[2024 Nanjing Attraction] Travel Guide for Shence Gate (Updated Nov)

This is the only gate in Nanjing with a real ancient city tower.

Shence Gate is the only outer barbican gate of the Nanjing City Wall. It has an outer barbican, two gates, and two doors that do not face the gate. The gate is a single-arch structure, and the tower above the gate was rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. It is the only gate with a tower from before the Republic of China (considering that almost all the towers of the Nanjing City Wall have been destroyed, this is the only one left). Shence Gate was built in the early Ming Dynasty and completed in 1376. It is said that Shence Gate was personally inspected and planned by Liu Bowen, and was named after the elite imperial army "Shence Guard" stationed there. In June 1659, Zheng Chenggong prepared to attack the city near Shence Gate. However, the Qing army took advantage of Zheng Chenggong's negligence and attacked Zheng's army at night, forcing Zheng Chenggong to retreat to Xiamen. In modern times, Shence Gate was renamed Heping Gate, and the three characters "Heping Gate" were written by Hu Hanmin. Later, it was used as an oil depot (a red star can be seen on the gate).