In the end of the Ming Dynasty, around 1700, when Shanghai became a small city for the first time, this street came to exist.
The wall of the old city was built as a circle, totally on the west side of the Huangpu River.
Among them, the east gate located on the west end of the Dongmen Street was the most important one in the old city.
So, the Dongmen Road which connected the East Gate and the Shiliupu dock is surely to be the main street of old Shanghai, with shops alongside, goods in and out, and traffic across frequently.
Recently, the government has realized the special means of the historic street, and they are trying to build a huge shopping mall with active surface to make the prosperity of the blocks alongside reappear after hundreds of years.