Taku Forts The Taku Forts or Dagu Forts ( ) , also called the Peiho Forts ( Chinese : 白河碉堡 ; pinyin : " Báihé Diāobǎo " ) are fort s located by the Hai River ( Peiho River ) estuary , in Tanggu District , Tianjin municipality , in northeastern China . They are located 60 km southeast of the Tianjin urban center . History . The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Jiajing Emperor between 1522 and 1527 . Its purpose was to protect Tianjin from attack by wokou sea raiders . Later , in 1816 , the Qing government built the first two forts on both sides of the Haihe estuary in response to increased concerns about seaborne threats from the West . By 1841 , in response to the First Opium War , the defensive system in Dagukou was reinforced into a system of five big forts , 13 earthen batteries , and 13 earthworks . In 1851 , Imperial Commissioner Sengge Rinchen carried out a comprehensive renovation of the forts , building 6 large forts : two on the south of the estuary , called " Wēi " ( 威 - Might ) and " Zhèn " ( 震 - Thunder , Tremor , Quake ) , three to the north , " Hǎi " ( 海 - sea ) , " Mén " ( 门 - gate ) " Gāo " ( 高 - high ) , and the sixth , the " Shitoufeng " ( 石头缝 - Stone Seam ) Fort , was built on a small ridge on the northern shore . Each fort had 3 large guns and 20 small caliber guns . Forts were constructed of wood , brick and an external curtain of two feet of concrete , the layering designed to avoid spalling and minimize artillery rounds ' penetration . The forts were around 10 to 15m high , which located as they were in an exceedingly flat landscape , provided a critical vantage point . Second Opium War . In 1856 , Chinese soldiers boarded " The Arrow " , a Chinese - owned ship registered in Hong Kong flying the British flag and suspected of piracy , smuggling and of being engaged in the opium trade . They captured 12 men and imprisoned them . Though the certificate allowing the ship to fly a British flag had expired , there was still an armed response . The British and French sent gunboats under the command of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour to capture the Taku Forts in May 1858 . In June 1858 , at the end of the first part of the Second Opium War , the Treaties of Tianjin were signed , which opened Tianjin to foreign trade . In 1859 , after China refused to allow the setting up of foreign legations in Beijing , a naval force under the command of British Admiral Sir James Hope attacked the forts guarding the mouth of the Peiho river . During the action US Navy Commodore Josiah Tattnall came to the assistance of the British gunboat HMS " Plover " , – commanded by Lt William Hector Rason , who was killed in the action – offering to take off their wounded . " Plover " s commander , Hope , accepted the offer and a launch was sent to take off the wounded . Later , Tattnall discovered that some of his men were black from powder flashes . When asked , the men replied that the British had been short handed with the bow gun . His famous report sent to Washington claimed " Blood is thicker than water " . This was the first time the British troops needed American assistance after suffering major casualties from the Taku cannon barrage , and the first time that British and American troops fought side by side . In 1860 , an Anglo - French force gathered at Hong Kong and then carried out a landing at Pei Tang on August 1 , and a successful assault on the Taku Forts on August 21 after which Hospital Apprentice A . Fitzgibbon of the Indian Medical Establishment became the youngest recipient of the Victoria Cross at the age of 15 years and 3 months . The forts were severely mauled and General Sengge Rinchen ' s troops were forced to withdraw . On September 26 , the force arrived at Beijing and had captured the city by October 13 . Boxer Rebellion . After the Battle of Taku Forts ( 1900 ) , most of the forts were dismantled when the Eight - Nation Alliance Forces invaded China during the Boxer rebellion ( 1899 – 1901 ) . Two forts remain today , one on the southern bank ( the former " Wei " fort ) and the other on the northern bank of the Haihe ( the former " Hai " fort ) . Dagu Fort ( on the southern bank ) was repaired in 1988 and opened to the public in June 1997 . Land reclamation has left it some considerable distance from the modern shoreline . Its restoration has not returned it to anything like the appearance it would have had when it was an active gun battery ( see photo of the aftermath of the 1860 attack ) , but a number of cannons have been placed in the reconstructed gun embrasures to hint at its former use . An exhibition in Chinese recounts the history of the Opium Wars and the forts ' role in them . Unrestored forts are visible to its north from Haifang Road .