Kannmen Tidal Observation Station

Kannmen Tidal Observation Station

The Kannmen Tidal Observation Station is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Kannmen Tidal Observation Station (also known as the Kannmen Tidal Station) is the first tidal station built by the Chinese themselves. After more than eighty years of wind and rain, the station still stands on the Platform Aojiao coastline in Qiantai Village, Kannmen, Yuhuan, Zhejiang, covering an area of approximately 2,000 square meters.

In May 1928, the site was selected by Mr. Cao Mo, a leading figure in China’s astronomy and geodesy circles.

On June 11, 1929, construction began under the National Government’s Land Survey Bureau, and in 1933, a first-order benchmark (No. 252 Tidal Benchmark) was established on the bedrock near the tidal observation room.

The mean sea level calculated from the tidal data collected at the station between May 1930 and October 1934 was designated as the “Kannmen Datum.” In 1959, China first published the precise figures of the “Kannmen Datum” to the world.

The “Kannmen Datum” enjoys considerable recognition both domestically and internationally. The station serves as an international tidal data exchange station, is administered by the East China Sea Branch of the State Oceanic Administration, and was officially renamed the Kannmen Marine Environment Monitoring Station.

In May 2013, the State Council (State Council Document [2013] No. 13) announced the Kannmen Tidal Observation Station as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Kannmen Subdistrict: The Kannmen Subdistrict Office is located at the southeastern tip of Yuhuan County, a medium-sized port city on the southeast coast of Zhejiang. It covers a land area of 24.17 square kilometers, has a coastline of 44 kilometers, and boasts over 10 ports of various sizes. The subdistrict governs 12 communities and 6 administrative villages, with a resident population of 69,000 and a migrant population of 52,000. Kannmen is one of the towns in China with the highest population density and also one of the most linguistically diverse, where Southern Min, Wenzhou dialect, Taiping dialect, and even Xinghua and Fuzhou dialects are all spoken. Since the reform and opening-up, the people of Kannmen have channeled their pioneering maritime spirit into building a better... More details about Kannmen Subdistrict++

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units