Jiancheng Circle

A famous traffic circle established in the early Japanese colonial era. It eventually became a popular place for street vendors to congregate until World War 2, when the threat of allied bombing runs prompted the authorities to build a fire-fighting reservoir on site. In the post-war era vendors returned to the circle, eventually constructing a motley assortment of structures that persisted into the 1990s. The area was eventually cleared and a more modern facility was built in 2002, but this was mismanaged to the point where it was eventually destroyed. Nowadays the circle is again parkland. It is also known simply as Taipei Circle (台北圓環).