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| The front gate of Dapeng Fortress |
I went on a day trip to Dapeng（大鵬）, a subdistrict in Shenzhen about an hour and a half away from the city center. Aside from being conveniently close to the coastline, Dapeng is a great place to visit to explore the history of the area before Shenzhen's formation.
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| Signage is in English and Chinese |
My day trip was slightly interrupted by the rain, but I was able to throughly explore Dapeng Fortress（dapeng suocheng; 大鵬所成）and Dongshan Temple（dongshansi; 東山寺）.
I took bus E11 from Shenzhen North Station（shenzhenbei; 深圳北）, and got off at Dapeng Station（dapengzhan; 大鵬站）. Then, I walked to Dapeng Station #2（dapengzhan er; 大鵬站二）and took but 928 directly to the fort. Travel time was about two hours, but the scenery was interesting at many points so it didn't bore me. Plus I had a great book in tow.
Dapeng Fortress was build in 1394 to protect citizens from pirates. Almost 200 years after it was built, the fortress was attacked by the Japanese. Nevertheless, the complex is largely still intact. A beautifully antiquated place, the fortress has clearly been restored, but it still retains it's age regally.
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| Old homes |
