Taiwan Today

Opening Keelung Lighthouse to the public offers visitors new vistas of the northern port city.

  Rachel Liu (劉麗秋) has lived in Keelung all her life, but like most residents of the northern port city, she had no idea there was a lighthouse at the western edge of the harbor mouth. The whole cliff was previously restricted to defense and customs personnel, but in April this year, after she heard that the lighthouse was opened to the public she walked up the tree-lined track to the top of the hill. The sight of the white tower with its cupola and weather vane outlined against the spring sky enchanted Liu, inspiring her to become a volunteer guide. Having already worked in Keelung City Government and as a volunteer at the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, she aced the exam and was invited to a training course. Liu now spends several days a week showing visitors around and has compiled information and images to meet their endless curiosity. “Everyone wants to climb up the tower, but as it was built for just one person to light and extinguish the lamp in a small space, it’s just not possible.” She instead carries photos of the interior, with its wrought-iron spiral staircase, huge crystal lens and dome lined with beaten copper. Up to 500 visitors arrive over the course of each week, many of whom, like Liu, discover a fresh perspective on their hometown.

In 2015 the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ Maritime and Port Bureau made a landmark decision to open access to lighthouses across Taiwan and its outlying islands. Surrounded by seas with shallow shoals, rocky outcrops and dense reefs, the country has 36 lighthouses, 14 of which are designated monuments. The oldest, on Xiyu Island in the Penghu archipelago, dates from 1778, and the most recent and farthest-flung is 2015’s Pacific Island Lighthouse in the Nansha Islands.

  Designated as a municipal historic site in 2021 and opened to the public at the start of 2024, Keelung Lighthouse is the 22nd to allow visitors. Completed in 1900, it is Taiwan’s only single-door, single-window lighthouse and retains the original over-120-year-old Fresnel lens. Located in the lantern room at the pinnacle of the lighthouse, the lens counters the natural scattering of light through layered crystal prisms that both refract and reflect it, so that all rays exit in the same direction, making it highly visible. The beam from Keelung Lighthouse can be seen from about 30 kilometers away, depending on weather conditions. Originally the lamp was lit with kerosene, then later with purified acetylene gas and finally converted to electricity in 1962 when the tower was renovated.

 
Unique Career
Keelung Lighthouse Director Yang Ya-liang (楊雅量) said the light is still vital to guiding ships into the busy harbor. “Ships today all have high-tech navigation systems, but pilots like to look out and see an actual lamp as they come in.” He is delighted that the facility has opened up, not just because of the beautiful views, but also for the insight it gives people into the complex workings of the country’s commercial ports. On one side it overlooks the modern container port, and on the other it faces the harbor entrance where giant cruise ships sail straight through to berth with precision twice a day. Additional information at the site on topography and geology reveals the submarine risks that need to be handled daily to successfully keep commercial vessels docking and departing.

Growing up in the buzz and excitement of Taipei City, Yang has nonetheless thrived in some of the most remote and starkly beautiful of Taiwan’s islands. He started in Keelung, then went to Pengjia Islet north of Keelung, followed by Dongji Island in Penghu, thence to Suao on Taiwan’s east coast, before taking up one of the most challenging posts on remote Dongyin Island in outlying Lienchiang County. Now back at Keelung Lighthouse, Yang described the life of lighthouse crews as self-reliant in almost all aspects. He studied mechanical engineering to equip himself with the skills to maintain lamps and other equipment, while other crew members are proficient in motor operation and electrical engineering. Although most lighthouses are now equipped with LED lights, many of the mechanisms, particularly for rotating lamps, are older and need to be carefully maintained as they are often no longer manufactured.
    A keeper’s shift can last between three and six months, depending on location and weather, and stable TV and internet signals are not guaranteed. One of the most useful skills they develop to pass the time is fishing. The service boats that run staff out to islets are often small and there is a limit to the food they can hold. Cabbage and other long-lasting vegetables are the order of the day, though as Yang noted, even the most delicious fruit becomes boring after a week with no variety. Fishing, on the other hand, is endlessly absorbing and an ideal way to both occupy oneself and add interest to the daily menu. “The first thing I did each time I got back to Taipei was get a tasty hamburger and a great cup of coffee. You also really come to realize how precious your time with family and friends is, and you don’t ever take that for granted again,” he said. Lighthouse maintenance is often far from peaceful, and in the course of his career Yang has assisted the coast guard with rescue operations for small vessels in trouble, as well as weathering spectacular storms like 2015’s Typhoon Soudelor, when he was at Suao Lighthouse and saw the massive waves break the concrete and rebar beacons at the port entrance.

  Light Preservers
The Lighthouse Museum just down the road from Keelung Lighthouse is another testament to skilled staff. The nautical treasure trove within is hinted at by a tall black and yellow floating buoy lamp and three lighthouse lantern rooms in the yard outside. One is the old cupola from Suao Lighthouse and the other two are models for staff to practice lamp maintenance in a realistic space. The museum is filled with paraphernalia such as old Fresnel lenses, with their glittering parallel rows of crystal prisms, incandescent mantle lamps, wick oil mechanisms, carbide lanterns and connection diagrams for gas lamps, labeled in both Chinese and English. The most visually striking items are a collection of navigation aids including large harbor entrance lights that topped beacons and were used in conjunction with lighthouses to guide ships into port. The several-meter-tall old lamps are painted red, green and white and are elegant in design despite being fashioned of heavy-duty bronze, cast iron and thick crystal. Before the advent of electricity, fuel had to be refilled and ignited by hand, often from small boats in rough seas.

  While Keelung Lighthouse has QR codes at all points of interest to inform guests about the history, equipment and architectural features of the structure through their mobile phones, erudite and enthusiastic volunteers like Liu offer extra detail on everything from the rare indigenous date trees at the site entrance to the spectacular sea eagles riding the thermals high above the harbor. Having seen the port and transport links upgrade swiftly over the past few years, Liu is proud of her native city and looks forward to interpreting the unique landscape for many more visitors.

Write to Nai Li at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw