Proudly Historic as a Fortified Ancient Town — The Dapeng Fortress

The Dapeng Fortress might be my favorite ancient town in Shenzhen.


A leisurely walk of the whole Dapeng Fortress would take about 2 to 2.5 hours.


The Dapeng Fortress was constructed during the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century. In 1394, the 27th year of the Hongwu Reign of Ming Dynasty, the authorities began constructing the Dapeng Fortress, which was intended to serve exclusively defense purposes against pirates, foreign enemies and resistance fighters. Together with the Nantou Ancient City in Nanshan, Shenzhen, the Dapeng Fortress was one of the 24 defense outposts along the mountain ridges of Lingnan (southern China). The Dapeng Fortress was especially important for coastal defense during the Qing Dynasty. In 1704, the 43rd year of the Kangxi Reign, the Qing Court turned the Dapeng Fortress into a naval base, which oversees the coastal defense of all of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. This role of the Dapeng Fortress would be very important during the Opium Wars of the 1800s.


In 1839, General Lai Enxi, who was a native of Dapeng, sounded the canons that would signal the defense of Kowloon against British attacks. Thus the curtains were drawn for the Opium Wars. After Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain in 1940 and before ceding Kowloon to the British in 1860, the Qing Court has constructed the Walled City of Kowloon for the purpose of defending Kowloon. At the time, generals from the Dapeng Fortress oversaw the Walled City of Kowloon. As such, the Dapeng Fortress had a very close relationship with the history of Hong Kong.


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Post by Helen Yu (Chestnut Journal) | Feb 22, 2025