aeeble

Taipei City was one of the last cities built during the Qing Dynasty's rule. The city walls from that time have all collapsed, leaving only a few remaining city gates as witnesses to history. The walls of Taipei City were 4 meters wide and 5 meters high, surrounding about 4 kilometers, making it a very solid city. Typically, traditional Chinese city walls have four gates, but Taipei City has five gates. It is said that during that time, the wealthy Lin Benyuan family from Bangchiou donated to build the gates for convenience of access. Although this legend has not been verified, the Xiaonan Gate is indeed a very special example in traditional Chinese city architecture. Unfortunately, although it, along with the East Gate and South Gate, escaped destruction by the Japanese, it was later rebuilt into a northern Chinese palace-style tower by the Nationalist Government upon their arrival in Taiwan. Only the base of the city wall remains in its original form, continuing to protect Taipei.