Introduction: The Xihua Gate is located on the southwest side of the Forbidden City in Beijing, opposite to the Donghua Gate. It is the west gate of the Forbidden City. Built in 1420, the eighteenth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, the Xihua Gate has basically the same shape as the Donghua Gate. It has a rectangular plane, a red city platform, and a white marble Sumeru pedestal. There are three arched gates in the middle of the city platform. Outside the gate, there are stone tablets for dismounting. There is a gate tower on the city platform of the Xihua Gate. It has a double-eaved hip roof with yellow glazed tiles. The gate tower has five bays in width and three bays in depth. It is used to place cotton armor and riveted armor for military parades. The original plaque of the Xihua Gate was written in Manchu, Mongolian, and Chinese. After the Xinhai Revolution, only copper Chinese characters remained. Outside the Xihua Gate is Beihai Park. In the Qing Dynasty, emperors and empresses visited the Xiyuan and various gardens in the western suburbs mostly through this gate. During the Qianlong period, there were two major events. One was the sixtieth birthday of the empress dowager, and the other was the eightieth birthday of Emperor Qianlong. For the celebration, from outside the Xihua Gate, through Xizhimen to Haidian area, there were colorful lanterns and decorations everywhere, and temporary stages and musical performances were set up in advance. It was very grand. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces attacked Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu escaped from the palace through the Xihua Gate.
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To visit the Forbidden City, one can only enter through the Meridian Gate, as the Xihua Gate is not open nowadays. After the visit, one needs to exit through either the Donghua Gate or the Shenwu Gate. The Forbidden City is open all day throughout the year.
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