How to know the Paracel Islands?

my country’s coastline is long and winding, with numerous islands and abundant tourism resources. As people's living standards continue to improve, maritime tourism facilities and projects are also gradually increasing. People's dream of traveling to islands has become a reality, and it is becoming easier for humans to have close contact with the ocean.

In October 2005, "China National Geographic" magazine and 34 media *** jointly held the "China's Most Beautiful Places" selection event, conducting a large-scale survey of China's natural and cultural landscapes. Beauty contest, the selection of the ten most beautiful islands is one of them. In the end, the Paracel Islands won the first place among the ten most beautiful islands with its unique tropical scenery.

On the southeast sea 310 kilometers away from Hainan Island, there is an island like blossoming star lotus, with pearls floating in the vast blue waves. That is the coveted and mysterious Xisha islands.

The Xisha Islands are lined with coral reefs, including 8 atolls, 1 platform reef, and 1 shoal. The dry reef area is 1836.4 square kilometers, of which the reef flat area is 221.6 square kilometers. meters, the lagoon area is 1614.8 square kilometers. There are a total of 28 gray sand islands developed on atolls and platform reefs. In addition, there is an Early Pleistocene volcanic breccia island called Gaojianshi on Dongdao Atoll.

Xisha Islands

The Xisha Islands have the most islands among the islands in the South China Sea, with the largest island area (Yongxing Island) and the highest altitude (Shidao). It is the only cemented rock. Island (Shidao is late Pleistocene dune rock) and the only abiotic island (Gaojianshi), and has the largest total land area (more than 8 square kilometers).

The best time to go to Xisha is from October to August of the following year. From June to September, there will be typhoons and heavy rains, and the waves on the sea will be very large, which will greatly affect the movement of ships and make it uncomfortable. For travel.

The Xisha Islands are roughly bounded by 112° east longitude, and are divided into two groups: the east group and the west group. The west group is the Yongle Islands, and the east group is the Xuande Islands. The Yongle Islands in the Western Group include 5 atolls including Beijiao, Yongle Atoll, Yuzhuo Reef, Huaguang Reef, Panshiyu, and Zhongjian Island Reef. Among them, there are Treasure Island, Kunzai Sand Island, Ganquan Island on the Yongle Atoll. Island, Coral Island, Quanfu Island, Yagong Island, Yinyu, Yinyuzi, Xiansheyu, Shiyu, Jinqing Island, Chenhang Island and Guangjin Island, etc. Panshiyu Atoll and China Construction Island There is a small island on each reef flat of Daotai Reef. The Xuande Islands in the Eastern Group include 3 atolls including Xuande Atoll, Dongdao Atoll and Langhua Reef and 1 reef (Pengzhutan). The Xuande Atoll includes Xishazhou, Zhaoshu Island, Beidao, Zhongdao, There are 12 small islands including South Island, North Shazhou, Zhongshazhou, Nanshazhou, Dongxinshazhou, Xixinshazhou, Yongxing Island and Shidao. Dongdao Atoll has 2 small islands, Dongdao and Gaojianshi.

The Xuande Atoll and Dongdao Atoll in the Xuande Islands are incompletely developed, with only a small number of reef flats. Among the atolls with relatively complete development of Xisha reef flats, Yongle Atoll is the largest one with numerous islands. There is a large shallow water area in the lagoon and rich fishery resources. It is an important fishery base and fishermen's residence in Xisha.

Yongxing Island

Located in the middle of the Paracel Islands, Yongxing Island is a typical tropical scenery with rows of coconut trees and beautiful scenery. Due to its superior location, it is now the island office of the Southwest Zhongsha Islands Working Committee and Office. When the "Qiongsha No. 3" supply ship arrives at Yongxing Island every month, everyone on the island will go to the dock to unload chickens, ducks, pigs, Vegetables, mail and other supplies, it can be said that the island is like a festival and people are very happy. The center of the island is on Beijing Road, where there are banks, hospitals, grain stations, post offices, small supermarkets, aquatic products, China Mobile and other office buildings. There are neat coconut trees beside the sidewalk, with green lawns under the trees, and the environment is quite tidy.

There is the southernmost post office in my country on Beijing Road, and the postmarks stamped there are very precious. It is best to write several letters on the boat to Woody Island, and go to the post office to mail them as soon as you arrive at Woody Island, so that the supply ship will take away the letters the next day. If you miss this boat, you will have to wait another month to be sent. Sent away. The commemorative significance of this letter is self-evident.

The island has a large airport and two piers with 5,000-ton berths, as well as a fishery supply base. It is 337 kilometers from Yulin Port to the northwest and 344 kilometers from Qinglan Port. It is the main waterway connecting Hainan Island to the Zhongsha Islands in the southwest.

