Islands of paradise

Fish are laid out to dry on giant nets on Big Wanshan Island, a major fishing ground in the country.[Photo by Xu Taotao/for Shanghai Star]

Harvests on Big Wanshan

It took less than half an hour by motor boat to transfer from Dong’ao Island to Big Wanshan, one of the country’s largest fishing grounds.

The island’s boats, full of fish and shrimp, had just returned to shore when we arrived. The air was filled with smell of the sea.

Seeing the fishermen return, the women, young and old, began to wash the seafood. They peeled the shrimp, gave the fish and shrimp a thorough rinsing and laid them flat on giant nets to dry them in the sunshine.

The women wrapped the heads of some of the bigger fish in paper when drying them in the sunshine and told us it was a good way to prevent flies. They say the seafood needs only one day to dry out if the sunshine is strong enough. Every day, fishmongers come to replenish their stock.

Big Wanshan Island is also a paradise for fishing enthusiasts. We saw people bringing piles of fishing equipment, hoping to try their luck at sea.

We later found that almost eveywhere we went we would see fish being dried on the street. They reminded us that while the sun and ocean had drawn us to the island for a short stay, they were the two elements that the people of this island have depended on for generations.

We checked in at the Dreamland Resort, a secluded garden hotel in traditional Chinese style. The hotel offers not only spectacular sea views from each room but also attentive service.