Top 10 Lighthouses in China
China's Lighthouse Heritage
China's coastline stretches more than fourteen thousand kilometres from the Bohai Sea in the north to the South China Sea in the south, threading past rocky headlands, silted river mouths, fishing archipelagos and some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The history of aids to navigation here weaves together indigenous seamanship practised for millennia and the rapid modernisation of maritime infrastructure driven by foreign concessions, Imperial Customs commissioners and, after 1949, the People's Republic's expanding merchant fleet. From the colonial-era towers of Shanghai and Hong Kong to the weathered stone structures on remote Shandong promontories, Chinese lighthouses carry an unusually layered past. Many were built or rebuilt under the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service, which from the 1860s employed foreign engineers and keepers before transitioning to Chinese administration. Today the China Maritime Safety Administration operates the network, and a growing number of towers are recognised as cultural heritage sites.
1. Cape D'Aguilar Lighthouse, Hong Kong
Perched at the southernmost tip of Hong Kong Island on a headland that drops sheer to the Lamma Channel, the Cape D'Aguilar Lighthouse was established in 1875 by the colonial government and is among the oldest functioning light stations in the region. The square granite tower stands approximately 15 metres tall and originally carried a fourth-order dioptric apparatus. The light character today is a white flash every ten seconds with a range of roughly 18 nautical miles, guiding vessels navigating between the Lamma Channel and the open South China Sea. The surrounding cape has been a Marine Reserve since 1996, and the Swire Institute of Marine Science operates adjacent research facilities. The lighthouse itself is maintained by the Marine Department of the Hong Kong government and is not routinely open to the public, but the cape is accessible on foot via a trail from the village of Sham Wan on weekdays, offering good views of the tower above the cliffs.
2. Old Dongyong Lighthouse, Zhoushan Archipelago, Zhejiang
The Dongyong Lighthouse sits on Dongyong Island in the outer Zhoushan Archipelago, a scatter of more than a thousand islands at the mouth of Hangzhou Bay. The original structure dates to the late nineteenth century under the Imperial Maritime Customs Service, and its location was chosen to mark the principal deep-water channel into the bay and toward the port of Ningbo. The round masonry tower is whitewashed and reaches about 16 metres above its base; the light flashes white every five seconds with a nominal range of around 15 nautical miles. The surrounding waters are notorious for tidal bores and the exceptional tidal range of Hangzhou Bay — up to nine metres in some areas — making an accurate leading light here critical for any vessel approaching. Replacement and modernisation work during the twentieth century preserved much of the original character of the masonry. Access requires a ferry from Zhoushan and is largely restricted to fishermen and logistics personnel.
3. Shanghai Hengsha Lighthouse, Yangtze Estuary
The Yangtze Estuary is one of the most technically demanding entrances in the world: a vast turbid delta where the river deposits enormous quantities of sediment, shifting the main channel seasonally and requiring constant surveying. The Hengsha Lighthouse stands on Hengsha Island, the outermost island of the Yangtze delta, and has served as the primary seaward entrance marker for the port of Shanghai since the late Qing period. The Imperial Maritime Customs Service erected the first reliable tower here, and the current structure — a white cylindrical tower of reinforced concrete — was rebuilt and upgraded in the twentieth century to a height of around 35 metres. Its light character is a group flashing white signal with a range exceeding 20 nautical miles, essential for the enormous container ships and bulk carriers that constitute the world's busiest port traffic. The island is a restricted zone managed by the Shanghai municipal government; the lighthouse is not accessible to visitors.
4. Penglai Lighthouse, Shandong Peninsula
Penglai, on the northern tip of the Shandong Peninsula overlooking the Bohai Strait, has been a place of maritime significance since antiquity — the legend of the Eight Immortals crossing to the mythical island of Penglai originated here. The modern lighthouse on the headland near Penglai Pavilion was established in the early twentieth century to mark the southern approaches to the Bohai Strait, which separates the Shandong and Liaodong Peninsulas and controls access to Tianjin and the ports of the Bohai heartland. The tower is a tapering brick structure finished in white, approximately 18 metres tall, with a flashing white character visible for about 16 nautical miles. The light marks the rocky coastline and the cross-currents of the strait, where Bohai Sea traffic converges with Yellow Sea shipping. The Penglai Pavilion scenic area is open to tourists, and while the lighthouse compound itself is operationally managed, the setting affords excellent coastal views and historical context.
5. Laotieshan Lighthouse, Liaodong Peninsula
At the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, Laotieshan (literally 'Old Iron Mountain') stands guard over the northern entrance to the Bohai Strait. The first light here was established by Russian interests in the late nineteenth century during the period of Russian occupation of the Kwantung Leased Territory, and the site subsequently passed through Japanese control before returning to Chinese administration. The current tower is a substantial white structure of approximately 20 metres, and its importance derives entirely from geography: every vessel entering or leaving the Bohai Sea — including traffic for Tianjin, Dalian and Qinhuangdao — passes within sight of this light. The character is a white group flash visible at 20 nautical miles. The headland is a nationally protected scenic area and a famous site for watching the spring and autumn raptor migration, when hundreds of thousands of birds funnel across the narrow strait.
