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. This page covers lighthouses of the Pǔtuó District of the prefectural city of Zhōushān; the district includes the eastern end of Zhōushān Island, Pǔtuó Island, and a large number of islands to the northeast and southeast of Pǔtuó. 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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![]() Liǎngxiōngdìyǔ Light, Zhōngjiēshān Islands, 2007 PRC MSA East China Sea Navigation Center photo |
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![]() Huangtashan Light, April 2003 PRC Maritime Safety Administration Shànghǎi Region photo |
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![]() Pǔtúoshān Light PRC MSA Zhènhǎi Office photo (no longer online) |
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![]() Lǐhuòyǔ Light, Pǔtúoshān PRC MSA East China Sea Navigation Center photo |
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![]() Dōngtíngshān Light, January 1999 PRC MSA Shànghǎi Region photo |
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![]() Táohuādǎo Light, Táohuādǎo PRC MSA Níngbō Office photo |
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![]() Liūwǎngzhòng Light, Táohuādǎo PRC MSA Shànghǎi Region photo |
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![]() Wàijiāo Light PRC MSA Shànghǎi Region photo |
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![]() Xiéxuàntóu Light PRC Maritime Safety Administration Zhènhǎi Office photo |
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![]() Shàngshuāngshì Light PRC MSA Shànghǎi Region photo |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Zhōushān Island Area | South: Xiǎngshān Area
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Posted May 12, 2008. Checked and revised November 2, 2023. Lighthouses: 51. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.