Lighthouse Description and History

(Text extracted from nomination form submitted by Wenzhou AtoN Division of Eastern Navigation Service Center, Ministry of Transport, China, 2025)

Beijishan Lighthouse is under the management of Wenzhou AtoN Division of Eastern Navigation Service Center, Ministry of Transport. It is located on the top of the main peak of Beiji Island, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. It is the only large international lighthouse in Wenzhou sea area.

It was built in 1990 with a red conical concrete structure. The height of the tower is 20.5 meters and the height of the light is 135.8 meters with a range of 25 nautical miles.

In 2002, the lighthouse began to use solar energy.

In 2006, the original PRB-21 lantern and PRB-24 lantern were removed and a new main lantern TRB-400 and standby lantern ML-300 were installed. Equipped with 12 85W solar panels and 39 500AH batteries, achieving green energy supply.

In 2007, the automatic  identification system (AIS) station was established and Integrated into China coastal AIS system network.

In 2010, the museum of the lighthouse was built, disseminating the history and culture of the lighthouse and becoming a popular museum for the reception of lighthouse volunteers and lighthouse visitors, which is operated independently by Beijishan Lighthouse. The lighthouse has became a popular tourist destinations in Zhejiang Province and attracted more than 3,000 tourists every year.

Reason For Nomination

(Text extracted from nomination form submitted by Wenzhou AtoN Division of Eastern Navigation Service Center, Ministry of Transport, China, 2025)

Intrinsic Heritage Interest of the Lighthouse

Beijishan Lighthouse was designed by Wenzhou Architectural Design Institute, and the design drawings are manually drawn. Due to the special island environment and the relatively poor traffic in the early 1990s, every brick and every rebar were sent to Beiji Island by small wooden fishing boats and then moved to the mountaintop, putting in tremendous effort from the builders. The construction of the lighthouse took about 7 months from start to completion, from equipment installation and commissioning to official lighting, achieving the “Beiji speed” of design, construction, and lighting in the same year.

In 2014, Beijishan Lighthouse was the first to publicly recruit volunteers in China in order to better spread the lighthouse spirit of “burning oneself and illuminating others”. It was called “the most romantic volunteer activity” by netizens. More than 6,000 volunteers had signed up. A total of 210 batches and 568 volunteers had served, becoming a new window to show spread the culture of AtoN to the society.

Volunteers  experience the charm of the lighthouse and the culture of AtoN. Each group of volunteers can fully utilize their own strengths to contribute to the lighthouse and Beiji Island. Some have painted beautiful artworks on the lighthouse’s courtyard wall, some have taught the lighthouse keepers to play the harmonica, some have provided voluntary teaching services for the Beiji Town, some have conducted free medical consultations for the villagers of Beiji Town, and some have taken exquisite and romantic photos and videos of the lighthouse and Beiji island. The volunteers have a deep affection for the voluntary service at Beijishan Lighthouse. They spontaneously established the Beijishan Lighthouse Voluntary Service Association. At the end of each year, the association organizes a volunteer salon. Volunteers share their daily life experiences during their service at the lighthouse and offer suggestions for the future development of the lighthouse.

The implementation of the volunteer service activity for the duty of Beijishan Lighthouse has enhanced the management capability of the lighthouse, improved the lighthouse and surrounding environment, and driven the development of local tourism economy. Beijishan Lighthouse has become a famous social media hotspot.

Conservation

Many of the volunteers have artistic expertise. Some of them have left many beautiful paintings in the lighthouse,  infusing the lighthouse with an artistic atmosphere. Some of them took a lot of professional photos and videos for the lighthouse, which has left lots of beautiful memory for the  lighthouse. Some of them have provided good ideas and suggestions for the internal renovation of the lighthouse, which makes the lighthouse glow with the vitality of the time. The lighthouse has become the most famous tourist attraction in the area.

With the help of volunteers, Beijishan Lighthouse has established the internal lighthouse museum  to better record and show the history and development of the lighthouse.

Beijishan Lighthouse is subject to damage from typhoons, cold waves, high temperatures, lightning, and other natural elements throughout the year. This has caused varying degrees of aging and rust on the lantern room, the attached podiums, and the interior and exterior walls, all of which require repair. During the annual repair, the lighthouse will be maintained under the principle of ensuring no damage and less maintenance.

Every year on March 12^th, Beijishan Lighthouse also holds a tree planting activity outside the north wall of the lighthouse. Since the event, more than 130 arhat pine trees have been planted. Through the establishment of volunteer forest, the island has become more environmentally friendly.

