3-086-076 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Chinese Question: Wei-Hai-Wei, the naval fort leased to Great Britain, with the Island of Liu-Kung-Tau, at the entrance to its harbour, 1898. 'Fortifications. Island of Liu-Kung-Tau. One of the Guns on the Fort. [An illustration] rendered interesting by the international importance of the present scramble for Chinese ports. Wei-Hai-Wei, the naval stronghold on the Shangtung promontory, which has been leased to Great Britain by the Chinese Government, has in the past been considered one of China's two most valuable naval stations; the other being Russia's newly acquired base of operations, Port Arthur. These two ports practically divide the command of the Gulf of Pechili, hence the importance - but little inferior to Russia's late advantage - of the station now formally leased to Great Britain by the Tsung-li-Yamen, or Chinese Imperial Chancery and Foreign Office...Wei-Hai-Wei is situated on a bay which has a total coast-line of about twenty miles. The entrance to the harbour, formed by a natural semicircle, is guarded by two islands, Liu-Kung-Tau and Jih. The latter is a mere fortress, but the former, which has a girth of more than five miles, affords a very strong protection t