Xiyu West Fort

The largest and most intact surviving Qing dynasty coastal fortification in Penghu, guarding the western flank of Magong harbor from a low headland in Xiyu. An earlier battery on this site was rebuilt in 1717 and again during the Sino-French War. It was then completely reconstructed between 1887 and 1889 under Penghu garrison commander Wu Honglo (吳宏洛) with the assistance of the German engineer Max Bauns. The fort was armed with British Armstrong breech-loading guns and a pair of bronze cannons, and the outer gate still carries a stone plaque inscribed by Governor Liu Mingchuan himself. The vaulted brick passages, barracks, gun emplacements, and double earthen ramparts all survive in remarkably good condition and the site is open to the public.