How to know Xisha Islands?

China has a long and tortuous coastline, many islands and rich tourism resources. With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, marine tourism facilities and projects are gradually increasing. People's dream of traveling to the island has become a reality, and the close contact between human beings and the ocean has become easier and easier.

On June 5438+ 10, 2005, China National Geographic magazine and 34 national media * * * jointly held the "China's most beautiful place" selection activity, and held a grand beauty contest on China's natural and human landscape, among which the selection of the top ten most beautiful islands was one of them. In the end, Xisha Islands won the first place in the top ten most beautiful islands with its unique tropical scenery.

On the southeast sea 3 10 km away from Hainan Island, there is an island like a lotus with stars and pearls floating in the blue waves. This is the fascinating and mysterious Xisha Islands.

There are many coral reefs in Xisha Islands, with 8 atolls, 1 platform reef, 1 submerged beach. The dry reef area is 1.836.4 square kilometers, of which the reef flat area is 22 1.6 square kilometers and the reef lake area is 1.6 1.4 square kilometers. There are 28 grey sand islands on atolls and platform reefs, and there are 1 early Pleistocene volcanic breccia islands on Dongdao Atoll, which are named as high-pointed rocks.

Xisha Islands

Xisha Islands have the largest number of islands in the South China Sea of China, with the largest island area (Yongxing Island) and the highest altitude (Shidao Island). It is the only rock island with cemented rocks (Shidao is a late Pleistocene dune rock) and the only abiogenic island (gaojianshi), with the largest total land area (more than 8 square kilometers).

The best time to go to Xisha is from June 5438+00 to August of the following year, but there will be typhoons and heavy rains from June to September, and the waves will be very heavy, which will have a great impact on the ship's driving and is not suitable for tourism.

The Xisha Islands are roughly divided into two groups by the east longitude 1 12: Yongle Islands in the east group and Xuande Islands in the east group. The Yongle Islands in the Western Group include five atolls, namely North Reef, Yongle Atoll, Yuzhuo Reef, Huaguang Reef and Panshiyu Island, and Taiwan Province Reef in Zhongjian Island. Among them, there are 65,438+on Yong 'an Island, including Treasure Island, Basket Shazhou Island, Ganquan Island, Coral Island, Quanfu Island, Yagong Island, Yuyin Island, Yinyuzai Island, Xianshe Island, Shiyu Island, Jinqing Island, Chenhang Island and Guangjin Island. Dongqun Xuande Islands include three atolls, namely Xuande Atoll, Dongdao Atoll and Langhua Reef, and 1 reef (boiled beach), in which Xuande Atoll includes 65438+ such as Xishazhou, Zhaoshu Island, Beidao, Zhongdao, Nanshao Island, Beishazhou, Zhongshazhou, Nansha Hou, Dongxin Shazhou, Xixin Shazhou, Yongxing Island and Shidao.

Xuande Atoll and Dongdao Atoll in Xuande Islands are underdeveloped, with only a few reefs. Yongle Atoll is the largest atoll with a large number of islands, a large shallow lagoon and rich fishery resources. It is an important fishery base and fishermen's residence in Xisha.

yongxing island

Yongxing Island, located in the middle of Xisha Islands, is a typical tropical scenery with rows of coconut groves and beautiful scenery. Because of its superior geographical location, it is now the office of the Working Committee and Office of Southwest zhongsha islands. When the supply ship Qiongsha No.3 arrives at Yongxing Island every month, people from all over the island will go to the dock to unload chickens, ducks, pigs, vegetables, mail and other materials. It can be said that people on the island are very happy, just like a holiday. The center of the island is Beijing Road, where there are offices such as banks, hospitals, grain depots, post offices, small supermarkets, aquatic products and China Mobile Company. Next to the sidewalk is a neat coconut tree with a green lawn under it, and the environment is quite neat.

There is a post office at the southernmost tip of China on Peking Road, where the postmark is very precious. It's best to write some letters on the ship to Yongxing Island, and post them at the post office as soon as you arrive at Yongxing Island, so that the supply ship can take them away the next day. If you miss the ship, you have to wait another month before it is announced. The commemorative significance of this letter is self-evident.

There is a large airport, two docks with 5000-ton berths and a fishery supply base on the island. It is 337 kilometers away from Yulin Port in the northwest and 344 kilometers away from Qinglan Port. It is the main waterway connecting Hainan Island and southwest zhongsha islands.

