Qihou Fort

Constructed in the aftermath of the Mudan Incident and the Japanese reprisal in 1874, when the Qing dispatched Shen Baozhen (沈葆楨) to harden southern Taiwan’s coastal defenses, this fort and its sibling Xiongzhen Beimen (雄鎮北門) were laid out by British instructor J.W. Harwood to cover the entrance to Takao Harbour. It was equipped with four 8-inch Armstrong breech-loaders by the time of the First Sino-Japanese War.

Following the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 the Japanese invasion of Taiwan began, a conflict known as the Yiwei War. In October 1895 Japanese naval forces arrived at Takao Harbour and the fort swiftly fell after an exchange of fire. The facility went unused by the Japanese colonial authorities but it became a military restricted area in the post-war period. Only in 1988 was the site handed over to the city, after which restoration work culminated in 1995. Also romanized as Cihou Fort.