In 1382, Dali Guard Commander Zhou Neng supervised the construction of a massive stone barrier on the town's north-south axis. He named it Anyuan Tower. This structure stood directly opposite the South Gate, guarding the northern approach. Two centuries later, in 1602, a local official named Gong Ming carved a marble slab to mark a major reconstruction, renaming the passage the Three Pagodas Gate.

Time and political shifts eventually dismantled the original Ming-era timber. During the early years of the People's Republic of China, workers demolished the old pagoda. In 1984, the municipal government rebuilt the gate on its original rectangular brick-and-stone platform.

During a major restoration in 2016, workers chipping away at layers of modern cement made an unexpected discovery. They uncovered Gong Ming's lost 1602 marble stele, measuring over two meters long, preserved beneath the plaster. To honor this history, restorers stripped away modern concrete. They gathered old bricks from local residents, laying them with traditional lime mortar and paper-fiber plaster. A master painter, Li Yunyi, applied traditional green and blue paint to the eaves using the classic Xuanzi style, decorating the timber with swirling floral patterns.

Today, the gate stands as a quiet transition point. Visitors climbing the ramparts can run their hands over the rough, salvaged bricks. Looking north, they see the white spires of the Chongsheng Three Pagodas rising against the sky. On the southern facade, the gilded characters spelling "Dali"—copied from scholar Guo Moruo's 1961 calligraphy—catch the mountain light.