Shidao is located about 1,000 meters northeast of Yongxing Island. It is on the same reef as Yongxing Island. There is a stone passage in between, and cars can drive at low tide. Shidao has an irregular shape and is named after its sparse trees and exposed rocks. The sea erosion phenomenon around the island is clearly preserved, the karst landforms are obvious, and the ground is undulating. The island has steep rocks, craggy rocks, various caves, and picturesque scenery. In particular, the cliffs of "Yingzui Cliff" and "Hutou Rock" protrude directly into the sky. The waves crashing on the shore below the cliffs and the white waves rolling into the sky are extremely spectacular. They are good places for tourists to take photos and stop. Shidao is small in area, only 0.08 square kilometers, but with an altitude of 15.9 meters, it is the tallest among the islands in the South China Sea. It is also an observation deck for tourists to enjoy the sea scenery. When night falls and the moonlight shines, visitors can go to the cliff to watch the pebbles on the seabed and the fish swimming among them. There are all kinds of strange and colorful shells with beautiful stripes, conchs, and the shells of small marine animals. The water is clear and the underwater creatures are vividly visible, making tourists unable to put it down.

Zhaoshu Island

Located in the southwest of Yongxing Island, the two islands are 15 kilometers apart. It is one of the seven islands, in the shape of a pipa, with east, north and south There are beach rocks on three sides; the island is covered with plants such as pittosporum and lush green trees.

There are lighthouses, tile-roofed houses and cisterns in the west. In 1935, the name was announced as "Tree Island". When the name was announced in 1947 and 1983, it was changed to "Zhao Shu Island". It was named in commemoration of the Ming Taizu who sent the envoy Zhao Shu to the Three Buddhas Qi Kingdom. Hainan fishermen in my country call it "Chuanwan Island" or "Chuawan Island", which means that ships can come to this island to take shelter from the wind after dark. The tropical natural scenery on the island is unique. The sea here is crystal clear and the beaches are white and fine, even whiter than the beaches on Australia's Gold Coast. The water here is so clear and blue that the entire sea surface looks like a huge piece of dark blue silk stretching in the Nansha Islands. Being in the middle of this rich blue color, you can't help but feel intoxicated.

You can also see clusters of corals in the water that are as beautiful as blooming flowers, including golden staghorn corals, snow-white sunflower corals and bright red corals. Colorful fish were swimming around in groups, and the scene was very strange. It is very good to watch the sunset on the small island. The sunset fills the sky, the sea is vast, the returning birds fly over the sunset, and the waves lap against the cliff shore. This artistic conception is intoxicating.

Dongdao

Dongdao Scenery Dongdao is located on the east side of the Paracel Islands, 44 kilometers away from Yongxing Island. It is composed of rising reefs, corals, shells and sand bodies. It is the second largest island in the Paracel Islands. The average altitude is 4 to 5 meters. There are many kinds of plants in different communities and different ecologies on the island. The forests are dense, including contiguous tung trees and coastal tung trees, flowerbed-shaped silver-haired bushes, purslane and other herbaceous plants, and water daphne rock vegetation. The vegetation density reaches more than 70%, and it is known as the "Sea of ??Forests on the Sea". There are hundreds of thousands of seabirds inhabiting the forest, among which the white-bellied and red-footed boobies are the most precious. They are listed as national rare protected animals and a seabird nature reserve has been established. There are also dozens of wild cattle here that feed on weeds and tupelo leaves, and are protected together with the boobies. When you board the East Island, you can see the special sight of large groups of seabirds that cover the sky when they come out early and return late, and the charming scene of white boobies perched on the trees like clusters of blooming wintersweet flowers. Seabirds are not afraid of people, allowing tourists to take photos with them and enjoy the fun of "seabird paradise". Dongdao is also known as the "fossil of place names", and the changes in the island's name have historical characteristics. When Li Zhun was patrolling the sea in the late Qing Dynasty, he named it "Fengrun Island" after the native place of Guangdong Governor Zhang Renjun; in 1935, the name was announced as "Lin Kang Island"; in 1947, it was named in memory of Pan Hewu, the leader of the uprising against the Spanish colonists in the Philippines at the end of the 16th century. It was renamed "Hegoto". In 1983, when my country officially announced the standard place name, it was changed to "Dongdao".

Zhongjian Island

Zhongjian Island is the third largest island in the Paracel Islands. It is 139 kilometers away from Yongxing Island and covers an area of ??1.2 square kilometers. It is surrounded by a wide reef with an edge of Surrounded by reef ridges, there is a shallow inner reef flat in the middle, covered with white coral sand, with lush artificial forests and rich in turtles, conches and seabirds, so it is known as "Snail Island" and "Cradle of Turtles".

