She left for China in June 1886, sailing from Germany to Foochow (now Fuzhou), China, under her own power and was assigned to the Beiyang Fleet. "Fulong" was involved in two battles of the First Sino-Japanese War. At the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894, "Fulong" arrived as part of a relief force for the Chinese forces, alongside the gunboats and , and fellow torpedo boat . They approached to the north of the engaged Chinese and Japanese fleets, preventing a flying wing of Japanese ships from encircling the opposition fleet. The group remained together, with the Japanese forces attempting to avoid them, instead targeting the ships of the main force.