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 People's Republic is divided into 23 provinces and 11 other province-level regions of various special types. Héběi (formerly spelled Hopei or Hopeh) is the province of northern China surrounding the provincial-level metropolitan districts of Běijīng and Tiānjīn. Its coast faces eastward on the Bohai Sea, a northwestward extension of the Yellow Sea lying west of the Liaodong and Shandong peninsulas. Bohai Bay is a western extension of the Bohai Sea. This page includes lighthouses of Tángshān, a prefectural-level city within Héběi Province at the northern entrance to Bohai Bay, the provincial-level city of Tiānjīn at the western end of the bay, and Cāngzhōu, a prefectural-level city within Héběi Province on the southern side of Bohai Bay. 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 several regional administrations; Héběi and Tiānjīn 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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Héběi Province: Tángshān City Lighthouses
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![]() Cáofēidiàn Light, Tángshān, 2009 Cáofēidiàn Tourist Bureau photo (no longer online) |
Tiānjīn City (Tiānjīn Shì): Bīnhǎi District Lighthouses
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![]() Dàgū Light, Tiānjīn, August 2012 PRC Xinhua News Service photo |
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![]() The seven Xīngǎng Range Rear Lights (south is on the left), Tiānjīn, May 2011 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Arrorro |
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Héběi Province: Cāngzhōu City: Huánghuá Lighthouses
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Qinshandao | South: Northwestern Shāndōng
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Posted March 5, 2008. Checked and revised August 2, 2023. Lighthouses: 49. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.