In October, we visited Dapeng, a coastal town and subdistrict of Shenzhen.
Dapeng Fortress 大鹏所城 is a miniature fortress that was built in 1394 to defend against pirates who attacked the Guangdong coast in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Surprisingly, a lot of people in Shenzhen haven't heard of Dapeng Fortress but the site has a lot of history behind it and is well preserved. "In 1571, it sustained a siege of over forty days by Japanese pirates equipped with scaling ladders." And in addition to pirates: "In 1839, five British naval vessels launched a surprise attack on the maritime forces of Dapeng Fortress in the waters off Kowloon. Chinese troops in fishing boats, led by General Lai Enjue, defeated the better-equipped enemy. The Kowloon naval battle is now widely considered the start of the Opium Wars." Pretty cool. There's a lot more information about Dapeng
here.
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| The South Gate 南門 and main entrance. |
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| Most of the buildings inside the fortress walls are living quarters that have been made into tourist shops or where locals still reside today. |
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| Near the end of the street you can see another gate. |
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| My friends Rochelle and Adam snapping some pics. |
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| The view from on top of one of the gates. |
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