Shidao is located about 1000 meters northeast of Yongxing Island, on the same reef as Yongxing Island, with a stone passage in the middle, where cars can drive when the tide is low. The shape of the rocky island is irregular, so it is named because there are few trees and bare rocks. The marine erosion around the island is clearly preserved, the karst landform is obvious, and the ground fluctuates. The island is rugged, with steep rocks, diverse caves and picturesque scenery. Especially the "Eagle Mouth Cliff" and "Tiger Head Rock" stand out from the crowd and point to the sky. Under the cliffs, steep waves beat on the shore, and the white waves are extremely spectacular, which is a good place for tourists to take pictures and stop. Shidao is a small island with an area of only 0.08 square kilometers, but the altitude is 15.9 meters. It is the highest island in the South China Sea and a lookout for tourists to enjoy the sea view. As night falls, the moonlight is like washing. Visitors can also watch pebbles on the seabed and fish swimming in them. Exquisite striped shells, conchs and shells of small marine animals are all kinds of grotesque and colorful. The clear water and vivid creatures on the bottom of the sea make tourists fondle it.

Zhaoshudao

Located in the southwest of Yongxing Island, the distance between the two islands is 15km. It is an island in Qilianyu, which is pipa-shaped, with beach stones on the east, north and south. The island is covered with plants such as Pittosporum, and the trees are lush. There are lighthouses, tile houses and reservoirs in the west. 1935 was declared as "Tree Island". 1947 and 1983 changed the place names to "Zhaoshu Island", which was named in memory of Zhao Shu, Ming Taizu's ambassador to the three Buddha countries. Fishermen in Hainan, China are commonly known as "Island of Hidden Ships" or "Island of Late Ships", which means that ships can come to this island for shelter after dark. The tropical natural scenery on the island is unique. The sea here is crystal clear, and the beach is white and clean, even whiter than the beach on Australia's Gold Coast. The sea here is clear and blue, and the whole sea looks like a huge dark blue satin stretching, and the feeling of intoxication can't help rising in the middle of this blue.

In the water, you can also see clusters of corals as beautiful as blooming flowers, including golden antlers, snow-white sunflowers and bright red corals. Colorful fish swam around in droves, and the scene was strange. It is very good to watch the sunset on the island. Sunset fills the sky, the sea is vast, homing birds fly in the sunset, and the waves beat against the cliff. This artistic conception is intoxicating.

host

East Island Scenery East Island is located on the east side of Xisha Islands, 44 kilometers away from Yongxing Island. It consists of rising reefs, corals, shells and sand, and is the second largest island in Xisha Islands. The average altitude is 4 ~ 5 meters. There are many kinds of plants in different communities and ecosystems on the island, with dense forests, including contiguous wind-resistant paulownia and coastal paulownia, flower-bed silver-haired shrubs, purslane and other herbs and rock vegetation of Daphne genkwa. The vegetation density is over 70%, and it is known as the "beautiful sea". There are hundreds of thousands of seabirds living in the forest, among which the white-bellied and red-footed boobies are the most precious, which are listed as national rare protected animals, and a seabird nature reserve has been established. There are also dozens of bison that feed on weeds and wind-resistant tung leaves and are protected together with boobies. When you board the East Island, you can see the special spectacle of a large group of seabirds leaving early and returning late, and the charming scene of white boobies perching on trees like clusters of blooming wintersweet. Seabirds are not afraid of people, so tourists can take photos with them and enjoy the fun of "seabird paradise". Dongdao is also called "fossil of place names", and the change of island names has historical characteristics. In the late Qing Dynasty, when he went to the Western Ocean, he named the island after the hometown of Guangdong Governor Zhang. 1935 was declared as "linkang island"; 1947, in memory of Pan Wu He, the leader of Philippine uprising against Spanish colonists at the end of 16, it was renamed "Wu He Island". 1983, when China officially announced the standard place name, it was changed to "East Island".

Triton i.

Zhongjian Island, the third largest island in Xisha Islands, is away from Yongxing Island 139km, with an area of 1.2 km2. Surrounded by a wide reef plate, the edge is a reef ridge, and the middle is a shallow internal reef flat covered with white coral sand. Artificial afforestation is flourishing, rich in turtles, conchs and seabirds, so it has the reputation of "snail island" and "cradle of turtles".

