Don't Always Go to Gulangyu Island, This 'Slum Town' Is Also Worth Visiting - The Origin of Xiamen Port
When mentioning Xiamen, it is no longer unfamiliar to most people. Xiamen is a famous coastal tourist city in China, with fresh air, beautiful environment, and four seasons of spring, known as the ‘Garden of the Sea’, attracting numerous tourists from home and abroad. Although I have only been to Xiamen three or four times, its beautiful scenery and rich literary atmosphere always evoke my endless longing.
Xiamen has many tourist attractions, with the most famous ones being Gulangyu Island, Zhongcunzhen, Nanputa Temple, and Xiamen Botanical Garden. Of course, there are also some niche but literary places, ‘Shapoai’ is one of them. I remember the first time I came to Shapoai it wasn’t like this now, and now Shapoai is a veritable ‘slum town’, with various food stalls and snack shops gathered, but its literary atmosphere is still there.
Many people come to Shapoai for tourism, often just for the local snacks, but they don’t know that Shapoai was once the origin of Xiamen Port. As early as before the Ming Dynasty, it was a sheltered harbor. Because it is located at the inflow of the river to the sea, the sand will flow to this place and continuously accumulate, forming a crescent-shaped harbor, with golden sand extending as far as the eye can see, known as the ‘Jade Shapoai’.
Since October 2015, it has no longer been used as a mooring point for ships. The numerous fishing boats that were previously moored here have all left this port and become a new tourist attraction. In order to let tourists know the former appearance of Shapoai, a few newer ships are docked here, although they look quite literary, but the original feeling is gone.
A picture of Shapoai’s former appearance is hanging on a wall, one by one small wooden boats are moored on the shore, although they don’t look very beautiful, but they are particularly charming. There are also related components on the ground. The former scene is gone forever, so much so that the old Xiamen people don’t come here now, mostly tourists come to ‘check in’ here.
A stone archway stands on the shore of Shapoai, with the words ‘Great Voyage’ carved in gold in the middle. This archway was recorded in ‘Xiamen Zhizhi’, but the original archway no longer exists, and this archway was rebuilt later, it is a witness to Xiamen’s important gateway on the Maritime Silk Road.
Shapoai is surrounded by high-rise buildings, especially those two twin towers, which are landmark buildings in Xiamen. You can see them in full view from here, and it’s a great angle to shoot the twin towers. The twin towers reflect in the water, but they look a little out of place, looking quite abrupt.
The shore of Shapoai is lined with shops, especially in the evening, there are a lot of tourists, you can find a shop to sit down and enjoy the gentle spring breeze, Xiamen is a city with a high level of modernization, but it gives people a feeling of comfort and leisure, which is also one of the reasons why I like Xiamen.
Nowadays, Shapoai has no longer had that original flavor, it can only be said that now it is a collection of culture, literature, creative products, and snacks integrated into one business market. Of course, some people like it and some people don’t, whatever you like or not, it’s there.
Do you know if you have been to or heard of Xiamen’s ‘Shapoai’? What is the appearance like when you go to Shapoai? What impression do you have about it? Welcome to leave a comment.
