When you see the two soaring red Chinese characters, “dragon” and “gate,” you’ve arrived at Longmen Military Outpost, the former Lizhenjiao Underground Command Center. Also called Huxi Longmen Nankan Military Outpost, the site was once a battle-ready military installation.
After the military handed it over, the Penghu County Government converted the facility into a military and cultural attraction. Completed and opened in October 2020, the site is divided into an inner area––Longmen Tunnel––and an outer area, a landscaped park.
Outside the tunnel, a steel sculpture brings together Penghu’s “eight ancient scenic vistas.” Titled "Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate––Viewing the Drumming Waves,” the work’s hard steel symbolizes the national military’s spirit of fortitude. The tunnel’s main part dates from the Japanese occupation. It’s 705 meters long, 60-80 cm wide, and about two meters high, and can accommodate an infantry company of 150 troops. The pillbox, artillery emplacement, underground command post and radar station were built after the Nationalist army took over. There’s also an ammunition depot, an army kitchen, a wargames room, sentinel posts and other wartime facilities.
In the war games room, you can admire murals by Penghu artist Cheng Mei-Chu’s (Zheng Meizhu) depicting the Japanese army’s landing in Lizhengjiao during the 1895 invasion of Penghu and scenes of villagers pressed into service excavating the tunnel during the occupation, as well as a map showing Longmen’s location