Since I was a child I’ve lamented an historic building such as Beimen wasn’t given the respect it deserves. Historic gates in Europe and Korea are treated like tourist destinations, and Beimen was sandwiched between two overpasses.
In hind sight it was a good thing I guess. The KMT wanted to tear Beimen down, so they didn’t convert the Southern Fujian styled historic building into a Northern Chinese styled gate like the other remaining gates. The gate in front of the presidential palace and the Xiaonanmen gate are pretty much unrecognizable after their “remodelling” in the 60s and the 70s. The two supposed “historic buildings” have KMT emblems on them for crying out loud.
The East gate, now becomes this monstrosity in front of the presidential palace…
So Beimen was saved by the people who wanted to destroy it in a way…
Now when I visit the area with Beimen and other historic buildings featured prominently, I feel like it’s what the place should have always looked like.
Seeing the Japanese era railroad bureau through the Qing dynasty gate.