On the eastern edge of Shaxi Ancient Town, a modest archway of rammed earth and sun-dried adobe bricks stands as a physical record of survival. This is the East Village Gate, known locally as the Jiezi Gate, or market gate. Positioned one hundred meters west of the Yujin Bridge and the Heihui River, this narrow portal was the primary eastern entry point for horse caravans traveling the Tea Horse Road toward the trading plaza of Sideng Street.

First built during the mid-Ming Dynasty to defend the local market against bandits, the gate endured centuries of conflict. Its current form tells a story of sudden disaster and economic desperation. During the Republican era, a severe rainstorm destroyed the gate overnight. Lacking public funds, the local village council commissioned an emergency reconstruction. They paid the laborers a meager three shi of rice for both materials and labor. The workers rebuilt the gate using local Bai ethnic building methods, producing a structurally functional, visually incomplete gateway. They left the wooden scaffolding holes exposed in the clay walls, a permanent signature of their rushed, low-budget toil.

The gate's dimensions are tight. The builders designed the arched passage to be wide enough for exactly two fully-laden pack animals to squeeze through side-by-side. For decades, the air here smelled of wet horse hair, leather, and mountain dust. This traffic stopped in 1952 when the new 214 National Highway bypassed the valley, leaving the gate to quiet decay.

Between 2003 and 2010, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and local authorities stabilized the structure. The preservationists chose to keep the raw, unfinished Republican-era aesthetic, stabilizing the structure without modern cosmetic beautification. Today, it is the only original gate remaining of Shaxi's three historical entryways. Visitors walking from the riverside fields to Sifang Square pass through this very arch, touching the same rough, sun-baked mud that sheltered generations of travelers.