Once upon a time, in the Ming Dynasty (1368——1644), on the way that is now the current Xiaobei Road, stood one of Guangzhou's eight ancient city gates. With the approach of the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games, the almost forgotten historical building will again become visible to Guangzhou citizens.

It was learned recently, before June of this year, the ancient city gate of the Ming Dynasty, Xiaobei Gate, would be reconstructed on Xiaobei Road, the model municipal road for Guangzhou's Asian Games.

The construction of the Xiaobei Gate, dates back in history to the construction of Panyu City. With the completion of Panyu City, Guangzhou has been reconstructed, expanded and repaired. By the end of the Qing Dynasty (1616——1911), there were actually two cities. The larger one was called 'the old city', and was also the original city or inner city, and the city to the south of the old city was called 'Yanchi City or the New City'. Both the cities had gates, totaling 18 in all. The eight gates for the old city are Zhengbei, Xiaobei, Zhengdong (Dadong), Zhengxi, Zhengnan (Danan), Dinghai, Wenming and Guide.