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Only 1 km south of Xiamen University stands the imposing Huli Mountain Canon Platform. Originally built in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) to fend off foreign imperialists, the platform boasts a huge nineteenth century heavy artillery piece produced by the German conglomerate Krüpp, with a maximum range of 10,000 meters.
The canon, placed here in 1891, cost a massive 50,000 silver taels and with a weight of 60 tons and a length of around 45 feet was the biggest coastal gun in China. Considered a serious threat then, the canon still dominated the defenses half a century later when a Japanese warship was gunned down during the anti-Japanese War (1937-1945). Behind the platform are the barracks and the arsenal.
In 1997, the Rongguang Museum was established on the platform, most of whose exhibits were donated by a Singapore collector. Currently the museum houses over 4,000 exhibits, including intriguing rocks with natural paintings on them, ancient swords and guns. Most interesting of all, there is a mini-canon here made by the Portuguese which is only about 11 cm long.
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