Línhǎi

Linhai is the old seat of Taizhou, its walls climbing the hills beside the Ling River. The city guarded the approaches to Zhejiang's southeastern coast and endured repeated attacks across the centuries. In the sixteenth century the Ming general Qi Jiguang and prefect Tan Lun strengthened the walls against coastal raiders, raising and thickening their defences. Qi added hollow watchtowers for soldiers to observe and defend the approaches. His troops defeated raiders outside the city in 1561, and the experience of building such towers later informed his work on the northern frontier.