In the 13thyear of the reign of the Qing Emperor Guangxu (1887), the imperial government appointed Li Hongzhang as the chief leader and Liu Mingchuan as the supervisor to build the fort to prevent pirates in the Taiwan Strait from invading. This fort covers 8.15 hectares, and is surrounded by high walls. Inside the walls, stones were stacked up to put cannons on, and many arch-shaped tunnels within the stacked stones were also built for the military to communicate with one another. It is just like a sturdy underground fortress. During the Qing Dynasty it also served as headquarters for the navy.