Hsinchu City East Gate Audio Guide

East Gate: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to East Gate of Hsinchu City Wall (Yingxi gate)

   Welcome to the East Gate of Hsinchu City Wall (Yingxi gate), known in Chinese as 竹塹城迎曦門. You are standing at the heart of Hsinchu, in front of the only one of the old city's four gates that still stands. Hsinchu was once called Zhuqian, and for a time it was a walled town with a gate on each side. Today just this one gatehouse is left, rising from the middle of a busy roundabout. The name Yingxi can be read as welcoming the morning light, which suits a gate on the east side. In this guide we will follow the gate through the centuries: how the walls were first planted as a hedge of thorny bamboo, how they were rebuilt in stone, and why this one gate was spared when the rest disappeared. We will also look closely at its stonework and roof, and at the plaza that now surrounds it. Take a moment to find the gate's two stories, its sweeping roof and the arched passage at its base. Everything we talk about next is written into those details.

2. 02

   From Thorny Bamboo to Stone at East Gate of Hsinchu City Wall (Yingxi gate)

   Hsinchu's old name, Zhuqian, belongs to a town whose first wall was a living one. In 1733 the Tamsui sub-prefect Xu Zhimin had thorny bamboo planted in a ring to enclose the settlement. That hedge, with its four gate towers named for east, west, south and north, was the beginning of the town's walls. A century later, local gentry decided the town deserved something sturdier. In 1826 the scholar Zheng Yongxi and other prominent residents petitioned to rebuild the city in brick and stone, and the request was approved. The foundations were surveyed again, and work began in 1827. The new walls took roughly two years to finish and came with four gates: Yingxi in the east, Yishuang in the west, Gexun in the south and Gongchen in the north. Beside the gate you will find a stone stele dated 1829. It records the building of the city, so the monument that tells the story of the wall stands right next to the last piece of that wall.

3. 03

   Stone, Timber Style and Roof Lines at East Gate of Hsinchu City Wall (Yingxi gate)

   Look first at the base of the gate. This lower part is called the chengzuo, or city platform, and it is built from long strips of granite stacked course upon course. Cut through it is the gateway itself, an arched passage that was once the town's doorway to the outside. The arch is smaller on the outer side and larger on the inner side, and above the entrance the two characters of the gate's name are inscribed. Now lift your eyes to the tower. It has two stories and is surrounded by a colonnade, with 24 pillars supporting its structure. The upper tower was originally built of wood, but today it is made of concrete, so what you see is a faithful rebuilding of the traditional form. The roof is a hip-and-gable style with double eaves, and the ridge ends curve upward in short, strong flicks. That upward tilt gives the gate a martial, imposing air, as if the building stood on guard. If you stand back at a distance, you can take in the whole profile at once: heavy stone below, layered roofs above.

4. 04

   The Lone Survivor and the Heart of Hsinchu at East Gate of Hsinchu City Wall (Yingxi gate)

   In 1902, under Japanese rule, the authorities carried out an urban street reform. Under it the walls and the other three gates were taken down. Only the east gate was left, and that is the reason it stands alone today. In 1935 it was designated a historic site, and in 1985 the Ministry of the Interior listed it as a second-level monument, which helped it survive into the present. The area around it has since been reshaped as a public space often called the Heart of Hsinchu. A long, sunken plaza is reached by steps and linked to the old moat, with an outdoor performance area, a zone with traditional imagery and a children's play area. A glass viewing platform has light built inside it, and a walkway circles the gate with four poetry walls. Each wall is engraved with a poem from a different era of Zhuqian's past, so the old gate keeps company with verse about the town. The gate is also lit at night with layered lighting, which is a lovely time to see it. Today people stroll, chat, cool off in its shade and watch performances here, so the monument is part of daily life.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off from East Gate of Hsinchu City Wall (Yingxi gate)

   Before you move on, circle the gate once more and let it tell you its layers. Notice the granite base, the arched passage, the colonnaded upper floor and the lifted roof ridges. Then compare that solid stone with the idea of a town first fenced by thorny bamboo. Try reading one of the four poetry walls as you walk the path around the gate, and see which era's voice speaks to you. If you linger until the light changes, watch how morning and evening, or the glow after dark, give the old tower a different mood each time. The other three gates are gone, but their names live on in the story of this town. As you wander the streets around you, you might ask yourself where the old walls once ran, and how the city grew around its last gate.