Cape Fugui has been called something different by nearly every power that has claimed it. Under Qing rule in the 19th century, it was Foki. The Japanese, who governed Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, called it Fuki Kaku -- the Japanese pronunciation of the same Chinese characters. During a brief period when Taiwan adopted the Tongyong Pinyin romanization system, it became Fuguei. The International Hydrographic Organization still lists it under its Japanese name in its official definitions of the East and South China Seas, though a pending revision would update it to the pinyin form. Each name is a snapshot of who was drawing the maps.

Geographically, the cape marks the northernmost tip of Taiwan Island, forming one end of Laomei Bay in the Shimen District of New Taipei City. It is the point where the IHO's boundary between the East China Sea and the South China Sea reaches land. The cape is about 26 kilometers along Provincial Highway 2 from central Taipei, though the road can become impassable during heavy rain when rockslides close the route, as happened in June 2017. The coastline here is rocky and exposed, shaped by persistent winds that have carved the beach stones into ventifacts -- naturally sculpted rocks polished smooth on one side and left rough on the other.

The Japanese built the first structure on the cape in 1896. It did not survive the Second World War. The current lighthouse was erected by the Taiwanese government in 1949, its beam sweeping across the strait from Taiwan's topmost point. Around the lighthouse, the landscape mixes rocky coastline with unexpectedly lush tropical vegetation. A walking trail connects Fuji Harbor to Laomei Village, passing the brick Laomei Maze -- a curiosity that draws visitors in its own right. Old military barracks from the Taiwanese armed forces, once part of the island's coastal defense infrastructure, have been converted into an arts center. In September and October, the grounds become part of Shimen District's annual kite festival, when the same persistent winds that sculpt the rocks send hundreds of kites aloft above the cape.