Fort Provintia Introduction
Fangli was originally the site of the Takasago people, specifically the Fangli tribe of the Dakas tribe. In the third year of the Xianfeng era, the Quanzhou people built streets north of Fangli Village. During its peak, the salt warehouse produced 2,000 stones annually, and the dyeing industry was also quite prosperous. Residents of Fangli found it inconvenient to engage in commercial activities, and the main street was paved with stone slabs, with houses built with awnings, creating a lively scene known as "the street without a view of the sky." In the fifth year of Xianfeng, gentlemen Chen Zhidong and Cai Xichou initiated donations to construct a city. The Fangli city was roughly three miles in circumference, with walls made of earth and stone, featuring four city gates in the east, west, south, and north. Surrounding the city were thorny bamboos, and outside the bamboo was a moat filled with wooden spikes, showcasing significant development. However, good times did not last. In the second year of the Guangxu era, a disaster struck, and the market was abandoned. With the establishment of a railway station on Yuanli Street, commercial activities shifted, leading to the gradual decline of Fangli Street. Today, the city walls are completely gone, but remnants of the large moat to the north hint at the former grandeur of Fangli City. Although Fangli City has become a part of history, the village still retains a wealth of historical artifacts, such as Shuntian Temple, the Fangli Stream Yidu Stele, and the Cai family's ancient residence, all of which are worth exploring in depth by visitors.
