Day 4 - Nan Ao (南澳) Island (Part 1)

Nan Ao Island, located between the coastlines of Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan, is an hour's drive and another hour's boat ride from Shantou.

The island is great for an overnight stay - to chill and relax, and enjoy nature and agriculture. Yes, agriculture!

Yup, each dot is a cage containing either crabs, oysters or clams. And this is probably only 5% of what is actually there on the island. About 50% of the coastline is dotted with farms like this.

Ok, let me rewind a bit. So we took a private tour and set off from the hotel at 8 o'clock in the morning. After an hour of car ride, we arrived at the harbour. There are some stalls at the harbour, some selling fruits like below, and others are coffee shops and convenient stalls. Don't recommend getting stuff from here unless you're tied for some fruit snacks!

Queue to enter the ferry - we're the first in line because.. we missed the ferry.

And there's our ride! Yup, the ferry takes people and vehicles from the mainland to the island.

There's a project going on to build a bridge to the island. But it's been delayed for 3 years. According to the latest update from the construction firm, the bridge will be completed by the end of this year (2014). It looks almost complete from the boat. There are only two segments, the most difficult ones, left.

The harbour on island's side is on the rocky half of the island. Nan Ao Island is loosely divided into two halves. One is rocky and mountainous. This part of the island faces mainland China and not many people stay there. The other half is good for agriculture and filled with construction - with soon to be hotels and resorts. There is also where the agriculture is. On the car we rode a little ways along the coastline and saw a park greeting all visitors on the island.

The climate on the island is windy, which explains the windmill on the mountain tops:)...

I'll continue the story in other parts at another time!