The name of Zhongjian Island commemorates the fact that our government sent the warship "Zhongjian" to take over the Paracel Islands after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. There is an American merchant ship in the offshore waters of the island, which has a history of several decades, and there is also a gun tower on the island. Zhongjian Island was originally a desert island and was known as the "South China Sea Gobi". In the 1980s, PLA troops stationed on the island transported soil and saplings from Hainan Island and vigorously planted trees, turning it into a "South China Sea Oasis." Therefore, if you want to come to the South China Sea to see the red base ecological landscape, read the history of the Xisha Islands, and receive ideological education, the Xisha Islands are your first choice.

Yinyu Island

Yinyu Island is located on a crescent-shaped reef. The island is covered with coral sand, and the middle is like a shallow saucer. There are flocks of seagulls all year round, including black-naped gulls and phoenix gulls. Birds such as terns and sooty terns are known as the "kingdom of seagulls".

Miaodao Islands

In addition, there are the "Seabird Paradise" North Island, the "Turtle Paradise" Middle Island and South Island, the "Coral Garden" Antelope Reef and the special There are more than 10 islands including Beishazhou, Zhongshazhou, Nanshazhou, Xixinshazhou, Sanchizai, Quanfu Island and Yagong Island in terms of landform and ecology. Their natural scenery is also of great value for eco-tourism development. Projects that can be developed include surfing, rowing, sea swimming, bathing, sandboarding, marine entertainment, etc.; tourism methods include sightseeing, expeditions, sea bathing, sunbathing, air bathing, etc.

Chenhang Island

There is a cemetery for revolutionary martyrs on Chenhang Island. Chenhang Island is named after the "Chen Ship" that came here in the late Qing Dynasty. It is also an island with a depression in the middle and surrounded by sand banks. It is in the shape of a curved triangle and covers an area of ??about 0.43 square kilometers. The center of the island is flat, with two shallow lakes surrounded by gravel banks. There are wells dug in the center of the island, but they are not drinkable. At present, the shallow lake has been filled in, but there is still water in some parts. It is a breeding ground for mosquitoes in summer. The layer of guano in the lake area is thick, soft and easy to sink. Because the embankment surrounding the lagoon is made of coral gravel and is highly permeable, seawater can seep into the shallow lake during high tide, making the lake water salty. Today, the gravel embankment near the lake is still low, only 2 meters high. A severe typhoon can set off huge waves, opening the gravel embankment and forming a gap. Fishermen once built two small stone temples at the northwest and northeast corners of the island, but they have been demolished now. However, from the Ming Longquan Kiln Guanyin statue enshrined in the small temple in the northwest, we can know that fishermen came here to fish in the Ming Dynasty.

There are two shallow lakes in the middle of Putuoshan Island. The one in the west is larger, round, about 200 meters in diameter, and the one in the east is smaller, elongated, about 80 meters long. It is separated by a low sand bank. The sand embankments around the island are the highest in the southeast, with 3 to 8 in total, and they gradually change from sand embankments to gravel embankments. There are many sand embankments, but they are short and intermittent.

The vegetation on the sand embankment is mainly composed of horn trees, which are dense and difficult to cross. There is a coconut tree planted by fishermen next to the lowland well, which is 20 meters high. There are vines climbing on the Yangjiao Forest, such as seaside morning glories.

Coral Island

Coral Island is named after its large number of corals. The island is slightly square and nearly elliptical in shape, with an area of ??0.31 square kilometers. In 1909, the first year of Xuantong in the Qing Dynasty, Li Zhun discovered that there were many corals on this island and named it Coral Island. Chinese fishermen call it Laocou Island and Laocou Zhi. Located 2 nautical miles southwest of the coral island in the South China Sea, it is currently the southernmost provincial cultural relic protection site in my country.

There are many shrubs on the beach around the coral island, and there are also many layers of guano. It is one of the islands with the richest phosphate deposits in the Yongle Islands. The presence of the guano layer indicates that there were many trees here in the past. There are also artificially planted casuarinas and coconut trees on the island. There is a well in the middle of the island. Next to the coconut trees, the water is sweet and clear and drinkable. However, the water in the western well is polluted by bird droppings and has a smell and is not drinkable.

Coral Island was developed by the Chinese people early on. Today, Qing Dynasty porcelain has been found throughout the island, including many daily utensils, such as celadon-glazed porcelain bowls and cups. There is a small temple in the building, which was built at the southwest end of the island by the fishermen of Tanmen, Zhuhai in 1934. There is a stone statue inside. Due to its good geographical location and well water, the island was coveted by outsiders. It was occupied by the French in 1938, and later by the Japanese. In January 1947, French naval troops landed on the island again and withdrew only after our protest. In April 1956, Vietnam occupied the island again. It was not until January 1974 that my country recaptured the island.

