In the 13thyear of the reign of the Qing Emperor Guangxu (1887), the imperial governmentappointed Li Hongzhang as the chief leader and Liu Mingchuan as the supervisorto build the fort to prevent pirates in the Taiwan Straitfrom 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 manyarch-shaped tunnels within the stacked stones were also built for the militaryto communicate with one another. It is just like a sturdy underground fortress.During the Qing Dynasty it also served as headquarters for the navy.