Nanshao Island: Shantou's Most Beautiful Sea Island
Shantou is a beautiful coastal city with abundant marine resources and tourism resources. It is situated on mountains and by the sea, with beautiful scenery.
Last year, we drove from Shenzhen to Nanshao Island with a self-drive car, and it took about five or six hours to reach the destination. We booked a homestay. We walked into a seafood restaurant and tasted the most beautiful seafood here, to be honest, this trip to Nanshao Island was not entirely for the sake of the beach, but mainly to taste the food. Because here the water quality is clean, the seafood produced in a unique way, the meat is tender and fresh, very juicy!
When evening arrived, we walked along the wide sea gorge observation platform, watching many beautiful ships moored in the distance, many tourists were playing in the water, still crashing against the waves. Listening to their accents, they were tourists from all over the country.
Here it is quiet and harmonious, without the music hall and bars of big cities. Only occasionally a square dance song drifts over, probably the nightlife of the locals.
I walked into the market, where all kinds of local specialties and handmade art products were displayed along the street, all kinds of goods were available. Very popular!
Nanshao Island is a tourist resort island with abundant marine resources. Here the air is fresh and pollution-free, it is a scenic island with ‘mountains, sea, literature and temples’.
The second day, we went to Deep Mouth Town in Nanshao, to the Great Gong Mouth, because the general magistrate’s office was built there, to explore the true records. We parked the car and saw the words ‘General Magistrate’s Office’ stand out, entered the gate, found the records about the general magistrate’s office, and knew its origin. It was actually built by Deputy General Magistrate Yan Jianfang in the fourth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty in 1576.
It was formerly a maritime trade portal and a transshipment and transit station for the southeast coastal area during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Because of the strict prohibition of sea ban, the imperial court restricted heavily. The private smuggling activities were more rampant, plus the raids of Japanese pirates, the harassment of sea bandits, the imperial court dispatched many soldiers to guard here, so this place became an important military base.
Here there are many important marine defense materials, and there are still the relics of eight hundred and sixty-four and six hundred and sixty-four stone cannons, which are said to have been cast in the twenty-fourth year of the Dao Guang reign of the Qing Dynasty in 1840.
Nanshao has a lot of local specialties, many seafood products and delicious food are distributed along a small street, for example, the oysters here are especially delicious. The price at that time was 10 yuan to eat 5 pieces, very delicious!
The most beautiful bay in Nanshao is Qingao Bay, which is located at the southeast end of Nanshao, 11 kilometers from the county seat. The sea surface is gentle, with golden and soft sand and clean water. Every summer, a large number of domestic and foreign tourists come here to enjoy bathing in the sea and lying on the beach, gazing at the vast sea. Blue sky and white clouds, enjoy the coolness of summer.
Here the four seasons are lush and green, the sea is azure, and it is highly praised by domestic and foreign tourists. It is called ‘Oriental Hawaii’ and also enjoys the title of ‘the most beautiful beach in Guangdong Province’!
Qingao Bay also has a beautiful legend. It is said that the seven daughters of the East Sea Dragon King had seven daughters, and one day the sisters secretly ran out of the dragon palace to find a good place to play in the sea. Just after they finished playing, they saw that not far away was a beautiful island. There, the sand was pure white and the sea was particularly clear. They were intoxicated by the beauty here, so they bathed and played in it, and after returning to the dragon palace, the sisters still missed this place, so they used the place where the golden hairpins were thrown as a mark. The beach where the dragon daughters served as a mark is now Qingao Bay!
After several days' trip, the beauty of Nanshao Island is all imprinted in my mind. We started to return, and the scenery outside was still so charming. I didn't expect Shantou to hide such beautiful myths and seascapes. When the car drove into the Nanshao Bridge, seeing the development here, it was amazing. Before, the Nanshao people needed to take a ferry to cross the sea for several hours, now it can be reached within a few tenths of an hour, and then looked back at the sea, it was so calm and vast.
