Qianliyan Island

Qianliyan Island is an island in the Yellow Sea about 80 km east of Qingdao, Shandong, China. The area around the island is nationally protected by the Chinese government as an important spawning ground for local seafood.

Name
Qianliyan is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese name, meaning "thousands of miles of rocks".

Geography
Qianliyan is an isolated island in the Yellow Sea about 80 km east of Qingdao. It is about 1 sqkm in size with a maximum elevation below 100 m. It has few plants and little fresh water. The surrounding waters are protected by the Chinese government as an important spawning ground for local seafood.

Structures
A scientific monitoring station was established in 1960. It is staffed by eight researchers working in rotation in teams of three, even through Chinese holidays. The sea's temperature, salinity, and wave activity is reported to China's State Oceanic Administration on an hourly basis. It is unable to be permanently manned, as after the initial excitement of the posting the researchers find "the overwhelming monotonousness is just suffocating."

Qianliyan Island is also the site of the Qianliyan Lighthouse, constructed in 1979.