Zhongjian Island was named to commemorate the China government's sending a warship "Zhong Jian" to receive the Xisha Islands after War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory. There is an American merchant ship in the coastal waters of the island for decades, and there is also a turret on the island. Zhongjian Island was originally a desert island, known as the "Gobi in the South China Sea". In the 1980s, the troops stationed in Hainan Island brought soil and saplings from Hainan Island and planted trees vigorously, making Hainan Island an "oasis in the South China Sea". Therefore, if you want to see the ecological landscape of the red base areas in the South China Sea, read the history of Xisha Islands and receive ideological education, Xisha Islands is the first choice.

lingering sound

Echo Island is located on a crescent reef plate, covered with coral sand and with a shallow dish in the middle. Seagulls haunt all the year round, including black-breasted gull, crested tern, black tern and other birds, which is known as the "Gull Kingdom".

temple island archipelago

In addition, there are more than 10 islands such as North Island of Seabird Paradise, Middle Island and South Island of Turtle Paradise, Antelope Reef of Coral Garden, and more than 10 islands with special landforms and ecology such as North Shoal, Middle Shoal, South Shoal, Xixin Shoal, Sanzhizai Island, Quanfukushima Island and Yagong Island. Natural scenery is also of great value to the development of eco-tourism. Other projects that can be developed include surfing, boating, sea swimming, bathing, sand skiing, sea entertainment, etc. Tourism modes include sightseeing, exploration and sea bath, sunbathing and air bath.

Chenxing avenue

There is a revolutionary martyr cemetery on Chen Hang Island, named after the "Chen Hangchuan" who came here in the late Qing Dynasty. It is also an island with a central depression and surrounded by sand dikes. It is a curved triangle with an area of about 0.43 square kilometers. The middle of the island is flat, with two shallow lakes and gravel dikes around it. There is a well dug in the center of the island, but it is not drinkable. At present, the shallow lake has been filled, but some of it still has water. Summer is the breeding ground of mosquitoes, and the bird droppings in the lake area are thick and soft and easy to sink. Because the bank around the lagoon is made of coral gravel, which is very permeable, seawater can penetrate into the shallow lake at high tide, making the lake salty. Today, the gravel dike by the lake is still low, only 2 meters high. Super typhoon can set off huge waves, break gravel dikes and form gaps. In the northwest corner and northeast corner of the island, fishermen once built two small stone temples, which have now been demolished. However, from the Guanyin statue of Ming Longquan kiln enshrined in the small temple in the northwest, we can know that fishermen came here to fish in the Ming Dynasty.

The two shallow lakes in the middle of Putuo Island are large in the west, round in diameter, about 200 meters, small in the east, long in shape, about 80 meters long, and separated by a low sand embankment. The sand dike around the island is the highest in the southeast, with 3 ~ 8 * * *, which gradually changes from sand dike to gravel dike, with a large number, but short and intermittent. The vegetation on the sand embankment is mainly Elaeagnus angustifolia, which is dense and difficult to cross. There is a coconut tree planted by fishermen near the lowland well, which is 20 meters high. Lianas, such as morning glory by the sea, climb in the forest of Yang Jiao.

reef island

Coral Island is named after many corals. The island is slightly square and nearly oval, with an area of 0.3 1 km2. In the year of Tong Yuan in the Qing Dynasty (1909), when Lee Joon was patrolling the sea, he found that there were many corals on this island, so he named it Coral Island. Fishermen in China call themselves Laorou Island and Laorou Branch. Located 2 nautical miles southwest of Coral Island in the South China Sea, it is the southernmost provincial cultural relics protection unit in China.

There are many shrubs and bird droppings on the beach around Coral Island, which is one of the most phosphate-rich islands in Yongle Islands. The existence of guano layer shows that there used to be many trees here. There are also artificial Casuarina and coconut trees on the island, and there is a well in the middle. Next to coconut trees, the water is sweet and drinkable, while the well water in the west is polluted by bird droppings and stinks and can't be drunk.

Coral Island has long been developed by China people. Today, the island is full of Qing dynasty porcelain, and many daily utensils are in use, such as blue glazed porcelain bowls and cups. There is a small temple in the building, which was built by fishermen in Tanmen, Zhuhai in 1934 at the southwest end of the island, and contains stone statues. Due to its good geographical location and good water resources, the island was occupied by the French in 1938 and then by Japan. 1947 65438+ 10, French naval forces landed on the island again, and only after our protest did they retreat. 1956 In April, Viet Nam occupied the island again, and it was not until 1974 that China recovered the island.

