The People's Republic of China (中华, Zhōnghuá in Chinese) has a lengthy coastline, many large harbors, and a large number of lighthouses. During the colonial period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Western powers occupied a number of locations in China and built lighthouses, many of which survive. In more recent years the People's Republic has developed modern ports throughout the country and built many lighthouses to serve them. The country is divided into 23 provinces and 11 other province-level regions of various special types. Shāndōng (formerly spelled Shantung) is a province of northern China lying directly across the Yellow Sea (Huáng Hǎi) from South Korea. The province includes the Shāndōng Peninsula (Shāndōng Bandǎo), which separates the Yellow Sea from the Bohai Sea (Bó Hǎi). As a result the province has long coastlines facing north on the Bohai Sea and southeast on the Yellow Sea. Shāndōng is divided into sixteen prefectural-level cities. This page includes lighthouses of the province's southern coast, facing the Yellow Sea, in the prefectural-level city of Qīngdǎo. China ceded the important port of Qīngdǎo (then called Tsingtao) to Germany in 1897. The Germans established a major naval base and remained in control of the city until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The city was occupied by Japanese forces in 1914-22 and 1938-45. Today it has a population of nearly 5 million and is one of China's most important ports. There are many languages and dialects spoken in China, but Standard Chinese, often called Mandarin, is official. The pīnyīn system for transliterating Standard Chinese into Latin characters is now the international standard but some locations continue to be known also under the spellings of older transliteration systems. The Chinese word for a lighthouse is dēngtǎ (灯塔). In Standard Chinese jiāo (formerly chiao) is a reef or rock, jiǎo is a cape or headland, dǎo (tao) is an island; yǔ (tsu) or tuózi ("lump") is a small island, hǎi is a sea, wān is a bay, hǎixiá is a strait, hé or jiāng is a river, hékǒu ("river mouth") is an estuary, and gǎng (kang) is a harbor. Lighthouses in China are maintained by the PRC Maritime Safety Administration. The administration is organized in four regional administrations; Shāndōng lighthouses fall under the Tiānjīn MSA. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. CN numbers are Chinese light list numbers. Admiralty numbers are from volume P of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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Qiānlǐyán Light, Yellow Sea, August 2014 Tiānjīn Maritime Safety Administration photo |
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Xiǎoqīngdǎo (Little Qīngdǎo) Light, Qīngdǎo, February 2015 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by StefanTsingtauer |
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Tuándǎo Light, Qīngdǎo, 2009 PRC Maritime Safety Administration photo |
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Matijiao Light, Qīngdǎo, August 2011 PRC Xinhua News Agency photo (no longer online) |
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Jiǎozǐshí Zuǐ Light, Língshān Peninsula, September 2022 Google Maps street view by Lu Hao |
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Liújiādǎo Light, Língshān Peninsula, February 2017 Google Maps drone view by Yanting C. |
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Tángdǎowān Breakwater Light, Língshān Bay, July 2022 Google Maps photo by Eric Z |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Wēihǎi Area | South: Rìzhào
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted March 31, 2008. Checked and revised August 31, 2023. Lighthouses: 53, lightships: 4. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.