Kaohsiung Lighthouse Audio Guide

Kaohsiung Lighthouse: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Kaohsiung Lighthouse

   Welcome to Kaohsiung Lighthouse, known in Chinese as 高雄燈塔. It stands at the top of Qihou Hill in Cijin District, the narrow strip of land that shelters the mouth of Kaohsiung Harbor. For generations, ships coming into southern Taiwan's main gateway have steered by a light on this hill, and you are about to stand where it shines. You may also hear the lighthouse called Qihou Lighthouse or Cijin Lighthouse. Those are all the same tower. It is listed as a municipal monument, and it is often described as the symbol of the harbor city. Its white form has watched over the water for well over a century. Over the next few stops we will look at how the first tower came to be built, why the lighthouse you see today looks the way it does, and what it is like to visit now, with sunset views, a night opening and a keeper's story. Take a breath of sea air and let's begin.

2. 02

   Kaohsiung Lighthouse: A Light for a Newly Opened Port

   To understand this lighthouse, go back to 1860. In that year Britain and France used war to press the Qing court into opening four treaty ports, and Takao, the old name for Kaohsiung, was one of them. When Takao formally opened in 1864, the idea of building a lighthouse came up almost at once. Traffic into the harbor kept growing, and navigation aids did not keep pace. Shipwrecks became a real problem. The traditional Chinese light poles and flag poles that had guided boats until then no longer matched the age of steamships and foreign trade. The answer came in 1883, when a British technician was hired to build a Western-style lighthouse on Qihou Hill. That first tower was a square brick structure holding a sixth-order single-wick fixed light, visible from roughly 10 nautical miles away. Every piece of equipment was bought from Britain. Picture that small, steady flame on the hilltop, pulling merchant ships safely toward the harbor mouth.

3. 03

   The Octagonal Tower of Kaohsiung Lighthouse

   The lighthouse in front of you is not the 1883 original. When Japan expanded Kaohsiung Harbor, the old tower needed replacing. Work on a new one began in 1916 and finished in 1918, and it was built beside the original site. Look at its shape. The body is octagonal, and near the top it turns into a cylinder, crowned with a balcony for gazing out. The lantern room is glazed on the outside, and the dome carries a weather vane. On that vane the compass directions are written in Chinese characters, east, west, south and north. That is a very rare detail, and it is the only weather vane of its kind on a Taiwanese lighthouse. The tower is painted white with a black top, and it rises about 11 meters, which is easy to spot from far away. Inside, the lamp today is a modern fourth-order rotating lens with an electric light of 850,000 candlepower. It is also one of the only lighthouses in Taiwan built together with a fort, a pairing you can sense as you move between the hilltop and the old battery nearby.

4. 04

   Kaohsiung Lighthouse Today: Keepers, Sunsets and Night Visits

   This lighthouse has been through a lot. During the Second World War it was strafed by machine-gun fire, yet it kept shining, and it is one of the few lighthouses in Taiwan that kept working after the war. In 1987 it was designated a municipal monument, and since 1992 visitors have been welcome. Its management passed from the Customs Administration to the Maritime and Port Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications on the first of January, 2013. Then came a long closure. From 2019 it was shut for more than three years for a full renovation, and it reopened in September 2022 as the first lighthouse in the country open at night. A trail now links the entrance of Qihou Hill, the lighthouse and Qihou Fort. Wooden boardwalks, path lighting and a light refreshment area have been added. From here you can take in the sunset over Xiziwan, big ships entering the harbor and the beach of Cijin. Since the first of April, 2023, it has opened every day. Before you leave, look for the white Western-style office in front of the tower, with its instruments, old photographs and maps, and for the sundial on the lawn. An exhibition on lighthouse keepers tells the story of the people behind the light. One current keeper, Chen Fuzhi, has worked in this field for nearly 30 years, at Eluanbi, Taichung Harbor and Pengjia Islet, before arriving here 10 years ago. Taiwan has 36 lighthouses, and 22 of them are open to visitors, including this one.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Now that you know the layers of this hilltop, from a square lantern in 1883 to an octagonal tower finished in 1918, try reading it as you walk. Notice how the tower narrows from its eight-sided body into a round top, and find the Chinese characters on the weather vane. Then turn toward the water. Somewhere out there, ships are lining up for the same harbor mouth that this light has marked for generations. Watching one slide in as the sky turns gold is a good way to feel what a lighthouse is for. The hill has more to offer, including the trail toward Qihou Fort and other historic spots close by. Wander a little further and see what else this ridge has to tell you.