Coral Island Scenery At present, there are meteorological stations and navigation docks on the island. The island's geographical location, waterways and Jing Quan are among the best in Yongle Islands, and its waters are also rich in aquatic products. At least 30 PLA officers and men are stationed on coral island.

Robert i.

Ganquan Island, with an area of only 0.3 square kilometers, is 800 meters long from north to south, 460 meters wide from east to west and 8 meters high. It's oval. Fishermen in China call it "Yuan Zhi" and "Yuanzhou", which is famous for its well water in Ganquan.

1909, when Lee Joon, governor of Guangdong navy, was patrolling the sea, he found two fresh water wells in the central lowland of the island. The springs were sweet and drinkable. That is to say, "fresh water has been obtained and the food is very sweet." You can try it if you dig the ground. The fruit is very sweet. In other words, it was named "Ganquan Island".

During the two archaeological investigations in Ganquan Island1March, 1974 and1March, 1975, the residential sites in the Tang and Song Dynasties were found twice inside the sand embankment at the northwest end of the island. Archaeologists found 1 brick temples built by fishermen in the Tang and Song Dynasties and as many as 13 coral stone temples in the northwest of the island. More than 50 pieces of daily-use ceramics were unearthed, including blue glazed pottery ear pots and rolling pots in the Tang Dynasty, blue and white glazed bottles in the Song Dynasty, four series of small pots, blue glazed bowls, carved bowls, lotus bowls, lip bowls and powder boxes. Their texture, Lin Jinyu, style and color of Nanqi Island are similar to those unearthed in the West Village kiln site in Guangzhou. In addition, iron knives, iron chisels and other production tools have been unearthed, and several pieces of Tang Dynasty cookware iron pot, Song Dynasty muddy taupe pottery mortar and several Song and Ming copper coins have been collected. Archaeologists infer from this that the ancestors of the Tang Dynasty were the first to use fresh water on the island, and the owners who used these utensils were also the earliest residents of Xisha Islands. They may be immigrants who moved to Guangdong mainland.

1994, the Tang and Song residential sites in Ganquan Island were identified as the first batch of provincial-level cultural relics protection units by the Hainan provincial government. 1996, when archaeologists conducted a general survey of cultural relics in Xisha, they specially set up a stone tablet next to the site of the Tang and Song Dynasties in Ganquan Island, Xisha, which was the first cultural relic protection monument set up by China in the South China Sea.

[Literary Works] Treasure Island

Treasure Island is about1.275m long and 560m wide. The surrounding sandbars are 2 meters higher than the middle one. The depression in the middle forms a lagoon with several wells and drinking water. The eastern end of the sand dike belt is broad and extends eastward in a sharp mouth shape. Treasure Island is actually a sand island on the reef plate in the west of a small atoll, with two small sandbars in the southeast and three small sandbars in the southwest. There is a shallow lake in the middle of this small atoll, separated by a shallow lake, and there are four sandbars on the reef plate in the northeast. The shallow lake is not closed like antelope reef, but there is a gap in the southwest where boats and sailboats can enter. At low tide, the reef plate is shallow and people can walk in it. Every time in the spring tide, the sandbar is flooded, and the trees are not born, only salty aquatic plants grow. Trees only appear in Treasure Island, where white frost-avoiding flowers and pittosporum are dense, so the island is rich in bird droppings. The artificially planted begonia trees on the island are already very high, and there are wells below. Well water is drinkable, but not suitable for people.

Treasure Island has a long history of development. There are blue glazed Longquan kiln porcelain plates in Yuan Dynasty, blue-and-white plates, blue-and-white glazed pots and blue-and-white phoenix plates in Ming Dynasty, flower bowls and blue-and-white dragon pattern jars in Qing Dynasty, and small temples built by fishermen.

Xisha Islands is home to more than 40 species of birds, and is known as "a paradise for birds". The most interesting thing is boobies, which can guide fishing boats in the sea, so fishermen call boobies "navigation birds". Xisha Islands is the main tropical fishing ground in China, where there are more than 400 species of coral fish and marine fish. Every fishing season, fishermen from Hainan and Zhanjiang come here to fish. Seafood mainly includes soft-shelled turtle, sea cucumber, pearl, shellfish, abalone and laver.

In addition, the local green snails and fried sea carp are excellent delicacies.