The People's Republic of China (中华, Zhōnghuá in Chinese) has a lengthy coastline, many large harbors, and a large number of lighthouses. The country is divided into 23 provinces and 11 other province-level regions of various special types. The Chinese province of Zhèjiāng (formerly spelled Chekiang) occupies the central coast of the country, south of Shànghǎi and north of the Formosa Strait. The province faces east on the East China Sea. For the most part the coastline is hilly and irregular, with more than 3000 islands of all sizes offshore. Hángzhōu Bay is a large embayment at the northern end of the province. Spread across the mouth of Hángzhōu Bay, the Zhōushān Islands include well over 1000 islands, although only 103 are large enough to be inhabited. Lighting this maze of islands requires hundreds of beacons of all sizes. The islands are organized as Zhōushān City,, one of the eleven prefectural-level cities of Zhèjiāng Province. This page covers lighthouses of Dàishān County, including the islands of Qúshān, Dàishān, and Chángtúshān, plus the Zhōngjiēshān Islands to the east of Chángtúshān. These islands are in the center of the archipelago, north of the main Zhōushān Island and south of the Shèngsì Islands. 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, with offices in the major ports. All the lights on this page are maintained by the Zhènhǎi MSA office. 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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![]() Pípálán Light, Qúshāndǎo, December 2009 PRC MSA Shànghǎi Office photo |
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![]() Xiǎoqúshān Light, Qúshāndǎo PRC MSA East China Sea Navigation Center photo |
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![]() Xiǎoqúshān Light, Qúshāndǎo PRC MSA East China Sea Navigation Center photo |
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![]() Dàishān Pumen East Entrance Light, Dàishān PRC Maritime Safety Administration Shànghǎi Region photo |
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Information available on lost lighthouses: |
![]() Qījiěbāmèi Light, Chángtán Islands, Cíxī, June 2003 PRC Maritime Safety Administration photo |
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Shèngsì Islands | South: Dìnghǎi District
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Posted May 12, 2008. Checked and revised January 11, 2025. Lighthouses 48. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.