China, officially Zhōngguó (中华), has been the largest and most dominant nation of East Asia since it was unified under a single emporer in 221 BCE. However imperial power waned during the nineteenth century, allowing European colonial powers to enter the country. Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, and Russia all established outposts in China. European engineers developed Chinese ports and built the first Western lighthouses, many of which remain in service today. After the imperial government was overthrown in 1912 China entered a long period of instability. The civil war between republican and Communist forces began in 1927. In 1937 Japan invaded, occupying large parts of China and starting a war that merged with World War II. After that war ended in 1945 civil war resumed and by 1949 the Communists achieved control of the entire mainland, the republicans retreating to the island of Taiwan. Today the People's Republic of China (PRC) has a lengthy coastline, many large harbors, and a large number of lighthouses. The country is divided into 22 provinces and 11 other province-level regions of various special types. The province of Fújiàn (formerly spelled Fukien or Fuchien) is located on the southeastern coast of the country facing Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait. The coastline is rugged and irregular with many islands and reefs threatening unwary navigators. Many bays cut deeply into the mainland. Fújiàn is divided into nine prefectural-level cities, six of them facing the coast. This page includes lighthouses of the northern 2/3 of the prefectural level city of Fúzhōu in the northern part of the province. The Matsu (Mǎzǔ) Islands, lying in the Taiwan Strait off the entrance to Fúzhōu, have been under the administration of the Republic of China government on Taiwan since 1949. The two historic lighthouses of Matsu are described on the Matsu and Kinmen page. 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 district offices in the major ports. All the lights on this page are maintained by the Fúzhōu MSA office, which is part of the Shànghǎi Region. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. CN numbers are the MSA List of Lights (助航标志表) numbers. Admiralty numbers are from volume P of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
|
|
Fèngchéng Area Lighthouses
|
Xiluodao Light, Liánjiāng, Fúzhōu, November 1997 PRC Maritime Safety Administration Fúzhōu Office photo |
|
Dōngluòdǎoběi Light (left) and Nánwěiyǔ Light PRC Maritime Safety Administration Fúzhōu Office photos |
|
Píngniúyǔ Light, Huángqízhèn, January 2000 PRC Maritime Safety Administration Shànghǎi Region photo |
|
Fúzhōu Metropolitan Area Lighthouses
|
Qīxīngjiāo Light, Fúzhōu, November 1998 PRC Maritime Safety Administration Shànghǎi Region photo |
|
|
|
Dōnggāozhài Light, Mǐnjiāng, Fúzhōu PRC Maritime Safety Administration Fúzhōu Office photo |
|
Original Niúwěi Shān Light, Mǎwěi District, Fúzhōu, April 2008 Google Maps photo by 海狼王 ("Sea Wolf King") |
|
Shāfēngjiǎo Light, Chánglè District, Fúzhōu, October 2013 Google Maps photo by 海狼王 ("Sea Wolf King") |
|
Sōngxià Gang Light, Sōngxià, November 1998 PRC Maritime Safety Administration Shànghǎi Region photo |
Adjoining pages: North: Níngdé | East: Matsu and Kinmen | South: Píngtán Area
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted July 7, 2008. Checked and revised January 11, 2024. Lighthouses: 55. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.