to work on building the city wall of the Prefecture City in late 1780s.
A flood in 1823 brought rich silt from nearby rivers, which formed a widespread new fertile land across the Taijiang bay area between the Prefecture City and Anping. A canal system called "Wutiaogang" was built to keep the port in Prefecture City functioning but prevented large ships from entering the bay.
Late Qing Dynasty Rule
After 174 years of maritime restriction, the Qing reopened Anping port as part of the Tianjin treaty in 1858 followed by the establishment of the Anping Custom in 1864. Western merchants started to reside and build their trading posts in town near the remains of Fort Zeelandia.
In the spring of 1874, the Japanese launched a large-scale expedition to Taiwan. Following this, the Qing sent the imperial commissioner Shen Baozhen to Taiwan to strengthen its defense. In Prefecture City, Shen made several efforts to modernize the defense including: advocating a telegraph cable link between Prefecture City and Amoy, and inviting French engineers to design theEternal Golden Castle in Erkunshen. It is notable that some parts of the castle were built using bricks demolished from Fort Zeelandia. After over 200 years of development the Prefecture City remained as the largest city in Taiwan and a Chinese city with foreign influence. The following is a description of the city by the Scottish missionary William Campbell in 1870s:
As to Taiwan-fu itself, I may say that the brick wall which surrounds it is about fifteen feet in thickness, twenty-five in height, and some five miles in circumference. Lofty watch-towers are built over the four main gateways, and large spaces within the city are given to the principal temples and yamens—or quarters occupied by the civil and military mandarins. There is much need in Taiwan-fu for the carrying out of a City Improvement Scheme. Pleasant
