Waglan Lighthouse, Maritime lighthouse on Waglan Island, Hong Kong.
Waglan Lighthouse is a white cylindrical tower with a red band just below its walkway balcony, standing on a small rocky island at the eastern approach to Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. The tower is the only structure on an otherwise bare island and can be seen clearly from the water.
The lighthouse was built in 1893 by the Chinese Maritime Customs Service to help ships navigate the busy waters east of Hong Kong. After the 1901 lease of the New Territories, British authorities took over its operation and ran it until the handover of Hong Kong in 1997.
The name "Waglan" is thought to come from a Cantonese word referring to the rocky nature of the island, which gives a sense of how remote and bare the place is. From a passing boat, the white tower rising from the bare rock is the only sign that anyone ever lived or worked there.
The island is not open to the public because of its remote location and safety rules, so there is no way to visit the lighthouse on foot. The best way to see the tower is from a boat or ferry passing nearby.
When the lighthouse was first put into service, it was fitted with a mercury-based rotating mechanism that was extremely rare across Asia at the time. This system allowed the heavy lens to spin with very little effort, which produced a steadier and more reliable signal for ships.
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