome visitors to the Summer Olympics.
Reopened after 15 months, the commercial buildings and ceremonial structures in the area have largely been restored to their original splendor.
'It's showtime,' said Wang Chengguo, deputy head and spokesman of Beijing's Chong-wen district - where Qianmen is located.
'Foreign tourists can buy famous silk products in century-old Ruifuxiang silk shop. They can seek embroidered shoes (traditional Chinese shoes covered by embroidered cloth) in Neiliansheng shoes shop, one of the most noted traditional shoemakers, and can sample the pure roast duck and douzhir (fermented bean drink) in Quanjude.'
It's obvious that the 'China element' will 'help us attract more attention' from the huge number of foreign tourists, a worker of Beijing Quanjude roast duck restaurant, headquartered on Qianmen Street, told China Daily.