Xiaonanmen_Chongxi Gate Introduction
Taipei City is one of the last fortifications built during the Qing Dynasty. The city walls have since collapsed, leaving only a few remnants of gates as a testament to history. The wall of Taipei City measures 4 meters in width and 5 meters in height, surrounding approximately 4 kilometers, making it a very sturdy fortification. Generally, traditional Chinese city walls have four gates, but Taipei City has five gates. It is said that this was constructed with special donations from the Lin Benyuan family, wealthy merchants from Banqiao, for convenience. Although this legend has not been confirmed, the Xiao Nan Gate is indeed a very unique example in Chinese city architecture. Unfortunately, although it, along with the East Gate and South Gate, escaped destruction by the Japanese, it was remodeled into a northern Chinese palace-style tower after the Kuomintang government arrived in Taiwan. Only the base of the city structure retains its original appearance, continuing to guard Taipei.
