Yanshui Old City

Established by local merchants in Yanshui, Tainan, around 1840, to protect the burgeoning market town from banditry. The four gates were linked by earthen ramparts at the gateways and bamboo palisades in between, a humble arrangement reflecting the self-funded (rather than officially decreed) project. Despite these precautions the city continued to suffer through rebellions, disease, and the silting of the harbor over subsequent decades. The gates and walls decayed and by the early 1900s only a small segment of the western wall remained. Small monuments and informational plaques have more recently been erected to commemorate the city’s history but it isn’t clear whether these occupy the original sites or were placed for convenience in traffic circles and parks.