The sea breeze whispers, and the waves quietly bloom at my feet.
This is Pingtan Island, the largest island in Fujian Province and the fifth largest island in China.
I have a deep connection with Fujian. Due to my parents' work, I lived and studied in an unknown town in Fujian for about 3 years. Because I was young, many memories are missing. I only remember that most people here speak Minnan dialect and Hakka, which I can't understand. There are often large reptiles in the grass by the roadside, and the schoolwork is not as heavy as in Henan. In short, I have a deep childhood filter for Fujian, this coastal province.
Okay, the reminiscing time is over, now let's get back to the topic.
This is only the second time in my life that I have come to the seaside. The sea breeze during the day is strong and it messes up my hair. There are many tourists by the seaside. The junction of the sea and the land is a playground for parents and children. Many fathers play with their children in the waves, while mothers are responsible for recording this parent-child time. At the other end of the beach, there are many young men and women sitting or standing. Under the crowded shade of the trees, they talk about the sweetness of youth. I walk slowly at the junction of the waves and the beach, feeling the roughness of the sand and the coolness of the seawater on the soles and backs of my feet.
68 Nautical Miles#
Watching over from 68 nautical miles away.
It is called 68 Nautical Miles because it is the easternmost part of Pingtan Island, facing Taiwan across the sea, with a distance of only 68 nautical miles. Let's ask Siri to convert it for us, 68 nautical miles = 125.936 kilometers
. This means that if there is a cross-sea bridge connecting the two sides of the strait, it would only take an hour and a half by car to reach "Taiwan, the Treasure Island".
Interestingly, when we first arrived on a self-driving trip, the name of the highway on the island caught my attention. The cross-sea highway we took to the island is called the ==Beijing-Taipei Expressway==. At first, I didn't know what the "Taipei" meant, because the end of this highway is Pingtan Island, so it should be called the ==Beijing-Pingtan Expressway==.
++Baidu Baike explains it like this:++
The Beijing-Taipei Expressway, also known as the "Beijing-Taipei Expressway," is a highway in China that connects Beijing and Taipei, the capital cities of China and Taiwan, respectively. It is the third of the seven capital radial highways in China's national highway network.
The Beijing-Taipei Expressway starts in Jiugong, Daxing District, Beijing and ends in Taipei, Taiwan (to be determined), with a total length of 1990.929 kilometers (with Pingtan, Fujian as the endpoint).
So, let us look forward to the day when the Beijing-Taipei Expressway is fully opened 🤗🤗🤗.
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Longwangtou Beach#
The island awakens slowly when the scorching sun sets.
It is not an exaggeration to say that this is the most popular beach in Pingtan. The sun on the island is particularly scorching, so apart from tourists, few locals are active outside during the day. However, at dusk, the local fishermen come out in groups, and the most popular among them is "Longwangtou Beach". By 6 o'clock in the evening, the parking lot is almost full. But we went there early, before the scorching sun completely faded away, so it was still a bit hot.
After going down to the beach, there will be many elderly people trying to attract customers. I mistakenly thought that they were charging for taking photos or some other paid fishing activities because of their strong and enthusiastic accents. However, after asking them carefully, I found out that the elderly people's business is selling sun umbrellas and beach chairs.
++Yes, even shade comes at a price („ಡωಡ„) .2333++.
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Changjiang'ao Wind Farm#
What is there on the other side of the sea?
The wind farm is given a romantic name by tourists, it is called Changjiang'ao Wind Farm, or also known as the ++"Changjiang'ao Wind Farm"++. The whistling of the wind turbines and the hot sea breeze didn't make me stay here for too long. If there is a chance, you can watch the sunset here, but Pingtan Island is really big, and my rushed itinerary didn't give me the opportunity to see every scenery.
On the other side of the sea, there is still the sea.
Tannan Bay Beach#
Actually, not only this beach, but most of the beaches will have local fishermen coming in their fishing boats to retrieve the fishing nets they set in the morning when the tide rises in the evening. In the fishing battle I saw tonight, more than a dozen fishermen worked together to pull up a huge fishing net. I watched for more than 40 minutes. Perhaps due to the scarcity of offshore fishery resources, such a large net only caught a small bucket of fish (occasionally there are starfish, octopus, jellyfish, and even someone shared on the internet that the fishermen caught a giant sea turtle on the beach, but it was later released). I heard people around me say that most of these fishermen are owners or family members of nearby seafood stalls, and the fish they catch is sold on the spot.
But for me, authentic seafood is too fishy, and I can't eat it. I can only eat some shrimp and crabs. (# ̄ω ̄)
Conclusion#
It has been almost 2 years since my last inter-provincial trip. Every trip brings me different memories. This trip lasted only 3 days, which is far from enough to visit all the attractions.
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My friends, even so, this soul-cleansing journey has come to a successful end.
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