【Introduction】
In 1723 (the first year of Emperor Yongzheng), the Tamsui Subprefecture Office was located in Zhuqian (currently Hsinchu). In 1733, at the foot of Santai Mountain, people started to plant giant thorny bamboo bushes to surround the city and serve as a wall, hence, the city was known as "Zhuqian cheng (“thorny bamboo city”). In 1806, because of an uprising led by Cai Qian, the local residents decided to build a wall of earth for reinforcement. In 1826 (the 6th year of Emperor Daoguang), in order to prevent intra-ethnic conflicts between Fujian and Guangdong natives of Taiwan, Zheng Yongxi and Lin Pinghou proposed using stone to rebuild the wall. The construction started in 1827 and was completed in 1829. The four gates built for the wall included the east, Yingxi-men (“sunlight-greeting gate"), the west, Yishuang-men (“get fresh and cool gate"), the south, Gexun-men (“literary and elegant gate"), and the north, Gongchen-men (“observe the star gate). A fort was built at the east, west, and south gates along with two water tunnels for each one. In addition, trenches were dug to surround the wall. But then, in 1902 (the 35th year of Emperor Meiji) Taiwan Governor-General launched an urban planning project and demolished the city walls along with all the gates except for the eastern one, “Yingxi-men". The upper structure of the gate tower was initially made of wood but has been rebuilt with iron-reinforced concrete to replicate its original form. The roof of the east gate is a gabled roof with swallowtail ridges; under the eaves were hanging columns with elaborate carvings. The lower section of the gate tower is made of granite slabs laid in block and cross bond, creating a gateway with a smaller exterior but wider interior. On top of the gate, the two Chinese characters “Yingxi" are inscribed into the granite. Next to the gateway is a stone stele from 1829 which reads, "The New Taiwan Prefecture Tamsui City Subprefecture". This serves as a historical centerpiece for the development of Hsinchu City.