Coral Island Scenery Currently there are meteorological observatories, waterway terminals, etc. on the island. The island's geographical location, waterways and wells are among the best in the Yongle Islands, and its waters are also rich in aquatic products. There are at least thirty People's Liberation Army soldiers stationed on the coral island.

Ganquan Island

Ganquan Island covers an area of ??only 0.3 square kilometers, 800 meters long from north to south, 460 meters wide from east to west, and 8 meters high. It is oval in shape. Chinese fishermen call it "Yuanzhi" ", "Yuandao" is famous for its sweet spring and well water.

In 1909, while patrolling the sea, Admiral Li Zhun of the Guangdong Navy discovered that there were two fresh water wells in the lowlands in the central part of the island. After more than ten feet of ears, I tasted the fruit and found it was very sweet, so I named it Ganquan Island. I set up a stone mast and hung a flag to commemorate it." Therefore, it was named "Ganquan Island".

During the two archaeological surveys of Ganquan Island in March 1974 and 1975, residential ruins from the Tang and Song dynasties were discovered twice on the inside of the sand embankment at the northwest end of the island, one foot deep. Archaeological experts discovered a small brick temple built by fishermen during the Tang and Song Dynasties in my country in the northwest of the island. There are as many as 13 small temples built of coral stone. More than 50 pieces of ceramics used in daily life were unearthed, including The Tang Dynasty celadon-glazed pottery double-eared jars and rolled-rim jars, the Song Dynasty celadon-and-white glazed bottles, four-series small jars, celadon-glazed bowls, large scratched bowls, large bowls with lotus patterns, protruding lip bowls, powder boxes and other porcelain vessels have textures that are similar to those of Lin Jinyu and Nan The style and color of the Ikari Island are similar to those previously unearthed from the Xicun kiln site in Guangzhou. In addition, production tools such as iron knives and chisels were unearthed, and relics such as several iron pot fragments of cooking utensils from the Tang Dynasty, fragments of muddy gray-brown pottery bowls from the Song Dynasty, and several copper coins from the Song and Ming Dynasties were collected. From this, archaeological experts infer that the first people to use the fresh water on the island were the ancestors of the Tang Dynasty, and the owners who used these artifacts were also the earliest residents of the Paracel Islands. They may have been immigrants who moved to the mainland of Guangdong.

In 1994, the Tang and Song Dynasty residential sites on Ganquan Island were designated as the first batch of provincial cultural relics protection units by the Hainan Provincial Government. In 1996, when archaeologists conducted a census of cultural relics in Xisha, they specially erected a stone monument "Xisha Ganquan Island Tang and Song Dynasty Site" next to the site. This was the first cultural relic protection monument erected by China in the South China Sea.

Treasure Island

Treasure Island is about 1275 meters long and 560 meters wide. The surrounding sand embankments are 2 meters higher than the middle part. The depression in the middle forms a lagoon with several wells and water. Drinkable. The sand embankment zone is broad at the east end and extends eastward in the shape of a sharp beak. Treasure Island is actually a sand island on the western reef of a small atoll. There are two small sandbars in the southeast of the island and three small sandbars in the southwest. There is a shallow lake in the middle of this small atoll, and across the shallow lake, there are 4 sandbars on the reef plate in the northeast. The shallow lake is not closed like Antelope Reef, but has a gap in the southwest, and the gap can enter small boats and sailboats. At low tide, the reef is shallow and people can walk on it. The sandbanks are submerged during spring tides, so no trees grow, only saltwater-resistant grasses grow. Trees only appear on Treasure Island, with white frost flowers and pittosporum growing in clusters. They are very dense, so the island is rich in bird droppings. The crabapple tree artificially planted on the island is already very tall. There is a well under the tree. The water from the well is drinkable, but the taste is not pleasant.

Treasure Island has a long history of development. Found on the island are blue-glazed Longquan kiln porcelain plates from the Yuan Dynasty, large blue-and-white plates, blue-and-white glazed basins, and blue-and-white phoenix-pattern plates from the Ming Dynasty, flower bowls, blue-and-white dragon-patterned jars from the Qing Dynasty, and other cultural relics. There are also small boats built by fishermen on the island. temple.

There are more than 40 species of birds inhabiting the Xisha Islands, known as the "Bird's Paradise". The most interesting thing is the boobies, which guide fishing boats in the sea, so fishermen call boobies "navigation birds." The Xisha Islands are China's main tropical fisheries, where there are more than 400 species of coral fish and oceanic fish. Every fishing season, fishermen from Hainan and Zhanjiang come here to fish. The main seafood products include sea turtles, sea cucumbers, pearls, shellfish, abalone, seaweed, etc.

In addition, the local mussels and fried sea carp are both top-notch delicacies.