Qilaibi Lighthouse (Chinese: 奇萊鼻燈塔; Hanyu Pinyin: Qíláibí Dēngtǎ; Tongyong Pinyin: Cíláibí Dengtǎ) is a lighthouse in Qilaibi, Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan.[1][2] Today the lighthouse is overseen by the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance. The lighthouse is built between the Central Mountain Range and the Pacific Ocean. The lighthouse is not open to the public all year around.

Cilaibi Lighthouse
奇萊鼻燈塔
Map
LocationQilaibi, Hualien County, Taiwan Edit this at Wikidata
Coordinates24°00′58″N 121°38′38″E / 24.015994°N 121.643908°E / 24.015994; 121.643908
Tower
Constructed1963 Edit this on Wikidata
Constructionconcrete Edit this on Wikidata
Height13 m (43 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
Shapepentagonal prism Edit this on Wikidata
Markingswhite (tower), white (lantern), black (dome) Edit this on Wikidata
OperatorMaritime and Port Bureau Edit this on Wikidata
Light
First lit1964 Edit this on Wikidata
Focal height33.4 m (110 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
Lensfourth order Fresnel lens Edit this on Wikidata
Intensity28,000 candela Edit this on Wikidata
Range16.6 nmi (30.7 km; 19.1 mi) Edit this on Wikidata
CharacteristicIso W 6s Edit this on Wikidata

Name origin

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The lighthouse takes its name from Kiray, a former name of Hualien City and a name used in the Hualien area that refers to the Sakiraya people.

History

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Japanese rule period

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The original lighthouse was built by the Japanese in 1931. The building is 7.6 meters high, concrete and white. The acetylene flashing light once used in this lighthouse utilized pressure-regulated acetylene and a timing device, to flash once at a regular 3-second interval. During World War II, the lighthouse was seriously damaged by Allied bombing.

Present

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The front gate of the Qilaibi Lighthouse

In 1963, in order to help nearby Hualien Harbor become an international port, a new lighthouse, consisting of a white pentagon concrete building, was built on the original lighthouse base. The newly built Qilaibi Lighthouse used a 4th class white light electric lamp, the light flashing 3 seconds and dimming 3 seconds at a regular 6 second intervals, and the luminous intensity is 28,000 cd. In 1973, a non-directional beacon pole was added, with output power 100 watts and range 100 nms, to function in coordination with the Lyudao Lighthouse, also a non-directional beacon pole, for the ships mutual positioning. In 1985, a radar beacon pole was set. Then finally, in 1992, the communication systems were comprehensively changed into a dual-frequency radar beacon pole.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Chilai Pi lighthouse Maritime and Port Bureau. Retrieved April 16, 2016
  2. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Taiwan: Eastern". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2016-04-16.

Sources

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  1. Su-fang Li, "The Lighthouses in Taiwan", Yuan-zu Culture Publ. Inc., Taipei county, Taiwan, 2002, pp. 138–141. ISBN 957-28031-2-3 (in Chinese)
  2. Lun-hui Yue, "Ocean Navigator-The Fair of Taiwan Lighthouses", Kaoshiung History Museum, Kaoshiung, 2000, pp. 74–77. ISBN 957-02-7455-7 (in Chinese)
  3. Customs, Ministry of Finance of Taiwan, "The Concise History of the Republic of China Customs", Taipei, 1998. ISBN 957-00-4861-1 (in Chinese)
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