Site of the Western Fort

Site of the Western Fort

The Site of the Western Fort is a national AA-level tourist attraction, a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level, a patriotic education base, and a national defense education base.

Site of the Western Fort

The Site of the Western Fort in Yingkou is situated on the eastern bank of the Liaohe River estuary in the western urban area of Yingkou City, approximately 3 kilometers from the city center. Like an old sentinel on the frontier, it guards the nation’s maritime territory around the clock.

The Western Fort was constructed in the eighth year of the Guangxu reign (1882) and completed in the fourteenth year (1888). It was an important coastal fortress built by the Qing government to develop the Beiyang Fleet, serving as one of the most significant modern coastal defense projects in Northeast China. In 1963, it was listed among the first batch of provincial-level key cultural relics protection units in Liaoning Province. Today, it has become an important site for patriotic education.

Architectural Features

The fort was built using a mixture of sand, lime, and yellow clay compacted through ramming. The entire complex includes the main fort, surrounding defensive trenches, protective walls, gateways, screen walls, water reservoirs, water channels, drawbridges, armories, and barracks. There are three artillery batteries— one large and two smaller ones—all square-shaped. The main battery is centrally located, standing 6 meters high with three levels. Its top is surrounded by low parapets arranged symmetrically. Beneath the walls are eight hidden gun embrasures. To the east of the main battery lies a 62-meter-long, 9–12-meter-wide ramp leading up to the fort, directly opposite the main eastern gate. About 35 meters north and south of the main battery are two smaller batteries, each with a 24-meter-long, 4-meter-wide ramp on the eastern side for access. Surrounding the batteries is a rammed earth wall shaped like a convex character “凸,” stretching over 1,000 meters in total length and standing about 5 meters high. The wall is reinforced on both sides with sand and lime slopes. Eight to twelve meters outside the wall lies a perimeter trench. On the eastern side of the wall are one large and two small gateways, with the main gate in the center. Thirty meters outside each of the three gates stands a screen wall made of rammed earth, with the one facing the main gate being particularly large and solid. This fort played a significant role during the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Qiao Ganchen, commander of the Qing naval training camp, personally led troops to use the fort to resist Japanese invaders, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. During a 1991 excavation and cleanup, nearly 100 artifacts were discovered, including iron cannons, cannonballs, foreign bullets, iron and stone wall-building tools, blue bricks, column bases, drip tiles, roof tiles, porcelain jars, bowls, plates, spoons, and bronze bells, along with remnants of original structures.

To enhance the protection of the Western Fort, it was designated as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit by the provincial government in 1963. In 2006, the State Council (State Council Document [2006] No. 19) listed it as a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level.

Ticket Information

Opening Hours: 08:30 AM – 03:30 PM

Half-price Ticket: 5 RMB per person (students, seniors aged 60–69 with ID)

Free Admission: Children under 1.1 meters (measured by the height marker), seniors over 70 (with ID or senior discount card), people with disabilities (with disability certificate), active-duty military personnel

Transportation Guide

Bus: Take bus routes 1 or 3 and get off at Xichechang Station, then walk west for 100 meters.

Address: Western End of Bohai Street, Xishi District, Yingkou City

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level