China, Japan and Korea

There was an earlier, inaccurate signal at Shanghai in 1877, but there were no listed visual signals in China in 1880. Accurate time balls were established at Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1885. Later, time guns, a flag signal and lights were added at various ports along the coast of China. The time light at Shanghai was operating by 1911. The time lights in China varied substantially in style and timing between locations. Only the Shanghai time ball and the lights at Hong Kong and Macau were still listed in 1947. There were no listed time signals for Japan in 1880. A time ball and gun at Kobe were the only signals listed in 1898. Later Admiralty lists included a range of different time signals, including a flag, time lights and a whistle or siren at Niigata. Time balls after 1930 were red with a white band. The only Korean signal was a time gun at Chemulpo.