Ahou City Gate 阿猴城門

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Ahou City Gate (aka Aho City Gate, Aho Gate, East Gate, or Chaoyang Gate) is the last remaining gate from the old walled city of Ahou, which is now Pingtung City. It is one of the last remnants of the walls of the city built nearly 200 years ago during the Qing Dynasty. It is definitely worth a stop on your next trip to Pingtung.

Background:
For millennia Pingtung had been inhabited by plains aboriginal groups. Their biggest settlement was called Ahou, on the current site of Pingtung City. 
The first Chinese settlers came to the area in the late 1600s during the Kingdom of Tungming and Qing Dynasty. Before that time, the area was known as a place of exile for Chinese criminals. During the Qing Dynasty, the area was part of Fengshan County.
The city walls began construction in 1836 to defend against robbers, revolts, and infighting between groups of local settlers. Originally there were four city gates built.
During the Japanese Era, The City of Pingtung underwent urban planning and most of the walls and gates were destroyed as a result. 
The last remaining gate is the East Gate, officially called the Chaoyang Gate (朝陽門 Gate facing the sun). It now stands near the Pingtung County Stadium. 
After an earthquake in 2006, the gate began to sag, after which it underwent restoration work. 
Normally there are not many people near the gate and the area is not very busy.

Hours:
24/7

Price:
Free

Tours and Activities in Pingtung:
There are many activities available in Pingtung, such as snorkeling, diving, SUPing, surfing, submarine riding, and river tracing. 
You can find more tours of Kenting on Klook here or KKday here. 

Where to stay:
Looking for a hotel? Find out where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide or search for the best hotel deals in Taiwan here. We recommend booking through Agoda here, which provides the best quality selection of accommodation in Taiwan.
I have stayed at many hostels and hotels in Pingtung, and even almost bought a house here. Some places that I have stayed at and can recommend are Nanwan Kiki (book on Agoda here, Booking.com here), a B&B next to Nanwan Bay, Kenting's most popular Beach. There are also a few decent hotels near Kenting Street Night Market like Kenting Star Inn 888 (book on Agoda here, Klook here, or Booking.com here), or Kenting Dajianshan Hotel (book on Agoda here or Booking.com here). You will notice that none of these hotels are five star resorts (I do not come to Kenting to waste my time at a resort, but you can still search Agoda, Booking.com, or Klook here for those) but they are in my opinion the above have the best value for the money. 

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: Take Provincial Highway 1 south to the bottom of Taiwan until it becomes Pingtung City. Ahou Gate is on Zhonghua Road in the middle of the city. 
Looking for scooter rental in Pingtung? Click here or here to search for options.
If you are looking for car rentals, you can also search Qeeq here, Klook here, or  KKday here. You can also check out our car rental guide here. ​
By Train: Ahou Gate is about a 10 minute walk from Pingtung TRA Station. You can book tickets to Kaohsiung via high speed rail (HSR)  on Klook here or KKDay here, or book tickets via the normal train (TRA)  on Klook here. You can book tickets to travel to Pingtung via inter-city bus on Klook here. 
By Bicycle: Cycling is the best way to enjoy Taiwan's landscapes if you have the time and energy. Looking for bicycle rentals in Taiwan? You can search on KKday here and search for tours on Klook here. You can also check out our Taiwan cycling guide here. 

Map:
Please see below:

Our Journey:

We have been to Ahou Gate once on our trip to Pingtung. The area is special because it is really the only remnant of the forgotten city walls of Ahou. It is a monument to a largely forgotten past from early Chinese settlers in Pingtung County. 

View of the gate from Zhonghua Road with the Pingtung County Stadium in the background. 

"Aho Gate (Chaoyang Gate)"

On the plaque is says:

"(History)
In the 29th year of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1764), Pingtung City had grown from a village to roughly a city scale. In the 16th year of the Daoguang Emperor of the Oing Dynasty (1836), through public and private cooperation, the walls of Aho City were built from the plaque above the arch, it can be seen that the county magistrate at the time was Shen Chang-fen, who was originally from Haining Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. After obtaining his official qualifications, he was posted in Fujian. He took office as magistrate of Tamsui Sub-County on the 10th of January in the 16th year of Daoguang (1863)and stepped down from the position on the 13th of March in the 17th year (1837). The directors and premiers engraved on the plaque above the door are likely Pingtung gentry. At that time, gentry participated greatly in the construction of cities in Taiwan; not only contributing financially, but also through involvement. The participation of gentry also meant preventing corruption and fraud. The expenses of all the cities built with donations from the people were managed by the gentry, and the local officials only played supervisory roles. This wall was originally a civic defense against bandits and armed fighters, and was built privately to guard the city. In the Qing Dynasty, walls would usually be built around streets for officials and protected citizens; however, these walls were built around the people's major market centers. In villages, where governments lacked capacity, the People could only rely on self-organized civic groups and the building of walls to protect the peace. Since it was a city without a county office, the "regulations" of in the Fengshan County Chronicles do not contain records of the scale and layout of the city at the time. Over the years since its construction, the city gates and walls were first demolished in order to build roads during the Japanese Occupation, and then further destroyed by natural and man-made causes. today, the only remaining gate is the east gate or Chaoyang (Sunrise) Gate, located in Pingtung City's Jhongshan Park. All other information regarding the number of gates, the perimeter Of the walls, and other city infrastructure has since been lost. Ping Tung County Government Cultural Affairs Department (phone: 08-7360330)"

Another view from the back of the gate.

Front of the gate.

The words "朝陽門 Chaoyangmen" meaning sunrise gate. 

View inside the gate.

Wider view.

View of the stonework inside the gate.

Iron ore leaking rust.

View looking straight up inside the gate.

View from the outside of the gate where the old city walls were attached.

Beside the gate seems like the gathering place for many elderly people in the city.

Next to the gate you can also check out the Pingtung Youth Innovation Center.

There is also a morning market you can check out across the street.

More photos in the gallery above. 

Don't forget there are many more activities in Pingtung such as such as snorkeling, diving, SUPing, surfing, submarine riding, and river tracing. 
You can find more tours of Kenting on Klook here or KKday here. 

You can check out our full guide to Pingtung here. 

You can also check out our full travel guide to Taiwan here. 

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