China's newest city turns 2

Sansha's islets have served as landmarks for generations of Chinese fishermen

After a storm washed him ashore on Yongxing Island 30 years ago, Zheng Youbai had to survive on the deserted spot in the South China Sea like a modern-day Robinson Crusoe for a month until a fishing boat rescued him.

"I ate fish, drank rainwater and slept in a shack I made from driftwood," says the 56-year-old fisherman from China's southernmost province of Hainan.

"I still remember shivering in the shelter at night. The woods were so spooky in the dark that they seemed ready to devour me anytime."

After the incident, Zheng kept his distance from the island every time he passed it.

"It had no port, no electricity. Nothing," he says. "Who would have thought it would become the most habitable island in the South China Sea?"

In July 2012, China established Sansha city, with its government seat on Yongxing Island, to administer the Xisha, Zongsha and Nansha islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

Over the past two years, the city has set up all the political structures for a prefecture-level city - the formation of the City People's Congress, a Military Garrison Command and the grassroots Neighborhood Committees.

It has also pushed forward more than 30 infrastructure projects, including the Yongxing airport, a school, a hospital and water purification facilities.

"Life on this island has changed greatly and it is developing at an amazing speed," says Zheng, who has become a permanent resident of the island of Yongxing, which means "eternal prosperity".

"I never thought I would call Yongxing Island my home, but now it is," he says.

After sailing for 15 hours from Hainan's coastal city of Wenchang, visitors can see the palm-covered Yongxing Island rising from the sea. A white concrete road connects the government building, post office, hospital and Zheng's fishing village.

"Yongxing Island is very close to our fishing area. As life here is getting more convenient, we moved from Hainan's Wenchang city," Zheng says.

In his three-bedroom wooden home, Zheng's 12-year-old grandson was watching SpongeBob SquarePants, a US animated television series which was brought to China in 2006.

Since the establishment of Sansha city, television signals have been available on the islands and brought children like the fourth-grade boy tremendous joy.

Sansha also started to build its first school on Yongxing Island on June 14. When the project is completed, Sansha will have a kindergarten and an elementary school. That means Zheng's grandson will not have to go to school in Hainan or only be able to stay with his family during vacations.

"There's also a residential project going on," Zheng says. "Soon we will move out from our wooden home to live in a concrete apartment."

"This is the first time China is establishing a prefecture in the South China Sea so there is no precedent to follow," Sansha Mayor Xiao Jie says.

"But improving local standards of living has always been the priority despite the formidable challenges," he says.

Landmark city

As China's newest city, Sansha administers more than 280 islets and shoals. But it is also the prefecture-level city handling the smallest land area and population.

Yongxing, the biggest island under Sansha, is about 2 square km. The total land area of Sansha is about 10 square km.

For generations, Sansha's islets have served as Chinese fishermen's landmarks and post houses. But the harsh tropical weather and lack of easy transportation and fresh water have hindered the development of the local economy.

"We used to collect rainwater," says Lin Youhui, a 63-year-old fisherman who moved to Yongxing 13 years ago.

"Sometimes I found dead rats in the cistern, but I didn't have any other choice."

After the city's establishment, Lin dug a well with help from the local administration. Desalination equipment has been placed on all islands in Xisha. With a power grid set up on Yongxing this year, the island alone can desalinate 400 metric tons of seawater at a time.

Making a living by fishing, Lin now lives on Yongxing with his son, daughter-in-law and 19-year-old grandson. "My family makes more than 100,000 yuan ($16,200, 12,220 euros) a year," he says.

"Two years ago we made 20,000 yuan a year if we were lucky. We would have left the island if not for the development."

The prefecture has also adopted favorable land and fiscal measures to attract investment in the local economy.

More than 50 companies are operating in Sansha, covering finance, logistics, entertainment, agriculture and fishery.

At the end of last year, Sansha collected 2 million yuan worth of taxes. The figure hit about 5 million in the first half of 2014.

Despite the city's rapid progress, the biggest challenge for Sansha is still the lack of basic infrastructure and transport. Most of its islands are more than 100 nautical miles away from Hainan and are heavily dependent on supplies from the outside.

He Zhengfei has been living on Yongxing Island for seven years. The 51-year-old migrant worker from Guangdong province and her husband earn a living by catching sea conches and urchins. Every kilogram of urchin meat brings her 20 yuan and they can save about 20,000 yuan a year to keep her son in college, she says.

"We can make the same amount of money working in Guangdong, but the living cost is much lower on the island. There is not much to buy and we don't need to buy many things," she says.

"Since the city was established, we have had fresh vegetables shipped from Hainan every week. I am pretty satisfied with my life in Yongxing."

More support

For He, the only problem of living on a small island is loneliness. As the only Cantonese couple in the village, He and her husband keep four dogs.

Like many sleepy fishing villages in tropical waters, Yongxing sees few people out during the day. Villagers are either fishing at sea or napping in hammocks under the shade.

But as the sun goes down, the white sandy beach starts to host children running and swimming. Mixed with music blaring from the street barbecue stands, the sound of television shows rise among the wooden homes and give the village a vitality that it did not have during the day.

Deng Dayong, a 54-year-old fisherman, has been living on Jinqing Island for 13 years.

The administrative committee of the Yongle islands is located on Jinqing, which receives more than 80 fishermen every year and has about 10 permanent residents.

"It takes only 20 minutes to walk around my island. When I first arrived here, there was nothing but sand and bushes," Deng says.

"Now we have fresh water, electricity, television signals and even karaoke equipment," Deng says. "The island has become a temporary home for people fishing in the far seas."

Deng added that the infrastructure on many islands still needs to be improved.

"My two sons are fishing farther out south in the waters and their islands suffer from a harsher living environment. Even on my island, people need to travel four hours by boat to Yongxing if they are sick because of the lack of medical facilities," he says.

"We need greater support."

pengyining@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/22/2014 page24)