Houlong Old City

Houlong was one of a small number of walled cities in Qing dynasty era Taiwan. It featured around 1,375 meters of wall and four cardinal gates and was completed around 1834. The walls and gates were repaired after a devastating earthquake in 1862. In 1920 the western gate was dismantled during the construction of the railway line and around 1930 the south and east gates were destroyed due to catastrophic flooding. The 1935 Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake heavily damaged the remaining north gate, which was converted into a community center for a period of time, and eventually demolished. Apparently some trace of the original walls can still be found along the southern section but the precise location is unclear.