Light House Cyclopedia

Question 36：The southernmost lighthouse in Taiwan

A:Eluanbi Lighthouse

　　Eluanbi Lighthouse, located at the southernmost tip of Taiwan and at the south end of the Central Mountain Range, extends to the Bashi Channel and the farther Philippine Islands. Eluan, means “sail” in Paiwan language. The place was named after one rock assembling a sailing boat at the neighboring Siangjiou Bay. As for the pronunciation of “bi”, it came from the protruding terrain which assembles a nose, and the people called the nose“ bi” in Chinese. In 1882, the lighthouse was built by the British architect. At the beginning, the construction was usually interrupted by local aboriginal people. Therefore, for defensive applications, the base of the tower was equipped with gun emplacement, enclosing walls were designed with bullet holes, and ditches are dug around the walls. The lighthouse was garrisoned by armed troops after it was completed. It is one of the few armed lighthouses in the world. When Taiwan was ceded to Japan, the troops of the Ching Dynasty ruined the building by bombs. The lighthouse was once rebuilt in 1898. During the World War II, the lighthouse was destroyed again by bombs because of its important geographic location. Later on, the lighthouse was renovated according to the original structure after the Recovery of Taiwan. The lighthouse stands 21.4 meters. It is equipped with the large-size fourth-class rotated-lens electric lamp, and its beam rotates around every 30 seconds. The lighthouse shone 1,800,000 candlepower light with illuminating range of 20 nautical miles. The lighthouse is considered the most grandeur, and called "Light of East Asia. The lighthouse is included into the historical relic preservation area.

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