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. All the lighthouses on this page are in the prefectural-level city of Yāntái. The prefecture is quite large. It includes the county-level cities of Láizhōu, Zhāoyuǎn and Lóngkǒu facing northwest on Láizhōu Bay; lighthouses of that coast are described on the Northwestern Shāndōng page. It also includes the county-level city of Hǎiyáng facing south on the Yellow Sea; lighthouses of that coast are described on the Wēihǎi Area page. This page covers the five urban and suburban districts of greater Yāntái facing northeast on the Bohai Sea. Because of its strategic location and fine ports, the Shāndōng Peninsula was a target for foreign penetration during the colonial period. Opened to foreign trade in 1861, Yāntái was called "Chefoo" during the colonial period; Zhīfú is actually the name of a district in the city and an island nearby. The name Yāntái means "smoking platform" and refers to watchtowers maintained here in the Ming Dynasty to warn of approaching Japanese pirates. There are many languages and dialects spoken in China, but Standard Chinese, often called Mandarin, is official. The pīnyīn system for transliterating 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 and its district office at Yāntái. 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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Pénglái District Lighthouses
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![]() Quèzuǐ Light, Chángdǎo, November 2009 PRC Maritime Safety Administration photo |
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![]() Dàzhúshāndǎo Light, Chángdǎo PRC Maritime Safety Administration photo |
Central Yāntái City Lighthouses
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![]() Xiǎoshānzi Light, Yāntái, June 2008 photo copyright Gordon Snyder Photography; used by permission |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: West: Northwestern Shāndōng | East: Eastern Shāndōng (Wēihǎi Area)
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Posted March 31, 2008. Checked and revised November 2, 2024. Lighthouses 42. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.