This story recounts the construction of lighthouses along China’s coast under the oversight of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Customs, a Chinese state agency, had a distinctly cosmopolitan character but was dominated by the British. China’s lighthouse scheme incorporated advanced technology from Europe and the United States and involved personnel at all levels from around the world. This story illustrates the far-reaching British imperial networks and the accelerating process of globalisation during that era.
