A city scooping up bounty of the sea
By Tan Weiyun |
May 28, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
GENTLE ocean waves wash ashore, rippling in between bare toes. Children stoop to pick up shells. The aroma of a barbecue wafts across the beach. Seagulls squawk overhead, looking to swoop on any tidbit of food thrown out.
There's something about the seaside that has long stirred deep contentment in people who stand on its shores.
Qidong offers the perfect seaside getaway from urban stress.
Located where the waters of the Yangtze River flow into the confluence of the East China and Yellow seas is the Cape Yuantuo, China's largest wetland conservation park, and not far away are natural beaches and sandbanks.
Standing high on the park's observation platform, one can scan across the waters to the far horizon and be lost in faraway thoughts of timelessness.
The park was opened in 1999 to catch the first rays of the 21st century sun along China's eastern seaboard. One of the highlights is the Dayu stone statue, commemorating an ancient hero who is said to have controlled floods in the region. The statue stands 19.99 meters tall, marking the turn of the century and the year the park was opened.
Local villagers said that after the statue was erected, Qidong was spared severe storms. They believe it is Dayu's blessing on the city and its people.
At the statue's feet sits a table of joss sticks, set alight by local fishermen praying for a good catch and safe journey at sea.
A long dike extends into the distance, like a silver dragon lying along the coastline. The park features 15,000 square meters of greenland, dotted with exquisite pavilions offering a place for a moment of peace and contemplation.
"Golden Beach"
Within a 10-minute drive from the cape, Golden Beach is an equally attractive site to visit. The natural sandy beach is a stepping stone to rich aquatic life.
When the tide is out, visitors can take off their shoes and wade out across the wet mudflats to pick up clams, seashells, jellyfish, seaweed and baby crab.
If the weather is good, local farmers sometimes bring their buffalo down to the shoreline. On the beach, people play beach volleyball and football, and set up family barbecues.
Why not enjoy a seafood banquet in a city that ranks among the top four China's fishery centers? Here you can enjoy an abundance of yellow croakers, pomfret, hairtails, shrimp, crab and clams.
In the distance, fishing boats bob at sea. Overhead, soaring seagulls squawk against the backdrop of a shimmering sun.
Village girls with baskets on their backs hurry to harvest shrimp and clams from the mudflats.
Xinglong Dongsha, a sandbank at the south of Qidong, is a major stopping point for migrating birds attracted by the rich food sources, including lush sweet reeds that grow in the wetlands. So far, the sandbank is still virgin territory, off limits to human exploitation.
A recent study by the Shanghai Natural History Museum, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing Normal University and Jiangsu Plants Research Institution estimated there were more than 50 red-crowned cranes at the site, accounting for 5 percent of the global population of the birds. Some of the birds live there year-round.
Of 200 white-crowned cranes believed to be remaining in China, 32 have been spotted on this sandbank.
The opening of the Chongming-Qidong Bridge last year brought Shanghai to within a one-hour drive of this wonderland of nature. On the weekends, the streets are crammed with car bearing Shanghai plates.
"The number of visitors has doubled," said Chen Juan, director of Qidong Tourism Administration. "Every day hundreds of tourist buses come from Shanghai and from southern Jiangsu Province, bringing people who want to taste our famous seafood and catch the sunrise at Cape Yuantuo."
The influx has put a bit of pressure on tourist facilities in such a small city as Qidong. Currently the city has about 8,000 hotel beds and parking spaces for 24,800 cars.
"That's far from enough," Chen said.
Last year, the number of tourists reached 2 million, and that figure is likely to double this year.
As local tourist agencies work with Shanghai counterparts to facilitate travel to Qidong, infrastructure projects to cope with the flood of visitors are being stepped up.
Two five-star hotels are currently under construction, in addition to other facilities.
There's something about the seaside that has long stirred deep contentment in people who stand on its shores.
Qidong offers the perfect seaside getaway from urban stress.
Located where the waters of the Yangtze River flow into the confluence of the East China and Yellow seas is the Cape Yuantuo, China's largest wetland conservation park, and not far away are natural beaches and sandbanks.
Standing high on the park's observation platform, one can scan across the waters to the far horizon and be lost in faraway thoughts of timelessness.
The park was opened in 1999 to catch the first rays of the 21st century sun along China's eastern seaboard. One of the highlights is the Dayu stone statue, commemorating an ancient hero who is said to have controlled floods in the region. The statue stands 19.99 meters tall, marking the turn of the century and the year the park was opened.
Local villagers said that after the statue was erected, Qidong was spared severe storms. They believe it is Dayu's blessing on the city and its people.
At the statue's feet sits a table of joss sticks, set alight by local fishermen praying for a good catch and safe journey at sea.
A long dike extends into the distance, like a silver dragon lying along the coastline. The park features 15,000 square meters of greenland, dotted with exquisite pavilions offering a place for a moment of peace and contemplation.
"Golden Beach"
Within a 10-minute drive from the cape, Golden Beach is an equally attractive site to visit. The natural sandy beach is a stepping stone to rich aquatic life.
When the tide is out, visitors can take off their shoes and wade out across the wet mudflats to pick up clams, seashells, jellyfish, seaweed and baby crab.
If the weather is good, local farmers sometimes bring their buffalo down to the shoreline. On the beach, people play beach volleyball and football, and set up family barbecues.
Why not enjoy a seafood banquet in a city that ranks among the top four China's fishery centers? Here you can enjoy an abundance of yellow croakers, pomfret, hairtails, shrimp, crab and clams.
In the distance, fishing boats bob at sea. Overhead, soaring seagulls squawk against the backdrop of a shimmering sun.
Village girls with baskets on their backs hurry to harvest shrimp and clams from the mudflats.
Xinglong Dongsha, a sandbank at the south of Qidong, is a major stopping point for migrating birds attracted by the rich food sources, including lush sweet reeds that grow in the wetlands. So far, the sandbank is still virgin territory, off limits to human exploitation.
A recent study by the Shanghai Natural History Museum, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing Normal University and Jiangsu Plants Research Institution estimated there were more than 50 red-crowned cranes at the site, accounting for 5 percent of the global population of the birds. Some of the birds live there year-round.
Of 200 white-crowned cranes believed to be remaining in China, 32 have been spotted on this sandbank.
The opening of the Chongming-Qidong Bridge last year brought Shanghai to within a one-hour drive of this wonderland of nature. On the weekends, the streets are crammed with car bearing Shanghai plates.
"The number of visitors has doubled," said Chen Juan, director of Qidong Tourism Administration. "Every day hundreds of tourist buses come from Shanghai and from southern Jiangsu Province, bringing people who want to taste our famous seafood and catch the sunrise at Cape Yuantuo."
The influx has put a bit of pressure on tourist facilities in such a small city as Qidong. Currently the city has about 8,000 hotel beds and parking spaces for 24,800 cars.
"That's far from enough," Chen said.
Last year, the number of tourists reached 2 million, and that figure is likely to double this year.
As local tourist agencies work with Shanghai counterparts to facilitate travel to Qidong, infrastructure projects to cope with the flood of visitors are being stepped up.
Two five-star hotels are currently under construction, in addition to other facilities.
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