Weihai's three second acts

The engine sputters to life, and a traditional wooden fishing boat glides into the emerald waters of Sanggou Bay in Rongcheng, a county-level city of Weihai, Shandong province. Seagulls trail the vessel, diving and wheeling as passengers toss bits of sausage into the air.

It is early autumn, and the sea breeze is soft, the water impossibly clear. This is China's easternmost ocean bay.

Its distinctive C-shaped geography creates a natural harbor with turbulent currents outside, calm and clean waters within. Some 180 hectares of sea here nurture an abundance of marine life and an ethos that has endured for generations.

"Look down there," says the guide, pointing to a field of buoys bobbing on the surface. "Those are oysters. They hang from ropes beneath the floats, feeding entirely on plankton in the water. No artificial feed, minimal human interference."

The boat passes over the shellfish farming zone, and visitors learn how the bay's aquaculture operates on a raft-and-rope model.