Panmen is the best-preserved part of the ruins of ancient Suzhou City. In 514B.C., in order to make people live in peace, and to strengthen his control over the neighboring region so as to conquer the Central Plains, Helu, the king of Wu, sent Wu Zixu to choose a favorable place according to Chinese Fengshui. Thus the ancient Suzhou City was built, known in history as "the Great Helu City". There are 8 land gates and 8 water gates in the ancient city.
And with woodcut curling dragon on them, the land and water gates in the southwest were called "Panmen Gate", which was in the position of the fifth of the twelve Earthly Branches. Traditionally the fifth of the twelve Earthly Branches was dragon, which could exercise restraint over the snakes, i.e., over the powerful Yue Kingdom Later, it was renamed "Panmen Gate" for the winding land and water routes in this area. Pan here, in Chinese, means "winding".