Explore Lingshui’s fishing village at Xincun Port
Lingshui is known for its very picturesque tropical sceneries and its harbors are home to the floating villages. At Xincun Port in Nanwan Bay lies the largest community on the sea in Hainan, and is the home of more than 600 red-roofed houses owned by Dan Jia People (known as the Chinese "gypsies on the sea").
.
In Hainan, Dan Jia is not really an ethnic minority. They belong to the Han-nationality. The origin of Dan Jia can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty. Their ancestors, which mainly came from Fujian and Guangdong provinces, battled with the winds and waves on the sea and finally settled on Hainan Island. Since then, they have been housed in fishing boats and lived at sea almost all the year, thus became a unique form of livelihood. Nowadays, Xincun Port is the largest gathering place of Dan Jia in Hainan.
At the Xincun Port, there are more than 600 rows of floating houses, around which are rows of net cages, which are used for fishing and breeding, and similar in size. These fish rafts are ranged one after another, floating on the sea. In the bright-blue sea, in the light of the sun, it has become like the view of water town, as far as the eyes can see, these constitute a very unique offshore landscape.
Most of the boat dwellers here earn a living by fishing and ocean farming. The villages float upon sturdy pontoons constructed from bamboo and wood wired to barrels or blocks of PVC foam. Every household has a boat as traffic tool. Some boats look almost handmade but they suffice, given the placid waters of the bay. The villagers live their day to day life as if they are on land. They have pets such as cats, dogs etc. Their sea passages (streets) shaped just like a road on the sea or like a street on the land.
Xincun Port has long been famous for its green seafood produce, and now the local fishing village is emerging as a major seafood destination with plenty of delicious options for foodies, gourmands and anyone else who enjoys good seafood.
Here visitors can not only take advantage of seafood caught fresh on the day. These special seafood and products are all used in the local folk and cuisine cooking. The local people are good at cooking seafood, featuring in methods of stewing, boiling, braising, quick-boiling, and steaming, etc.
The floating village is worth every penny and time and it definitely deserves to be noticed not just by tourists but also by the locals too. In the daytime, looking at the fishing boats, you can see a busy scene; in the evening, everywhere it is bright with lights from the houses on the cages.
The contents of this article are copyrighted! Please contact us for permission to republish in part or in full.
SOURCE: WOS Team