In the period from 1243 to 1279, Diaoyu experienced more than two hundred military confrontations in a miracle of "persistent resistance" that endured for thirty-six years.

Though numbering more than ten thousand and led by the Great Khan Möngke himself, the Mongols were unable to take the tiny fortress.

Yu Jian won many brilliant victories, culminating in the deaths of Möngke and his vanguard General Wang Tege.

Situated on a hill surrounded by water on three sides, it is located about five kilometers east of Hechuan, Chongqing, near the confluence of the Qu, Fu and Jialing rivers.

About 700 years ago, Yu Jian built a fortress here to resist the Mongols during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279).