Fisherman's Island Lighthouse Introduction
The Yu Oyster Island Lighthouse is located on a high ground at the southwestern tip of Xiyu, belonging to Wai'an Village in Xiyu Township. The entire area of Xiyu Island covers 17.8380 square kilometers and has an elevation of approximately 52 meters. It stands alongside Penghu Main Island and Baisha Island as one of the three major islands of the Penghu Archipelago. Yu Oyster Island refers to Xiyu, and the distinction in names is due to Portuguese sailors who first marked it as "Isla del Pescador" on nautical maps, which was subsequently translated into Yu Oyster Island on military maps by the Dutch and Japanese. Historically, the ancestors have referred to it as "Xiyu" or "Xiyu Tou." Throughout the Qing Dynasty and Japanese rule, it continued to be named as Xiyu, as it is located to the west of Penghu Main Island, and navigators from the coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang used "Xiyu Tou" as a navigational reference when sailing through Penghu. The lighthouse was initially built in 1778 as a seven-tier stone tower, known as "Xiyu Tower Light." It was rebuilt in 1875 in a Western-style structure and renamed "Yu Oyster Island Lighthouse," which is what we see today. In recent years, when it was registered as a historic site, it was renamed "Xiyu Lighthouse" in accordance with recommendations from local residents. The lighthouse stands on a granite base with a diameter of approximately 2.5 meters at the bottom, and the tower slightly tapers upward. The height ratio between the tower's body and the top is about 1:2. Inside, there is a spiral iron staircase leading to a round-capped cast iron lantern and weathervane. At a height of 6.3 meters from the ground on the outer side of the tower, there is a cast iron work platform enclosed by iron pipe railings. The lighthouse is 11 meters tall, and the light is located 60.7 meters above sea level. Next to the lighthouse is a洋樓 (Western-style building), constructed with stone, divided into two levels, and featuring a low, sloping four-sided roof. The eaves project horizontally beyond the entrance’s small porch, while the shutters showcase a French design, demonstrating its strong European architectural style. The lighthouse is equipped with a foghorn and three iron fog cannons established during the mid-Qing Dynasty, along with an early stone gourd smoke stack still preserved. From the lighthouse garden, one can overlook the sea landscape and have a chance to witness the famous Xiyu current, known as "Xi Liu." Among the six major currents in Penghu, "Xi Liu" is situated in the southern waters below the "Xiyu Lighthouse" in Wai'an. Approximately 40 minutes before low tide (colloquially known as receding flow), the sea reveals a series of rolling waves, extending about 100 to 200 meters, lasting for 4 to 5 hours, stopping around two hours before high tide. The autumn equinox tides create an even more spectacular scene. In the MTV "The Boy in the Tower" by singer Chen Sheng, the white-shaped Yu Oyster Island Lighthouse symbolizes the boy's lonely memories as it watches over the girl standing silently, while youth gradually fades with the passage of time. Looking back, those fragments in the depths of memory parallel the lyrics "they are just a few autumns," accompanied by the sea breeze and the lighthouse, standing steadfast in solitude and brilliance in life. When visiting Penghu, one might take a brief moment to be with this lighthouse and reflect on whether there have been people in life whom you wanted to protect but could only keep hidden in memory.
Fisherman's Island Lighthouse
Fisherman's Wharf Lighthouse
