![]() "The lighthouse is Qingdao's treasure it has a history of more than 100 years," Wang says. In the early 1990s, the local government proposed to demolish the lighthouse. Stationed at the lighthouse since the 1970s, Wang has developed a deep attachment to it. He has set aside a special room in his home as a workshop for experiments. With only an elementary school education, Wang picked up his knowledge of physics and electronics through trial and error. He also invented an alarm that will send out a warning if the light goes out. He installed a small fan to cool the lighting lamp, so as to prolong its service life. In his spare time, Wang has made dozens of small inventions and improvements to this century-old lighthouse. We are well informed about the country and the world." "In the past we only had radio, but now we have television and Internet. Some of them are about his life at the lighthouse, others are about current affairs. Over the years, he has written more than 500 poems. In order to kill time, Wang writes poems. Loneliness is the biggest enemy for the lighthouse keeper. "Indeed, it's difficult for me to fall asleep when I can't feel the beam from the lighthouse." "People joke that I have an obsession with light," Wang laughs. "When sailors see our light, they know they are home." "Although the ships now are all equipped with radars and automatic identification system devices, the lighthouse is still important. Wang even installed a skylight above his bed, so he can see the light operating even when he is not on duty. Wang moved his family to the lighthouse in 1994, and now his home is only few steps away. There are three people stationed at the lighthouse, and they take shifts on the night watch. "When on duty, I usually climb up the lighthouse to check the lamp three times during the night to make sure the temperature of the bulb isn't too high." "We turn on the light when the sky dims - about 6:30 pm in summer and 5 pm in winter," Wang says. When night falls, the lighthouse keeper on duty must stay awake and ensure the light doesn't go out, or stop revolving. From floors to stairs, equipment to lens, everything is wiped shining clean by Wang. ![]() During the day, Wang usually does some cleaning and maintenance tasks. ![]() Work at the lighthouse is easy but monotonous. With a height of 15.4 meters and a lighting range of 15 nautical miles, it has functioned as one of the most important aids for navigation off Qingdao for almost 100 years. It was rebuilt by Japanese in 1919 in its current octagonal shape. The Tuan Island Lighthouse was built in 1900 by Germans and destroyed in 1914, when Japan and Germany were fighting over the control of Qingdao during World War I. Standing at the southeast of Qingdao city, the Tuan Island Lighthouse overlooks the sea channel to Jiaozhou Bay, providing a navigational aid to ships passing through the channel. Wang, 56, has been safeguarding the Tuan Island Lighthouse in Qingdao, Shandong province for more than 36 years. But for John, nothing was more heartbreaking than the introduction of electric lights, and the lighthouses that were left empty forever.Įvocatively told, The Last Lighthouse Keeper is a love story between a man and a dying way of life, as well as a celebration of wilderness and solitude.Living in a lighthouse by the sea sounds romantic to many, but for lighthouse keeper Wang Bingjiao, it's a home that gives him not only poetic inspiration, but many responsibilities. As one of Australia's longest-serving lighthouse keepers, John spent 26 years tending Tasmania's well-known kerosene 'lights' at Tasman Island, Maatsuyker Island and Bruny Island.įrom sleepless nights keeping the lights alive, battling the wind and sea as they ripped at gutters and flooded stores, raising a joey, tending sheep and keeping ducks and chickens, the life of a keeper was one of unexpected joy and heartbreak. In Tasmania, John Cook is known as 'The Keeper of the Flame'. People asked how we stood the isolation and boredom, but in some ways, it was more stimulating to have your senses turned up. I loved the life of the island, because I knew my body was more alive than it was on the mainland. Noble work that can ultimately redeem a lost soul. 'John Cook's ripping life story exposes Tasmania's old kero-fuelled lighthouses: relentless physically and emotionally demanding labour, done under the often cruel vagaries of nature. A story about madness and wilderness, shining a light onto the vicissitudes of love and nature. A beautiful memoir from John Cook, one of Tasmania's last kerosene lighthouse keepers.
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