6. Wusong Lighthouse, Shanghai
The Wusong Lighthouse marks the confluence of the Huangpu River and the Yangtze, the point at which ocean-going vessels turn from the broad estuary into the narrower river passage leading to the Bund and the port of Shanghai. A light station at Wusong has existed in various forms since the mid-nineteenth century, when Shanghai's foreign concessions generated extraordinary shipping volumes. The tower visible today is a twentieth-century concrete structure of modest height — about 14 metres — but its operational significance is disproportionate: it functions as a leading mark and signal station for one of the highest-traffic river junctions in the world. The Wusong area is now largely industrial and port-related; the lighthouse is operational but not a visitor attraction. Its history is documented at the Shanghai Port Museum, which is the better destination for those interested in the city's maritime past.
7. Bijia Rock Lighthouse, Dalian, Liaoning
The Bijia Rock Lighthouse is sited on a striking coastal feature near Dalian at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula: a long narrow rock formation extending into the Yellow Sea, which from certain angles resembles a writing brush resting on a table — hence the name, meaning 'brush-rack rock.' The light here marks a navigational hazard to vessels approaching Dalian harbour from the south and was established during the early twentieth century. The tower is a white painted structure of around 14 metres; its flashing character is visible at 12 to 15 nautical miles. The surrounding coastline is now incorporated into a scenic tourist area south of Dalian city, and the rock formation itself is a popular destination; the lighthouse can be observed at a moderate distance from the public walkways, though the compound is fenced.
8. Lüshunkou (Port Arthur) Range Lights, Dalian
The approaches to Lüshunkou harbour — once known internationally as Port Arthur — are marked by a pair of range lights whose alignment guides vessels through the narrow and once heavily fortified entrance channel. The site carries immense historical weight: the harbour was the scene of the Russian–Japanese War's opening action in 1904 and was a Soviet naval base until 1955. The leading lights, established during the Russian administration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, are modest iron or masonry towers. They function as a pair: when a navigator keeps both lights in vertical alignment, the vessel is on the safe leading line. The harbour and its immediate fortifications remain a partly military zone, though a substantial portion of the old Russian-era fortifications and harbour area has opened to tourism. The Lüshun Museum and the surrounding forts offer extensive coverage of the area's complex history.
9. Meizhou Island Lighthouse, Fujian
Meizhou Island, in Putian Bay on the Fujian coast, is famous above all as the birthplace of Mazu, the sea goddess worshipped across maritime China and throughout the Chinese diaspora. The island's lighthouse, a white round tower of approximately 20 metres, marks the approaches to Meizhou Bay and the ports of Putian and Xianyou. The light character is a white flash every four seconds with a range of about 16 nautical miles. Given the island's religious significance, Meizhou receives large numbers of pilgrims and tourists, particularly around the Mazu Festival in the third lunar month. The lighthouse is visible from the ferry and from the paths around the Mazu Temple complex, making it one of the more accessible light stations in Fujian. The combination of active lighthouse, sacred landscape and busy pilgrim ferry makes the island an unusual and rewarding maritime heritage destination.
10. Niutou Island Lighthouse, Fujian
At the mouth of Fuzhou's Min River, Niutou (Bull's Head) Island has marked the seaward approach to Fuzhou and its historic port of Mawei since the establishment of a light station in the nineteenth century, initially under the Imperial Maritime Customs Service. The Min River was the route by which Fuzhou conducted much of its foreign trade during the treaty-port era, and the tea clippers racing to be first to London with the new season's Fujian tea made this approach famous in the annals of nineteenth-century sail. The current tower is a white masonry structure of about 16 metres. Its light flashes white every five seconds, visible at 15 nautical miles. Mawei itself is now an industrial port zone, but the nearby China Ship Culture Museum tells the story of Fujian's shipbuilding traditions. The island is not a routine tourist destination but can be viewed from the river ferries operating near Mawei.
Visiting Chinese Lighthouses
Access to operational lighthouses in China is more restricted than in many European countries, reflecting the lighthouses' status as working infrastructure under the China Maritime Safety Administration. The most rewarding visits combine famous scenic headlands — Cape D'Aguilar in Hong Kong, Penglai on Shandong, Laotieshan at the Bohai Strait — with the understanding that the towers themselves may be fenced. Spring and early autumn offer the best weather along most of the coast, while the summer typhoon season, particularly along the Fujian and Guangdong coasts, brings hazardous conditions. Domestic ferry services provide access to island lighthouses in the Zhoushan Archipelago and to Meizhou. For a full picture of where China's lights stand, Open the map to explore the complete dataset from OpenStreetMap.