An Yuan Battery is situated at the southern foot of Zhaobao Mountain, beneath the Wulong Ridge. Before the Zhenhai Campaign of the Sino-French War in the tenth year of the Guangxu period (1884), ‘An Yuan’ was a small battery equipped with three Armstrong muzzle-loading cannons, each firing 80-pound shells. Official construction began in the autumn of the eleventh year of the Guangxu period (1885).
The battery is circular, with an inner diameter of 16.5 meters, a height of 6 meters, and a wall thickness of 2 meters. It features both front and rear gun ports; the front faces the sea to the east, while the rear faces the river to the west. Originally, it housed a German-made cannon, which has since been removed. A circular rotating iron track is set in the center of the battery, allowing the cannon to rotate along the track.
There is a cave entrance on the northwest side, 5 meters high and 3 meters wide, for personnel access. The battery was constructed using a mixture of yellow mud, sand, and lime, and is said to have been mixed with sticky rice porridge, making it extremely sturdy. It stands in opposition to the ‘Ping Yuan’ and ‘Jing Yuan’ batteries on the south bank, beneath Jinji Mountain, across the river.
The top of the battery has collapsed, but the walls remain standing. During the Anti-Japanese War, the doors and the top were modified with cement. In July 1981, it was listed as a key cultural relics protection unit at the county level. On December 12, 1989, it was designated as one of the key cultural relics protection units of Zhejiang Province, as part of the Zhenhaikou Coastal Defense Site.The facility is open to the public all year round, with operating hours from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