Public Access and Education

The development of the lighthouse volunteer service on duty plays a very positive role in the dissemination of lighthouse culture.

First, the volunteers close experience the selfless spirit of lighthouse keepers through their experience of the lighthouse service work.

Second, through the hands and mouth of volunteers, more people can know and understand the lighthouse. The volunteers’ easy to understand tone and delicate writing style unveil the mysterious veil of the lighthouse, showcase the good spiritual outlook of the AtoN personnel to society, and expand the promotion of navigation protection culture and AtoN culture.

The third is to spread the culture of AtoN further through news media. The volunteer service for lighthouse duty has stirred up the most romantic wind of lighthouse volunteers across the country. It has been reported many times by more than 50 portal websites and more than 100 news media across the country. The competition among some media to break exclusive news has even opened up new territory in the field of the AtoN’s cultural promotion.

The volunteer service for lighthouse duty has also made the connection between the lighthouse and the community increasingly close. Volunteers will use their professional knowledge to carry out activities such as teaching support, free clinics, lectures, online classes, and collective fitness for the residents on the island, providing many services to the community. For example, the volunteers passed on relevant knowledge to netizens through webcasts on topics such as epidemic prevention and control of crew members, garbage classification on islands, and prevention and self-rescue of water hazards in summer, which attracted more than 6,000 netizens.

For the convenience of visitors to enter the lighthouse, the lighthouse also opened the “Beijishan lighthouse guardian” Wechat Official Account, implementing the method of booking visits to lighthouses in order to better manage the lighthouse visit behavior, and protect the lighthouse environment, and arrange dedicated people to explain to visitors to enhance their experience. In total, nearly 15,000 people have made the appointments through Wechat Official Account to visit the lighthouse. During the “Lighthouse Open Day” in October 2022, more than 1,100 people visited the lighthouse, which provided the public with a deeper understanding of AtoNs and lighthouses, further strengthened the promotion of lighthouse spirit and navigation service culture and promoted the development of local tourism economy.

Because of lighthouse volunteer service, the Beijishan lighthouse keeper Zhongliang Du who has served 34 years was widely known. Zhongliang Du won some honorary titles, such as National Advanced Worker in Transportation System, National Transportation Technology Expert, Wenzhou Moral Model, Zhejiang Province model workers. He was also selected one of the  “Most Beautiful Maritime Person” of the Ministry of Transport and the third quarter of the 2024 annual  “Chinese Good People”. He became a model in the maritime navigation service industry. He turned his lonely days into poetry, improving the working environment of the lighthouse while fulfilling his leisure time. This spirit also infected those around him and spread to various parts of the country and industries through volunteers who came to guard the lighthouse. Zhongliang Du model worker innovation studio is also built with this as the core. By constantly strengthening the publicity of the lighthouse,  employees’ enthusiasm and sense of responsibility  have been further stimulated.

Other Reasons Why the Nominated Lighthouse Would Promote World Lighthouse Heritage

The popularity of the lighthouse has also attracted a large number of tourists. According to statistics, from January to June in 2024, the number of tourists visiting Beiji Island reached more than 30,000, with a year-on-year increase of more than 30%. Due to the increasing of tourists, the passenger ships to Beiji Island are changed from small one in two days to large one per day. More and more new homestays and restaurants are opening, and the local government is willing to invest in infrastructure such as wharf roads. The economic income of the islanders is also increasing because of the arrival of more tourists. The lighthouse not only guides ships sailing, but also illuminates the dream of a beautiful fishing village and drives the economic development of the island.

In June 2025, Zhang Zhenfeng, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province conducted a work survey at the Beijishan Lighthouse, fully affirming the important role of the lighthouse in serving maritime safety and promoting local economic development, reflecting the recognition and attention of the local government to the sustainable development of the Beijishan Lighthouse.

Before providing volunteer services, the lighthouse management authority will sign a “Lighthouse Volunteer Service Agreement” with the lighthouse volunteers, which sets requirements for both the lighthouse management authority and the lighthouse volunteers in terms of service content, rights and obligations, safety responsibilities, etc. This has played a positive role in effectively managing lighthouse volunteers.

Beijishan Lighthouse has developed a series of cultural and creative products, telling the story of the lighthouse through creative design, inheriting lighthouse culture, and enhancing social influence. It becomes an emotional bond connecting tower guardians, volunteers, and the general public, indirectly driving local community vitality and injecting new cultural momentum into the sustainable development of lighthouses and islands.

Photos and Diagrams